novel volume 8-10

by flametornadohd

this is volumes 8 - 10 of y1 picks up after season 3 of the anime

48. Chapter 48

"The idea that you'll be okay even if one of you gets eliminated. You know, if

you turn that logic around, it means that there'll be no problem for me even if I

completely and utterly destroy one of you."

A huge grin lit up her face. It was pure evil, the likes of which I had never seen

before.

"What, you mean we pissed you off or something? Fine by me. Bring it," said

Ibuki-san.

Ibuki-san looked somewhat amused by all of this, even though she should

have sensed how strong our opponent was. Just then, we heard the notification

that indicated that the link was complete.

"Now then… I wonder which one of you I'll break first!" shouted Amasawasan.

With that, she suddenly broke into a full run. A look of intense fury spread

over her whole face. She hadn't taken on any stance or form, but simply

reached out in our direction, seemingly planning to grab us.

"A ha ha! A ha ha ha ha ha!"

She let out a shrill laugh, with a wicked, warped smile on her face that made

her look completely inhuman. Was she coming after me? Or Ibuki-san? I figured

that in her eyes, I was the more revolting person here, so if I had to guess,

chances were that I was the more likely target.

"Here we go, Ibuki-san! On your left!" I shouted.

"Don't order me around!" she snapped back, but she still listened and moved

to the left.

At the same time, I went right, watching to confirm which one of us

Amasawa-san would go after. Amasawa-san was heading straight for the both

of us and didn't seem like she had any intention whatsoever of playing games. I

wondered if she was planning to keep us from making any decisions until the

very last second. If that was the case, then I would just keep my eyes on her and

take my time to find out. Since both sides moved at the same time, with

Amasawa-san on one and Ibuki-san and I on the other, the distance between us

closed rather quickly. We clashed.

My punch and Ibuki-san's breathing weren't in perfect sync or anything, so,

naturally, it wasn't like our attacks on Amasawa-san were perfectly timed. Still,

no normal person would be able to respond to a punch like that so easily. And

yet despite that fact, Amasawa-san brilliantly dodged our attacks as though she

had been trained to handle such things. Then, to keep up our bombardment,

Ibuki-san and I continued throwing out blows without stopping.

"Okey dokey, that's enough of that!" said Amasawa-san, effortlessly catching

our attempts and shutting down our attack even though we weren't holding

back at all.

"What is with this first-year…?!" Ibuki-san growled.

"You're telling me…" I replied.

Ibuki-san and I stood together side-by-side, gazing at Amasawa-san. We were

completely out of breath. Sure, we were trying to push on ahead as an

impromptu mismatched team, but even so, it was still two-on-one. Normally,

we should have been dominating, but instead, we were being pushed around.

Amasawa-san was more than I'd imagined… No, actually, she was wildly beyond

the realm of my imagination. She seemed to be someone with abilities so far

out of the scope of common sense. Amasawa-san held onto our dominant arms.

If we carelessly tried to kick her, she would probably hit us with a

counterattack.

"Ibuki-san, don't just stupidly try and attack her!" I shouted.

"Lemme go!" screamed Ibuki-san.

She must not have been able to put up with being restrained. She was flexible

and stretched her body as much as she could, trying to land a kick on Amasawasan. However, it was like Amasawa-san had been waiting for that to happen.

She made use of her grip on Ibuki-san's dominant arm to make her lose her

footing.

"Ngh!"

"I believe I said that was enough of that, didn't I?" taunted Amasawa-san.

In that exact moment, as we were being restrained, I felt that something was

off. Something was indescribably wrong with the progression of this battle. I

sensed the clear difference in power between us. Did that mean that Amasawasan was only playing with us? She seemed to have been fighting with only the

bare minimum amount of movement for a while now. What if she hadn't

waited and given me time to recover when we were fighting one-on-one

earlier?

Still though, something didn't feel right. With her strength, she should have

been able to subdue us easily. I thought of at least one strategy that we could

try. At any rate, we needed to get out of this situation, for the time being.

"Hah!"

I thrust out my left arm, figuring that I might as well try something, but

Amasawa-san brushed my attack off, just like she had done with Ibuki-san's.

"All right, let's start over, 'kay?" she announced, looking down on us with a

big grin on her face.

She let go of us and, once again put some distance between us.

"Weren't you supposed to not be the same as me?" snapped Ibuki-san.

"Unlike you, I let her do that to me so things would happen this way… So that

we would start over," I replied.

"What a lame excuse," Ibuki-san sighed.

I supposed that anyone else watching us right now probably would have said

the same thing.

"If you seriously think you can underestimate me, I'm going to teach you a

thing or two…" growled Ibuki-san, looking at Amasawa-san.

Just as she was getting back up and was about to launch herself at Amasawasan all on her own, I quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

"What're you doing?!" she snapped at me.

"Now that we're on the same side, I'm going to need you to follow my lead," I

said. "Can you do that?"

"Huh? You think that I can't?" she huffed.

"Look, if you don't follow me, then there's no point to any of this. You should

understand Amasawa-san's strength perfectly well by now. Neither I nor you

can win alone against her."

"Even if that's true, I absolutely, positively refuse to do what you tell me.

Forget it," said Ibuki-san.

I kept thinking about this. How could I reach Ibuki-san? What was the best

possible solution? Hypothetically, if Ayanokouji-kun were here now, what

would he have done in my situation? How could I make two people who

normally didn't get along at all work together, even if it was just for right here

and now?

"Ibuki-san."

"I already told you, no," she answered flatly.

"I understand quite well that you and I are like oil and water. I realize that our

relationship has become what it is after we had something of a petty quarrel

during the uninhabited island exam last year. But there is one thing about you

that I must acknowledge."

Yes, I was going to do what was necessary right now, without hesitation.

"You hold your own well in a fight," I told her. "You stand toe-to-toe with me

in that regard. No, actually, I believe you have a slight edge on me."

"Huh? What's all this about? You trying to flatter me all of a sudden?"

"However," I continued, "your fighting style is specialized for one-on-one

fights. I'm more familiar when it comes to what moves to make when fighting a

powerful opponent in a two-on-one setting. I suppose that in asking you to

cooperate with me—well, cooperate might be the wrong word for you… Lend

me your strength."

At that, Ibuki-san turned to look at me, but just for a moment.

"In terms of strength, you are equal to me, or perhaps even better. But that's

it. Aside from that, we're on completely different levels. You can't handle

yourself academically, you can't lead your class, and you can't work together

with anyone. I'm sorry, but going ahead and calling yourself my rival is quite

conceited," I added.

If she was going to get angry with me, then I'd let her get mad. But I wasn't

going to stop talking before I said what needed to be said.

"I think that the time has come for you to come out of your shell too, Ibuki

Mio-san."

"…What are you even talking about?" she asked.

"If you keep pressing on ahead as you are right now, alone, you will surely

find yourself in danger of being expelled at some point," I answered.

"Whatever," she said. "I don't really care if that happens."

"But if that does happen, that will mean you've lost to me, completely and

utterly. There would be no contest. Are you okay with that?"

"What was that?" She blinked.

"You can't possibly call yourself my rival if you just wind up getting yourself

expelled in such an underwhelming fashion," I said. "You need to face the

situation and try as hard as you possibly can, for as long as you can, and grow

into a rival that can intimidate me."

"Uggggh." Ibuki-san groaned. "Fine. I get it. I get it already, so just shut up! I'll

do what you tell me. Just right here and now, though. All right?"

"Excellent," I replied.

"So, what do we do?"

"We're going to go after Amasawa-san at the same time, just like before," I

told her. "But actually hitting her is only our secondary objective. I want you to

stand your ground and make sure that you absolutely do not let yourself get

caught. And I want you to keep on attacking her, over and over."

"Wait, secondary? What's that going to accomplish?" asked Ibuki-san.

"If my hunch is correct, then…this will give us a chance to turn things around

and win. When I give you the signal, attack with all your might."

Ibuki-san moved away from me at that point, though she didn't look entirely

convinced by what I said.

"Strategy meeting over?" said Amasawa-san. "Well then, shall we get started

on round two?"

Ibuki-san and I split up and broke into a run at the exact same moment, with

one of us going left and the other going right as we closed in on Amasawa-san. I

had strictly forbidden us from getting in too close so that we wouldn't get

caught. While keeping within a distance to be able to reach out with our fists, I

timed my move and then thrust my arm out.

If Amasawa-san didn't do anything in response to my move, then my attack

would land. Therefore, as she needed to continue to respond to each attack

that came her way, her nerves would be wearing down, at least to some

degree. I needed to remain calm, unpanicked, and ready to quickly move away

if I sensed danger. If I were alone, I probably wouldn't have been able to get

away at all. This was a fighting style that would only work right now, at this very

moment, because we were able to pull her attention in two different directions.

We still hadn't found any openings yet. Come on, quickly, quickly, before I run

out of breath! By keeping up this flurry of dangerous attacks, the sharpness of

Amasawa-san's movements began to dull. Although she still had a smile on her

face, she was clearly starting to lose her stamina.

"…Now!" I shouted.

I swung my right fist as hard as I possibly could at Amasawa-san, not letting

this golden opportunity pass me by. If I had tried this attack moments earlier in

our fight, she would have easily brushed me off with just one hand. But this

time, she took on a defensive stance. Even though I didn't land a direct hit,

Ibuki-san managed to get behind her while the first-year blocked my attack.

Ibuki-san kicked off the ground, dashing toward Amasawa-san. She threw a

punch, and though Amasawa-san tried to turn and block it, Ibuki-san managed

to hit her square in the face. Amasawa-san's body shook from the impact of

that first blow hitting home.

"Haaaah!" I shouted.

I dropped down low into a crouch. I thrust my arm out with force, driving my

fist into Amasawa-san's abdomen. She was not in a defensive stance this time

either. I exhaled, and Amasawa-san collapsed onto the ground. In that same

instant, I straddled her and prevented her from moving to get back up.

"Huff… It… It really worked…" said Ibuki-san.

"H-huff… Phew… That's enough, Amasawa-san… I acknowledge your strength,

but your lack of stamina proved to be fatal," I told her.

Somehow, I had been able to exploit her all-too-surprising weakness and

managed to turn the tables on her.

"Oh, did I get found out? That I have a weak constitution?" she replied.

Even though I was straddling her, the girl wasn't flustered at all. She chuckled,

sticking her tongue out playfully. I happened to look down at her clothes and

couldn't believe what I saw. A bit of skin was visible from under the fabric, just

barely peeking out. Without thinking, I grabbed her gym uniform shirt and

forcefully pulled it up to her navel.

"You— What are these injuries…?" I sputtered.

She had deep marks all over, like bruises. The wounds on her body looked

purposeful, like they had been inflicted as a kind of punishment. They were

completely unlike the mark left from the one thrusting punch I hit her with

earlier. These injuries had been inflicted before our fight even began.

"I had a little bit of a tussle myself before I met up with you two," said

Amasawa-san.

Normally, it would have been hard to hide that level of pain. Her face should

have been twisted in agony this whole time. It should've been difficult for her to

even walk. And yet she had taken on the two us while in such a ragged state—

and had the upper hand as well. It wasn't that she was lacking in stamina. From

the beginning, she had been fighting while on the verge of collapsing. She had

held her own in battle while in need of recovery, far more so than I did…

The truth of the situation almost made me dizzy. I tried to imagine who could

have inflicted injuries this severe on Amasawa-san when she was in top form.

Even if I were to include the boys in those possibilities, the only person I could

think of that would come close would be someone like Housen-kun.

"Do you want to know who did this to me? It might have been Housen-kun,"

she teased.

There was no doubt whatsoever that Housen-kun's abilities were

extraordinary. He certainly might have been able to gain the upper hand against

an opponent like Amasawa-san, whose incredible strength defied the norm. But

just from this encounter with her, I had come to understand something about

her personality: I couldn't imagine that she would tell me anything honestly.

She presented me with one possible answer just to satisfy me and nothing

more. If that was the case…did that mean that there was someone else out

there powerful enough to overwhelm Amasawa-san? Even if I widened the

scope and considered all the students at our school, I couldn't think of anyone

that fit the bill. Yamada-kun, perhaps. But, no, I supposed there wouldn't be

any benefit for him in doing something like this.

"Sorry, but I'm having a tough time believing you. Who was it, really?" I asked.

"I can't answer that question… And—!"

I had let my guard down. Amasawa-san didn't miss the opening I'd made for

her when she noticed how shaken I was by the state of her injuries.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" shouted Ibuki-san.

"Sorry… I was careless," I replied.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but I had let Amasawa-san slip away.

"Well then, looks like we're back to where we started, huh, you two?"

taunted Amasawa-san.

Our opponent was severely wounded from head to toe. Nevertheless, the

situation was once again in her favor. Could we put her down again? To be

honest, I wasn't confident that we could. But we had no other choice but to try.

It seemed like she had other ideas, though, because she went over to her

backpack and took out her tablet.

"Seems like it's over now," she said. "Well, that was kind of fun, but time's up,

I guess."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"It means we're done here. If you want to go on ahead, be my guest!" She

was allowing us to pass, no longer showing any sign of the strong resistance she

had put up until that point.

Was this some kind of trap? While I was still trying to get a grasp on the

situation, Amasawa-san started walking off.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Where? Hmm. Maybe my designated area for the time being, I guess. I

mean, I do still have to do this special exam thingy a bit, more or less."

At any rate, I supposed I could let her withdraw here so I could go ahead and

check on Ayanokouji-kun—

"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," said Amasawa-san. "I don't think you're gonna

need to run after Ayanokouji-senpai anymore. Y'know?"

"…Why?"

"Because everything's already over. If you think I'm lying, though, why don't

you go and check?"

"What…about Ayanokouji-kun?" I asked.

Amasawa-san cast her eyes down slightly at that question.

"Why don't you look for yourself?" she said. "But you might regret not making

it there in time."

She seemed intent on withdrawing, and Amasawa-san just made her way past

us. Had she already been done in by someone?

"What are you gonna do?" asked Ibuki-san. "Chase after Ayanokouji? That's

why we fought Amasawa, right?"

"Yes, I'm going after him," I answered.

Ayanokouji-kun was just up ahead. There was no way I could turn back

without checking on him myself now that we had come this far.

"In that case, I'll go too," said Ibuki-san.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because if Ayanokouji is in trouble, then I wanna be there to laugh at him,"

she replied.

"You really are deeply spiteful at heart," I said.

We hurriedly threw our backpacks over our shoulders once more and ran

toward I2.

7.4

I HAD CROSSED THE BOUNDARY between areas and arrived in I2, but there was

no notification on my watch to indicate that I had done so. Normally, I would

have suspected this was due to some kind of tracking error in the GPS, but that

didn't seem likely in this particular case. If that was the reason, then I'd

probably need to move as close to the center of the area as possible to make up

for the tracking error with the watch. However, I hadn't experienced a situation

like this even once over these past two weeks.

I supposed that this might have just been one of those inevitable things since

the center of this area would have been the tip of the island. Even if Ichinose

had not come to me earlier and I had come to this area without knowing

anything, it might not have mattered; things had been designed in such a way

that I would have arrived by this route anyway. I walked slowly along the

inescapable path before me.

After less than ten minutes of walking, more and more light gradually began

to penetrate the deep, dense woods, and I was able to see the ocean beyond

and the blue skies above. Despite coming this far, I still hadn't received any

response from my watch at all. Instead, I spotted two adults standing on the

small beach up ahead.

One of them was a man who was quite familiar to me: Acting Director

Tsukishiro. He wore a jersey and looked somewhat cheerful. The other was

Shiba-sensei, the homeroom instructor for Class 1-D. An unusual pair to be sure,

but from the looks of things, they were here together.

"I see you've decided to take a very aggressive approach, Acting Director

Tsukishiro," I called out to him as I walked along the sandy beach.

"Nothing was working. Things just haven't gone right at all," he replied. "This

was the only feasible option, you see."

I thought back over the past fourteen days that I had spent enduring this

special exam. It was clear to me that Tsukishiro's final "trap" was to lure me

here to I2. Still, there were some things that bothered me. There were no

designated areas nor Tasks around this northeastern section, so no other

students were likely to wander through. But at the same time, I could have just

abandoned the idea of going after this designated area and pursued Tasks

instead as I had originally planned. Or I could have been working with someone

like Nanase, or even another person from my Table.

It was absurd to think that Tsukishiro would have arranged this meeting by

leaving so many variables to mere chance. That meant that my coming here had

already been determined, since at least yesterday, or perhaps even earlier.

Nanase falling before me in defeat, and the two of us going our separate ways.

My strategy to remain hidden somewhere around eleventh place in the

rankings before shooting for the higher ranks, and continuing to act alone just

for that purpose. The timing and the details of the attack by the first-years. I

had little doubt that Tsukishiro's side had accounted for all those things from

the very beginning.

"So, what's going to happen to me after this?" I asked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a small boat. It was anchored. The

motor was left running though, and it rocked with the waves. It was ready to

launch at any moment.

"If at all possible, we would like for you to follow our instructions and come

aboard with us," said Tsukishiro.

"There will be an announcement that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has withdrawn

voluntarily. That's how the matter will be settled. Amicably," added Shibasensei.

"Do you think that I'd choose the option of obediently getting into the boat?"

I asked.

"I suppose you have a point," said Tsukishiro. "If you were obedient, then

there wouldn't have been any need for us to go to the trouble of coming to an

uninhabited island."

"Also, there doesn't seem to be any particular connection between you and

Shiba-sensei at school, but I suppose this means he's on your side, Acting

Director Tsukishiro."

Since I had no prior contact with this teacher, I supposed that he might have

been assigned as a watchdog for Amasawa. Now that the need for such a role

had disappeared, he didn't seem to have any intentions of hiding any longer.

My being here in the northeast corner of the island, where there was nothing at

all happening, might have seemed suspicious, but Ichinose and Nagumo were

here too. I supposed, in that sense, they had served their purpose as well, as a

kind of camouflage.

In any case, it was safe to assume that this watchdog of sorts was on

Tsukishiro's side. He didn't appear to be carrying anything visibly dangerous.

"Had we employed weapons and the like for this task, then collecting you

would have been overwhelmingly simple. Unfortunately, however, you are an

asset. Because it is my duty to bring you back safely…I have decided that it's

necessary to settle this with fists," said Tsukishiro. He stood on the beach with a

bold grin and his arms spread wide.

Did this mean that I would need to trade blows with Tsukishiro right here and

now, in the eleventh hour of the exam, if I wanted to resist? Unlike my fight

with Nanase, the option of simply evading his attacks continuously was

probably not going to work.

"So, I have to take you on if I'm going to avoid expulsion," I deduced.

"That's how it is, yes."

"Would it be at all possible for you to just cut me a break here?" I asked. "I'm

not necessarily saying that solving matters through violence is bad, but I am a

student at this school. And considering what the rules of a normal institution

would be, something like this would likely be a violation."

"Indeed, it certainly might," agreed Tsukishiro. "However, Ayanokouji-kun,

you are a particularly notable success story who has achieved truly remarkable

results among those in the White Room. Even if you were to fight while

constrained by certain rules, there's no enemy who could match you. Don't you

think it foolish to compete with others at this school? Or…perhaps you have

come to find it amusing to be king of the mountain here?"

"If that were true, then would that be a disappointing development?

Something that runs contrary to that man's wishes?" I said. "Well…no, I

suppose I should call it a 'regression' rather than a development, huh."

"No, no, not at all. The White Room's dearest wish is to seize control of Japan,

and in turn, the world. If you, a successful template, did feel that way, then

further-developed specimens will take even greater pleasure in dominating the

world, no?"

Going from controlling a small Japanese high school to suddenly seizing

control over the entire world. If anyone were to hear such a fantastic story,

they probably would've started snickering. Even Tsukishiro himself was

probably deeply skeptical about how realistic that dream was, I bet. He was just

faithfully following his orders and performing his professional duties in a cool,

detached manner. Nothing more.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I didn't think that this school was much of a

challenge," I said.

"Yes, I have no doubt about that," said Tsukishiro. "I'm sure that for you, this

school would be equivalent to a level you'd be able to pass in your early

childhood."

"But that's only if we're talking about the curriculum, though," I went on. "I'm

starting to get a sense of what I should do at this school, what I want to do, and

what direction I'm taking things. I think that I'm going to have plenty of fun here

until I graduate. And besides, there are plenty of exceptional people outside of

the White Room too."

If anything, I could say that this school was a treasure trove of talented

individuals that the White Room could have never, ever produced.

"I have no intention of denigrating the students at the Advanced Nurturing

High School," Tsukishiro said. "As you have said, you can find individuals with

exceptional talents all throughout the world. At times, there will be people who

excel in sports. Other times, you'll find those who excel academically. That,

however, is not that part that is important here. What is important is a person

who produces such exceptional results that they can excel in any situation, and

who can lead the masses."

Acting Director Tsukishiro then shot a brief glance over at Shiba.

"What about Nagumo-kun and Ichinose-san?" he asked.

"Nagumo has stopped, and Ichinose is already far away, so there isn't

anything to worry about," said Shiba.

They must have calculated that I would have stopped Nagumo and Ichinose,

of course.

"And regarding the unexpected signatures we picked up," he added, "it would

appear that Amasawa has taken care of them."

Unexpected signatures? There weren't any designated areas or Tasks in the

vicinity. Had others besides Ichinose or Nagumo come this way? If an

uninvolved student did appear here, it would certainly be a nuisance for

Tsukishiro. But at any rate, it sounded as though Amasawa had stalled whatever

person or persons had caused this irregularity.

"I suppose that means that she has extended at least some courtesy to us

then," said Tsukishiro.

"It didn't seem to me like Amasawa was aligning herself with you though,

Acting Director Tsukishiro," I remarked.

"She is, simply put, a traitor," he replied. "She was the one who was chosen to

bring you back, but it appears that she never had any intention of doing so in

the first place."

Then, as if to declare that this pointless conversation was now over,

Tsukishiro took a step forward. It wasn't a good idea for either of us to just

stand around idly and waste each other's time, anyway. Tsukishiro and I

gradually started closing the distance between us, little by little. Even so, there

was still about five or six meters between us. I noticed Shiba-sensei moving in

behind me to keep me from escaping.

"You won't say that two-against-one is unfair, will you?" said Tsukishiro. "You

are, after all, the crowning achievement of the White Room. It's enough to

make even me feel a little anxious."

In spite of his words, he looked incredibly cool and composed. My intuition

told me that he believed he could handle me well even in a one-on-one fight,

but despite that, he decided to team up and fight me with a partner. He wasn't

being prideful at all. He took a firm, rock-solid stance.

I shifted my gaze over to the boat that was waiting for us over by the coast. As

far as I could see, there was only one crew member, the captain, on board. Even

if he rushed in after me as well, I still only needed to eliminate a maximum of

three enemies.

"Please do not worry. You will only be fighting us two," said Tsukishiro,

referring to Shiba.

Tsukishiro wasn't the sort of opponent that I could just easily take at his word

with no questions asked. Although his earlier comments implied that he had

come here empty-handed, I couldn't rule out the possibility that he might be

carrying some kind of concealed, handheld weapon. This was a fight that put

me up against two adults with unknown levels of ability, both of whom were at

the level of an agent. I had to consider the risks of whether they had weapons,

whether reinforcements would come, and other factors, as well. Ordinarily, the

amount of multitasking required by a situation like this would've scrambled

anyone's brains. However, in my case, I was under no mental duress.

Fighting while under unreasonable and disadvantageous conditions was

something I was accustomed to as I had been drilled on it repeatedly from an

early age. For me, doing this was the same as the unconscious process of

breathing, something that was essential for a human being to live.

"The look on your face suggests that you don't think that you're going to

lose," said Tsukishiro. "You don't even consider it a slight possibility."

"Do I really look like that?" I asked.

I didn't know what the end result would be. The only way for me to open a

path to the future was to seize it right here. My opponents were still observing

the situation, having blocked me from both the front and the back. Normally, I

would have liked to make the first move, but it wasn't the best idea for me to

go on the offensive. The people standing to the front and back of me weren't

students. They were representatives of the school. If I were the only one who

ended up throwing a punch, that would put me at a disadvantage and at risk of

expulsion.

"You aren't going to start attacking us yourself, even though you know it

would be to your advantage to do so," said Tsukishiro, analyzing the situation

right back. "That is just like you."

He must have known about the educational policies of the White Room in

detail.

"Well then… Let us hold nothing back. Shall we begin, Shiba-sensei?" he

added, calling to his companion.

As soon as Tsukishiro called his partner's name, the two adults started

walking toward me at the exact same time. They weren't rushing at all. They

were each cool and composed, advancing like shogi pieces being moved down

the board in methodical, calculated fashion. Shiba had erased any trace of his

presence, and at the same time, made his footsteps silent as he approached me

from behind. Meanwhile, Tsukishiro advanced from the front. He was going to

reach me in seven more steps. Six. Five. Four—

I crouched down slightly, avoiding Shiba's hands as he tried to grab my face

from behind. So, the first move had come from the back after all. While I was in

the process of evading Shiba's first move, Tsukishiro extended his arm, trying to

grab me in a similar fashion. I evaded his reach by rolling away along the beach.

I quickly got back on my feet and instantly broke into a run, keeping away from

his follow-up attempts.

A cloud of dust danced in the air, carried on the sea breeze. The two adults

looked at me quietly, taking their pursuit slowly. And, similarly, I was observing

them too. They seemed to have been trying to gauge my skill level through the

moves we were making, which was information that couldn't be understood

from data alone. My feet sunk into the sand. Considering how deeply they sunk,

I figured I should have taken off my shoes right away, ahead of time.

As we stood beneath the hot, blazing sun, the two men started walking

toward me, once again closing the distance between us. With my face and my

body facing the two of them, I backed away from them in step, keeping my

distance. With my back to the ocean, I could avoid letting anyone get behind

me. At the same time, I had escaped from the soft sand, now ensuring that I

had a secure foothold.

"What a textbook strategy, Ayanokouji-kun," said Tsukishiro, "but it's

doubtful that it's necessarily the correct one."

Even though I couldn't be grabbed from behind now, this also meant I didn't

have an escape route. Tsukishiro and Shiba moved in closer. I was standing in a

position where if I backed up any further, the tide would be crashing against my

legs. They were still trying to grab hold of me with outstretched arms. They still

apparently had no intention of trying to cause any actual harm to me by landing

a blow.

"You are quite good at running away," said Tsukishiro.

Both started picking up the pace, moving faster now, and what few

opportunities I had to dodge were getting taken away from me. I backed up

until it felt like one of my legs was just barely touching the seawater. I couldn't

stay where I was anymore, and I quickly scrambled away.

"Oh?" said Tsukishiro. "Have you given up on trying to keep your back to the

water, then?"

If you could make your opponent panic, it was easier to get them to make

mistakes. That was the kind of thing that ran through my mind as I moved.

Shiba and Tsukishiro came after me, kicking up sand as they went. It was two

against one. If either one of them caught me, it would be game over.

Four arms alternated reaching out for me in turns, and I was sure that if they

saw the slightest opening, it would be all over for me. I ran and tried to keep my

distance from them, but they continued to chase me down, never letting me

get far. Running away in a place like this would only continue to drain my

energy. It was clear that their intention was to rob me of my stamina, between

the poor footing and the scorching sun. I stopped my escape attempt midway

and making full use of the momentum from my body, I stepped down with my

left foot, turned around, and attacked Shiba, who was directly behind me.

"Hm?!"

Shiba's movements stiffened slightly in response to my unexpected change in

trajectory. While I went for a feint with my left at first, I switched it up by taking

a swing at his chest area with my right. But Shiba, sensing the danger, didn't

panic and kept his distance from me. They were seemingly prioritizing avoiding

blows rather than catching them.

"My oh my," said Tsukishiro. "Even while going up against the two of us, you

are putting up a marvelous fight, Ayanokouji-kun."

I tried to change things up by attempting to counterattack, still avoiding the

attacks coming at me from both sides, but I couldn't get a clean hit.

"But, you know, human stamina is finite. Any minute now, you'll start feeling

like you need to catch your breath, no?"

"You are a difficult opponent to fight, Acting Director Tsukishiro," I replied.

"I take the initiative to do the sorts of things that others don't like to do," he

said. "It's my job."

There was nothing particularly clean or dirty about the way he fought.

Instead, it was clear that his goal was simply to catch me and bring me back.

However, it wasn't like I was burning through my stamina for no reason either.

There was something that I had gained from everything that had happened up

until this point. I had found that there seemed to be a slight and unexpected

difference in fighting ability between Tsukishiro and Shiba.

Tsukishiro was a four and Shiba was a six. Shiba's movements had a greater

degree of sharpness. My previous hunch had assumed that Tsukishiro would

have been a cut above his partner, but… At any rate, I slightly changed the

balance of the degree of caution I had shown to each of them, changing it to an

even fifty-fifty.

I had previously considered Shiba to be the less capable one, thinking he had

been put in the rear for a reason, but it turned out to have been the opposite.

They were putting more of a priority on fighting me from the back. With that in

mind, I considered changing tactics by taking aim at the now-inferior Tsukishiro

—but that being said, he still possessed extraordinary abilities. He was someone

on an entirely different level, a higher plane of skill. It wasn't going to be easy to

bring him down. In fact, if Tsukishiro realized that I made this deduction, then

he might start focusing on defense instead.

I would finish off Shiba in a single blow, before giving the two of them enough

time to realize that I discovered the difference in their abilities. To put it in

simpler terms, the idea was that I would let them think that they were going to

win, then turn around and settle this with one hit. This, right now—this

moment when my opponents still planned to refrain from hitting me—was my

chance. If luck was on my side, then I would be the only one dealing damage.

Then, after neutralizing Shiba, I could quickly deal with Tsukishiro one-on-one,

without a moment's delay.

I had spent about a second or so thinking all of this. Both men approached to

attack me at the same speed as before. However, the hand that came my way,

which I thought would've been open to grab me, had changed shape. It was

now tightly clenched into a fist, meant to strike.

They saw through me and figured out my intentions to start trading blows

with them. If they continued attacking me at this rate, then we were all going to

end up getting injured. If that was the case, then I just needed to hurt them

more than they hurt me, and—

I tried to focus my attention on dealing with and damaging Shiba, who was

still behind me, but then something unexpected happened. I felt a cold

sensation on the nape of my neck, inevitably forcing me to bring my

counterattack to a halt. I took evasive action once again for what felt like the

millionth time and moved away from Tsukishiro. Moments after I moved,

Shiba's arm swung by me. The sound of his fist flying through the air rang in my

ears.

If I had carelessly gone through with trying to trade blows with Shiba, I might

have been stopped at once. Shiba's attack just then had most definitely boasted

the same level of power as my own. But, more importantly…I had been looking

at Tsukishiro, who I had surmised as inferior, out of the corner of my eye, and

saw that he was now moving two degrees faster than I had expected.

"…I see that I really can't let down my guard with you after all, Acting Director

Tsukishiro," I remarked.

I had managed to evade the attack just in time. For the first time in years, I

was breaking out into a cold sweat during a fight. I wondered what would have

happened had I not trusted my intuition. Not only would I have been hit by

Shiba's attack just then, but I might have been left completely defenseless for

Tsukishiro's subsequent strike.

As it turned out, my earlier interpretation that Tsukishiro was a four and Shiba

was a six was false. It was merely a trick from my opponents. They had been

intentionally keeping their abilities hidden, and then made their attack in such a

way that exceeded my degree of caution.

"We intended to finish you off right then, but your reaction time really is

beyond that of an ordinary person's," said Tsukishiro.

It was fortunate that I hadn't dismissed any possibilities. That I hadn't ignored

how unnatural it seemed for Tsukishiro to be inferior to Shiba in terms of

ability. It was safe to say that it was that fact alone that I hadn't dismissed this

possibility which had led to me putting up my guard right at the very last

moment. Both men were being as cautious as possible, but they weren't going

to hesitate to take a risk if they thought they could gain something. It seemed

that this scenario was slightly unfavorable for me…

Even if I did take out one of them first, it would be difficult for me to keep up

my guard up and strike the other with a proper hit at the perfect moment. It

was hard to imagine that this pair had come together as a team overnight.

"So, how is your analysis going, Ayanokouji-kun?" asked Tsukishiro.

The fight had only begun just over two minutes ago. In that time, I had

assessed a variety of ideas, but so far, none of them had proved to be decisive.

"This fight would have been easier if we simply traded blows like children,

trying to take each other down with brute force alone, no?" he said. "However,

we adults do not hesitate to adopt the best possible measures to avoid losing,

you see. Even if those measures are unrefined and by no means what people

might consider 'cool.'"

Tsukishiro had read 99 percent of my thoughts. His fighting style was precise

and without indecision, and he didn't allow his own thoughts to be read. Or

rather, I supposed I should say that while he did let me read his thoughts, he

wasn't showing me the truth. In any case, I wasn't going to be able to make a

decisive move in this current situation. At this rate, things were going to just get

worse and worse for me; it seemed that I was going to need to take on a

sizeable risk to make a difference in this situation.

"Acting Director Tsukishiro."

Someone spoke up just then, interrupting the disadvantageous impasse that I

had found myself in, and it was none other than Shiba. Until this point, he had

barely spoken a word as he engaged in the fight. Immediately after his name

was called, Tsukishiro also seemed to notice the unusual development that had

just arisen. It was something that no one here had expected to happen.

An uninvited visitor arrived.

"I was wondering what the Acting Director and a homeroom instructor were

doing here in such an isolated place, fighting against a student no less. If you

wouldn't mind, would you please care to enlighten me?"

"If I recall, you're—" said Shiba.

"That's Kiryuuin Fuuka, from Class 3-B," answered Tsukishiro.

Why was she here? I was the only one who was supposed to have I2 as a

designated area now.

"You do not appear to be a lost little kitten to me," said Tsukishiro, slipping

out of his combat-ready stance for the moment. "What can I do for you?"

"To tell you the truth, I've been watching from behind a big tree for some

time now," Kiryuuin said. "But I couldn't see exactly what was happening in this

two-on-one fight, so I decided to jump out from behind the tree."

There was no way that Tsukishiro and Shiba wouldn't have seen her GPS

signal in the area, of course.

"Oh, you're surprised I'm here? I wonder if perhaps this is the reason? It

seems that my wristwatch has stopped working because of an accident," she

added with a smile, showing us the shattered face of her wristwatch. It looked

like it had been smashed to pieces.

"So, I ask you, esteemed representatives of our fine educational institution, is

there any problem with that?" she continued. "Even if my watch is broken, all

that means is the scoring functions have been turned off. I am free to go

wherever I wish."

"Oh no, no problem at all, of course," replied Tsukishiro. "It is certainly true

that malfunctions are bound to occur during this test."

He showed no hint of panic at this unexpected arrival. Normally, in a situation

like this, you would think that a wayward administrator would pull back when a

student showed up. However, Tsukishiro understood that this was his last

opportunity, so he was not backing down. Most likely, he had simply added

Kiryuuin's name to the list of people that needed to be eliminated instead.

"Ayanokouji, did I do something unnecessary?" asked Kiryuuin.

If she had seen this bizarre battle between student and teachers taking place,

then there was no point in trying to smooth things over for appearance's sake.

Rather, I figured that I should make practical use of this happy accident that just

occurred.

"That depends on what happens next. Can I assume that this means you're

going to lend me a hand?" I asked in return.

Tsukishiro's strength was considerable. I could state with certainty that his

fighting style, based on the accumulation of experience and skill, made him one

of the most powerful opponents I ever faced, even out of everyone I could

remember.

"Of course I will," replied Kiryuuin. "As your senpai, it's only natural that I

protect someone younger than me, no?" She stood beside me with a smirk.

"But why did you come here anyway?" I asked.

"I saw you running around trying to escape the first-years yesterday," she

said. "It piqued my curiosity, so I thought I'd stop and ask you about it, but then

I thought it'd be a good idea to just let you keep running."

Did that mean that she deliberately broke her own watch and approached me

without me even realizing it?

"I'm glad that my curiosity won out in the end. I've been called into a

remarkably interesting turn of events as a result."

Well, it was certainly true that this was something that you normally wouldn't

see.

"Shiba-sensei, I leave the matter of dealing with her to you, if you please,"

said Tsukishiro.

"As far as I can tell, the acting director and Shiba-sensei have a ridiculously

high level of ability. I don't know exactly how much use I can be, but I probably

won't last very long," said Kiryuuin. She stood beside me, gleefully holding her

fists up at the ready.

"If you can keep him busy for even a second or two, it would be greatly

appreciated," I replied.

"Oh, you've really said it now," said Kiryuuin. "I'll try to hold him off for a

minute or two, at least. But Ayanokouji, can't you make yourself look more…

you know?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"That blank, slovenly look on your face certainly isn't helping matters either,"

she said. "Hold your fists up and bring forth an aura about yourself like you're

saying, 'Bring it on.' Go on."

I had never imagined that I'd be told something like that in a situation like

this. However, Kiryuuin was exerting this bizarre pressure on me, and so I felt

like I had no choice but to strike a pose that was more, as she put it, "you

know." It was the sort of pose that you might see someone adopt in a fight

scene in a TV drama.

"…How's this?" I asked.

"Fu fu. Well, it's awkward, but it'll do. I'll say that you've met the bare

minimum requirements," said Kiryuuin with a grin, once again striking a fighting

pose herself.

"Do you have experience fighting people?" I asked.

"I am a lady. Of course I don't," she replied.

"…Are you serious?"

"Don't worry. I've been thinking that I'd like to punch someone at least once."

Kiryuuin and I moved some distance apart from each other, putting ourselves

in position to establish that we were clearly going to have our own respective

one-on-one fights.

"Let's settle this, Acting Director Tsukishiro."

"So, you've decided that you can win if you're facing me alone? Is that what

you think?" Tsukishiro slipped back into his stance, wearing his usual smile,

showing no signs of complacency or tension. "Well then, why don't you show

me how good you really are in a one-on-one fight?"

I needed to regard the opponent standing in front of me as an equal

adversary. If I didn't, then I'd have the rug pulled out from under me. Even so,

our match would need to be decided in less than a minute. I needed to finish

this while Kiryuuin was still holding Shiba back.

Tsukishiro launched his attack at me without a sound. I evaded it and then

returned the favor by driving my left fist into his cheek.

"Ngh?!"

I repeatedly delivered fast jabs, at a matching tempo. They were sharp

punches. Because I was focused solely on making my hits land, there wasn't a

great degree of power behind each strike. But as I repeatedly landed hit after

hit, Tsukishiro's smile started to fade. What I was aiming for now was his

septum. Even light damage there would trigger certain effects in the human

body. To be specific, tears.

If you hit someone on the bridge of their nose, it would induce tears, no

matter who they were. They would flow before the pain would come. Those

tears would rob you of your vision, which was all too important. It didn't matter

whether you were an adult, a teenager, a young child, or an elderly person. It

was simply a mechanism of the human body. As Tsukishiro's field of vision

worsened, I came at him with an uppercut, hitting him right in the jaw.

Tsukishiro was now looking up at the sky. He must have bit the inside of his

mouth because he spat out a little blood.

"I wonder how long it's been," he mused, wiping the blood from his lips with

a fearless grin. "Considering that the opponent standing before me now is but a

child in his second year of high school, I must commend you. You are, without a

doubt, a masterpiece."

Out of all the opponents that I'd traded blows with, Tsukishiro was, without

question, one of the best. I was certain of that, even though I had determined

that I could still beat him in a one-on-one fight.

"I ordinarily do not care for such violence," he added, "but this is so enjoyable

that I just cannot help myself."

Tsukishiro, smiling as though he found something amusing, once again

assumed a stance. But rather than coming at me with an attack right away, he

began backing up slowly and steadily. I could have interpreted what he was

doing as an attempt to stall until Shiba got control of Kiryuuin, I supposed, but…

he wasn't getting riled up. He was calmly looking for a path to victory.

Tsukishiro looked at the sand beneath his feet. It had only been an instant, at

most. Without missing a beat, I lunged forward and focused power into my

right fist.

"You are truly, absolutely brilliant!" said Tsukishiro.

I drove my fist into him with a twisting motion, delivering a vicious body blow.

It was a direct hit, with an almost unceasing degree of force. But even so,

Tsukishiro's smile didn't fade. He crumpled, losing his balance. While he was

down, he snatched up some sand with his left hand and flung it at me. Then, he

plunged his free hand down into the sandy beach like he was about to dig a

hole with it and used it to prop himself back up.

Still, even if he managed to strike me directly with his right fist, he wasn't

going to deal much damage since he hadn't been in a good position to strike in

the first place. He swung his right arm at me in an uppercut, but I didn't take

the punch from his right straight on. Instead, I brushed his arm aside and then

grabbed it tightly, stopping him from moving.

"Ngh!"

And there, for the first time, Tsukishiro's smile completely vanished, just for a

moment. My gaze was fixed on his right hand. He was holding a stun gun.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"I didn't, not until just seconds ago," I replied. "You couldn't have possibly

afforded to give me even the slightest opening in this situation, and yet for

some reason, you looked down at your feet for a moment like you were looking

for something. When I saw you do that, I felt like there was something off. Even

if your goal was to blind me with sand, there wasn't any reason for you to

deliberately look to your feet."

Even when he grabbed some sand on the beach with his left hand and threw

it at me earlier, I was already thinking about that possibility.

"I also felt like there was something unnatural about the way you were

moving, like you were intentionally letting yourself get hit by my attack."

Considering that we were both so close in terms of ability, it was necessary

for both of us to try and control the flow of the battle.

"I hadn't wanted to take this risk if it were at all possible… It was intended to

be an insurance policy," he said. "But I suppose your skills were so great that

they caused me to become impatient."

He relaxed his right hand, letting the stun gun fall to the beach, sticking up in

the sand.

"Now then, what will you do? I have sustained quite a bit of damage,

though…" said Tsukishiro.

I followed his line of sight and saw that Shiba had restrained Kiryuuin, holding

her from behind. She was about to give up. Just then, Acting Director Tsukishiro

raised his hand, giving some kind of signal to someone. The operator of the

small boat that had been anchored nearby had something in his hands, and he

tried to start coming up on land. It was obvious that this was their final trump

card, meant to be used in the unlikely event they were defeated.

But I had a trump card too.

"Unfortunately, you're out of time, Acting Director Tsukishiro."

Suddenly, the small boat that Tsukishiro had called, and which had been

preparing to come ashore, roared back to life. The engine came on and it

departed rapidly, leaving behind the two men on the beach. The reason was

probably because the boat's captain had seen another vessel coming from

further out on the water.

"…That's quite a surprise," said Tsukishiro. "How did you call that boat here? I

had already made the arrangements for this meeting, of course. I had to make

sure of that on the off chance that you attempted to call upon the school, you

would be stopped. Besides, I thought you would have avoided letting the school

find out about this."

"It's simple," I replied. "Just look at the small boat over there closely, and

you'll see what I mean," I answered.

If you took a good, hard look at the approaching boat, you would see

Mashima-sensei and Chabashira-sensei aboard. Tsukishiro must have presumed

as much, too, after hearing what I'd said.

"What would happen if someone reported that students from Class 2-A and

Class 2-D had collapsed in I2 and were in danger?" I said. "That's not an issue

that could be covered up so easily, after all. I already verified that those

students' respective homeroom teachers would be among those selected to

take part in rescue operations should there be trouble, thanks to a previous

incident. I knew that Mashima-sensei and Chabashira-sensei would rush to the

scene."

To put it simply, this was a rule that the school had during this exam. The

school administration had figured that it was best for the students' respective

homeroom teachers to be part of the rescue crew because they could identify

their students with a single glance. So, if it were reported that students from

classes 2-A and 2-D had an issue, the medical crew would have no choice but to

allow those homeroom instructors to accompany them, even if they didn't want

to let them come along. And, if a student's Emergency Alert were to go off,

there wouldn't be any time to check the GPS location of each and every person

involved. If the report included a note that a student's watch was apparently

broken, the response crew would be sent to investigate, even if there was no

GPS response at the location in the report.

"Supposing all of the students' GPS signatures were checked, would the

medical response crew not have come, and the situation not have changed,

then?" asked Tsukishiro.

"Not quite. In fact, if you look at the map right now, you'll notice that one

student from Class 2-A and one student from Class 2-D no longer have a GPS

signature. So, if anything, I think it would've actually increased the credibility of

the report if they had checked."

"So, you were intentionally trying to stall for time from the very beginning,"

Tsukishiro said. "That was why you focused on escaping at first, even while at a

disadvantage."

"Threatening Ichinose in such a half-baked fashion was a mistake," I told him.

"If you're going to do something, you need to be thorough."

As a result, Tsukishiro had given me the chance to offer help to Sakayanagi

before I came here.

"Even so, I hold an esteemed, almost unimpeachable position, you know?"

said Tsukishiro, smiling. "There's no way I could do something so dangerous."

I didn't know whether what he just said was the truth or a lie.

"It would seem that having rules that require you to wear a wristwatch that

gives away your position has quite a few downsides to it in an exam, wouldn't

you say?" he added, seemingly surrendering.

Picking up on Tsukishiro's air of resignation, Shiba immediately let go of

Kiryuuin.

"Phew…" she sighed. "Thank you for the help, Ayanokouji. I couldn't even

make a dent in this guy. I was so out of my depth that it was almost funny."

Kiryuuin got down on one knee, trying to catch her breath and recover. I had

watched some of her fight with Shiba, albeit out of the corner of my eye.

Although she was on the defensive the whole time, she held her ground well.

The fact that she had confirmed that she was clearly outclassed and had worked

only to slow down her opponent without overdoing it herself was notable. If

Shiba had joined in on the fight with me, alongside Tsukishiro when he was

going all out, I don't know how things would have turned out.

Eventually, the boat came ashore, and Mashima and Chabashira disembarked.

That walkie-talkie that I had borrowed from Sakayanagi had come in handy right

at the very end.

"So, does this mean that you're acknowledging this as my victory?" I asked.

"Well, I can't not acknowledge it, at present," he replied.

There shouldn't have been any way for Tsukishiro to turn things around

anymore, not at this current time and place. If the school investigated the

matter, they would find that I was the only one who had their designated area

deliberately changed.

"You are certainly skirting a fine line with your score, but I suppose you

should be okay," Tsukishiro conceded. "Just barely, though. As for me,

considering that I have become something of an official, I suppose I wouldn't be

able to avoid objections if you did find yourself in the bottom five groups."

"Don't worry," I told him. "I've been keeping an eye on staying on the safe

side of the line."

"I see, so that was an unnecessary concern on my part. Well then, I believe I'll

retreat for the time being."

"For the time being?" I repeated. "I'd prefer not to see any more schemes like

this where you resort to committing acts of violence, thank you very much. I

think that, at the very least, it goes against the foundational ideology of this

school. Of course, if you're going to have me tested on my physical strength,

officially, and via the school's rules, then I suppose I would see that as a

welcome challenge."

Tsukishiro's smile hadn't left his face as he looked over at Mashima-sensei

and Chabashira-sensei approaching.

"Please let me ask you one last thing, Acting Director Tsukishiro. Were you

really, seriously trying to have me expelled? I'm sure that you were under

strong restrictions, but if I were in your position, I would have gone ahead with

a more reliable method of doing things."

I couldn't believe that the man standing before me was too stupid to have

thought of that himself.

"You are giving me far too much credit," he said. "I did everything in my

power to have you expelled in accordance with the instructions I received from

my superiors. But, in the end, that wasn't what happened, and thus I have fallen

before you in defeat."

One thing that I had come to understand from all of this was that I hadn't yet

seen everything Tsukishiro was truly capable of. It wasn't clear to me whether

he was mixing lies and half-truths into what he told me, but I supposed I should

assume that he had other aims.

"There is one request I'd like to ask of you, myself," he said. "A message to

give to Amasawa-san, if you would."

"Let's hear it," I replied.

"Please tell her that because she has continuously disobeyed orders,

Amasawa Ichika has been deemed a failure. She no longer has any place to

return to. Whether she remains at this school or leaves, she is free to do

whatever she wishes."

Was that the truth? Or a lie? I couldn't tell. Even after he admitted defeat, I

didn't get the sense that he was shaken in the least. Also, even if Amasawa

really had abandoned the White Room, I couldn't imagine that this was going to

be the end of it. Only one thing was certain: I didn't think things with the White

Room were resolved, even after everything that happened here. There was still

something more. That was the only conclusion I could come to.

"Please show me how you'll continue to struggle desperately, up until the

very end," Tsukishiro said.

He slowly got to his feet, turning to Mashima and Chabashira with both arms

up in the air, like he was showing that he had given up.

"Nothing happened here," he told them. "Ayanokouji-kun and I were simply

having a little chat, nothing more."

"Do you really think that'll be the end of it?" asked Mashima.

"Whether or not it will, the matter has been settled. I have no intention of

resisting you two teachers. In fact, I would sincerely hope that you decide to be

grateful that I am not resisting."

I glanced over at Mashima-sensei and nodded, signaling to him that it was all

right.

"Well then, shall we depart?" said Tsukishiro. "The students' special exam is

not yet over, after all."

After verifying that the adults were heading toward the boat, I looked over in

Kiryuuin's direction. She must have been worn out after fighting with Shiba as

she was down on one knee on the beach, looking out at the ocean.

"That was brilliant, Ayanokouji," she said.

"Oh no, not at all," I replied. "You were amazing, Kiryuuin-senpai. Handling

Shiba-sensei yourself."

"After seeing you in action, I can't exactly take that as a compliment, not even

if we're being generous. Oh, by the way, don't worry, I'm not going to tell

anyone about this. But I am quite interested in hearing more about you."

I didn't expect to be seen by anyone, but fortunately for me, it was Kiryuuin

who did.

"I have a somewhat complicated family situation," I told her. "That's all."

"Family situation, huh? That doesn't sound like something you can get into

that easily, I suppose."

Kiryuuin got up, lightly brushed the sand off her backside, and then started

walking toward the woods. By the time Kiryuuin and I left I2 together and

returned to I3, Nagumo was already gone. In his place, though, were two

students that I didn't expect to run into. They were both just as surprised when

they saw my face.

"Now there's someone I usually don't see you palling around with, Horikita," I

remarked. "Walking around together with Ibuki? Has hell frozen over? Will

mochi start falling from the sky?"

"…Are you all right?" asked Horikita.

"All right in what way?" I asked in return.

"Oh, um, never mind," she said. "I just thought that maybe you had a fight

with someone or something."

Kiryuuin and I briefly exchanged glances and then denied Horikita's

assumptions at almost the exact same time.

"No. There wasn't anyone over there," I said.

"Then what were you doing?" asked Horikita.

"It's been a really, really exhausting two weeks. I was relaxing on the beach,

away from people, looking out at the ocean," I answered.

"You're certainly carefree, aren't you?" said Horikita. "Though I suppose,

knowing you, you've probably saved up the bare minimum level of points you

need."

Then, Horikita shot a look at me that seemed to say, "And why is Kiryuuinsenpai here?"

"I happened to see a student slacking off and I brought him back. We need to

take this exam seriously until the last second, after all," said Kiryuuin.

She lightly patted me on the back and then started walking away.

"Well then, when the exam's over, we'll see each other again on the boat,"

she added as she walked away.

Horikita, now standing directly next to me, leaned over and spoke in a small

voice. "Are you really all right…?" she whispered, trying to make sure of it.

"All right how?" I replied.

"Well, it's just… There was something I heard. Well, read. It was on this small

piece of paper," said Horikita.

"Paper?" I repeated.

"Never mind, don't worry about it," she said. "It's nothing. There are still a lot

of things I don't understand, so I'll come and talk to you after I do some more

digging myself."

I was a little curious since I didn't understand what she was talking about, but

I didn't want to prolong any conversation relating to I2. I couldn't tell her about

the matter of Tsukishiro, after all.

"More importantly, why are you and Ibuki here?" I asked. "There isn't a Task

in the vicinity."

Ibuki looked like she was about to say something, but Horikita stopped her.

"Ibuki-san challenged me to a contest. We were just checking each other's

scores. Your GPS signature was in a strange location, so I thought I'd come and

check on you," said Horikita.

"We'll say that it ended in a draw," said Ibuki.

"…How exactly did you arrive at that conclusion?" said Horikita. "I clearly

won, didn't I?"

"It was a calculation error," said Ibuki. "A calculation error."

"Calculation error or not, if I'm ahead of you by even one point, it means I've

won," said Horikita.

I didn't really understand what was happening here, but apparently Horikita

and Ibuki had become friends through this test…maybe?

Shortly thereafter, the uninhabited island exam finally came to a close.

Chapter 8:

Announcement of the Results

AFTER AN EXCEEDINGLY LONG two weeks, the uninhabited island exam was

over. Apparently, students from a few groups had ended up getting injured

because they had tried to push themselves too hard to get results on the final

day. Even so, the exam had ended. The teaching staff stationed at the starting

point welcomed students as they arrived, showing appreciation and admiration

for their efforts.

At just after six in the evening, when the sky was just beginning to redden, the

call came, signaling that all participating students had returned, and the process

of getting everyone back on board was now complete. As we had been told

previously, the results would be announced onboard the ship. However, likely

because the school accounted for the possibility that many students would be

expelled through the course of this exam, it had been decided that the lowerranked groups would be notified ahead of time.

We were likely going to learn the truth in the not-too-distant future,

sometime between when we got back to the ship and before we went to bed,

but it didn't seem like the administrators wanted to turn this into a public

execution before the entire student body. The bottom five groups would be

called in advance to confirm whether or not the students could be saved via the

relief measures that were in place. This meant that the students who could

afford to protect themselves from expulsion would pay the necessary cost and

thus remain at school. Students who did not have enough Private Points, or

those who had the points but for some reason couldn't spend them, would be

expelled at that point. They would have to pack their bags and board one of the

smaller ships.

After I took my first shower in several days and finished cleaning myself off, I

decided to take a stroll around the ship. I figured that, normally, a student

would have used their phone by now to communicate with friends or lovers in a

situation like this, but since the school was still holding onto our phones, we

weren't able to do so.

I passed by a few students from Class 2-D and we exchanged a few mutual

words of praise and encouragement for our respective efforts. Then, I made my

way to the deck. Once I arrived there, I saw a rather interesting pair. They were

facing each other and engaged in conversation. They weren't exactly trying to

hide anything about their conversation, though, and soon enough, one of them

noticed me standing there. His face was covered with cuts and bruises,

indicating that he had been in a fierce fistfight with Housen during the exam.

"Looks like we got interrupted," said Ryuuen. "Anyway, you didn't forget your

promise to me, did ya? And the money?"

"Of course. I haven't forgotten, Ryuuen-kun," replied Sakayanagi. "When the

time comes, please come and tell me. Any time."

With that exchange, Ryuuen just took one brief glance at me and went back

inside the ship's cabin. Sakayanagi smiled happily at his back as he walked

away.

"Promise?" I asked.

"Yes. Because the strength of the first-years was unknown to us, I contacted

Ryuuen-kun and employed his services," she said. "A skilled mercenary of sorts.

But, as he is someone who would not collaborate with us for free, I told him

that if he were to ask me for a favor, then I would grant him one wish."

I see. So that was why Ryuuen had appeared earlier and stood in Housen's

way.

"By the way, do you know what the end result of their fight was?" I asked.

"Well now, who can say, exactly? I know that both Ryuuen-kun and Housenkun returned to the starting point battered and bruised, received medical

attention, and then both were eliminated from the exam."

This meant that it was unclear who exactly had won the fight, but it had

ended with both parties injured, causing one another to be eliminated. Still, it

couldn't have been easy to make Ryuuen do anything when he had been

focused solely on winning this uninhabited island exam.

"Oh, and also…are you sure it was okay to do that?" I asked. "Making a

promise to him so casually?"

"Yes. It's a promise that may not be fulfilled anytime soon. And besides…that

wish of his might end up strangling him in the near future," said Sakayanagi

with a grin, her eyes showing a childlike innocence.

The only thing I was certain of was that it wasn't any sort of sweet promise at

all, like some kind of casual date.

"More importantly, though," she went on, "I am quite glad that you are safe.

Did you have any problems with the timing? Of having the GPS signal disappear,

as you had instructed?"

"The timing was perfect," I replied. "I'll definitely pay back the favor."

"There is only one thing that I would like, whether it comes sooner or later. To

be precise, my wish is to have a serious competition with you, Ayanokouji-kun.

One where no one will interfere."

"That's a pretty difficult request," I replied.

"I understand," she said. "I know that right now, you wish to spend your days

as peacefully as possible. I am very aware that you cannot risk doing anything

that would make you stand out. There is no need to rush. We still have nearly a

year and a half left as students at this school, after all," said Sayakanagi. As long

as we got the opportunity to compete against one another at some point in

some form, before graduation, that was all that mattered to her.

"It's almost six. Time for the results to be announced," she added.

"Yeah," I answered.

Which groups were at the top, and which groups had fallen short? I supposed

we'd just have to go and find out.

8.1

WHEN DINNERTIME rolled around at seven o'clock, the students of Class 2-D

naturally began to gather and started eating in the same area. It was to be

expected. Both yesterday and today, the list of the lower-ranked groups had

not been made available to us, so the only way to find out which groups had

performed poorly was to go ahead and ask them directly.

"First of all… I think that's great that we were all able to make it through the

special exam without a single group from Class 2-D falling by the wayside. And

the fact that all students from Class 2-D are here right now is an important sign,

indicating that we were able to avoid expulsion. I'm truly, truly glad," said

Yousuke, speaking with wholehearted sincerity as he looked around at his

classmates.

I had been a little concerned since I hadn't run into Yousuke even once during

our time on the uninhabited island, but it appeared he was more preoccupied

with how his friends were doing than with his own fatigue. It was certainly true

that if everyone was here, that meant that Haruka and Airi's group was also

safe. I decided to take a peek at the other classes in our grade level to see how

they were faring.

From the looks of things, no students appeared to be missing from our grade.

Everyone was salivating over their first sumptuous meal in two weeks, and they

couldn't stop themselves from digging in and enjoying it. As the faculty began to

gather, though, the notification came on to indicate that it was now eight

o'clock, and the microphone was switched on.

"We'd like to ask you to put your conversations and your meal on hold for a

moment," announced Sasaki, the homeroom instructor for Class 3-A. At this

urging, the students looked up.

"First and foremost, thank you for all your efforts during the uninhabited

island exam," Sasaki said, starting with words of admiration. "Excellent work,

all. Many of the faculty were amazed to see that, although there was a total of

thirteen individual eliminations over the course of the exam, every group

managed to survive the two weeks.

"I'm sure that some of you have already noticed that there are some classes

with missing students," he went on. "As we previously explained, the bottom

five groups have been penalized, and the students from those groups have

been expelled. I will read those names aloud now. Please note that these

groups are composed of more than one person, but only one name will be read

aloud here per group, with that person being the representative of that group.

A total of fifteen students from five groups have been expelled. They are as

follows: Mutou, Class 3-D. Kawakami, Class 3-D. Katsumata, Class 3-C.

Shinonome, Class 3-C. Mikitani, Class 3-B."

The first-and second-year students stirred at Sasaki-sensei's words. I had

already confirmed that those students were most definitely near the bottom of

the rankings at the end of the twelfth day of the exam, but still, the fact that

every expulsion came from the third-year grade level was rather unexpected. I

had assumed that Nagumo would swoop in and bail them all out. I had also

expected that, in the course of that tumultuous turnover, several first-year and

second-year students would've been kicked out instead. But, in the end, five

groups of three from the third-year classes had disappeared.

"Also, since none of these students employed the relief measures that we had

set, the expulsion of all fifteen of these students has been set in stone," added

Sasaki.

Given these results, did that mean that the third-years had privately decided

to let those five groups get expelled? That's what I thought at first, but from

looking at the faces of the third-year students present, that apparently wasn't

the case. Many of the students didn't look composed at all. Rather, they were

shaking, like they couldn't believe what they had just heard. They looked

frightened by these results, as though they were being made an example of.

I looked for Nagumo, but even just from looking at his side profile for only a

second, nothing about him seemed different than usual. Still, maybe that little

last-minute scuffle with me had something to do with this outcome.

A giant screen was turned on, and another person stepped out while an

image was projected onto its white screen.

"The results of the uninhabited island special exam will now be given, and the

top three groups will be announced."

It was Acting Director Tsukishiro. He didn't show the slightest indication that

he had been in a fight with me. He proceeded with the announcements just as

calmly as he did when he made his remarks at the start of the exam.

"In third place…from Class 2-A, Sakayanagi Arisu's group with 261 points,"

said Tsukishiro.

A second-year group was named and identified as the third-place winner. By

taking full advantage of being the only group within our grade level with seven

members, they had accumulated a fair number of points and had slowly but

surely risen through the rankings, settling in nicely at third place. Ichinose had

broken away from the group for about half a day on the final day of the exam,

but I guessed that the effect of her departure had been minimal after all.

Ryuuen and Katsuragi's group had also fought hard in terms of how many

points they had collected, but Ryuuen getting eliminated on the thirteenth day

must have had an impact. Working alone, Katsuragi couldn't get the Early Bird

Bonus anymore, and there was a decrease in the number of Tasks in which he

could participate. It must have been a trying two days for him since he would

have been looking for security to avoid the risk of elimination. I figured that the

fact that our scores were doubled on the final day must have also worked

against him.

On the other hand, Sakayanagi had carried things well. The students she had

sent to stop the first-years were all people outside of her own group. The

tablets used had also come from other groups, so she hadn't taken on any big

risks. She managed the situation well by pitting Ryuuen against a dangerous

opponent. I was sure that Ryuuen himself should have had the foresight to see

that going against Housen would have been risky. Did he take the job because

he had some fateful connection with Housen, dating back to their junior high

days? Or did it have something to do with the promise that Sakayanagi had

mentioned?

If it was the latter, then it must have been something more attractive to him

than the increased rewards he would've earned from getting third place with

the Trials and Tribulations Card. At any rate, what was surprising to me was

Kiriyama's group losing steam in the final stages of the exam.

Now, it was time for second place. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that this

was where everything would be decided. At the end of the twelfth day of the

exam, I had verified that Nagumo and Kouenji alone stood at the top of the

rankings at number one and number two respectively. Even if one of them had

dropped somewhat in points, I wasn't expecting there to be any shakeups

based on the announcement of the third-place score. So, was it going to be

Nagumo, who led the third-years, or would it be Kouenji, who forged on ahead

at a breakneck pace while working alone?

"In second place…from Class 3-A, Nagumo Miyabi with 325 points."

When Tsukishiro read that out, what I heard wasn't what you might call

"cheering." It was more like screaming. Without taking a moment to pause,

Tsukishiro went on to announce the first-place winner.

"And in first place…from Class 2-D, Kouenji Rokusuke with 327 points."

The instant that Kouenji's name was called, every student's eyes immediately

fell on him. Kouenji simply sat where he was, calm and leisurely. He wasn't

boasting about his win, nor was he showing off to anyone about it. Looking at

the results, there was only a difference of two points between their scores. It

was such a small margin that one single, trivial incident could have overturned

the results. Nevertheless, Kouenji had managed to come in first place while

operating under the toughest of conditions—by working alone.

Getting first place meant that 300 Class Points were going to be awarded to

our class, and Kouenji was personally going to receive a million Private Points

and one Protect Point.

"Kouenji-kun really did it after all," said Horikita.

Kouenji briefly shot a knowing look over at her. A look which seemed to say,

"You understand what this means, yes?" And in response, all Horikita could

answer with was a nod. Kouenji had, in brilliant fashion, done exactly what he

had publicly promised he would. That meant he could be excused from any

obligations until graduation. He was going to be spending his days here at

school according to his own whims, even more so than before.

"For the love of… Well, to be honest, I can't be happy about this," Horikita

said. "If anything, I'm astonished beyond words…"

"Shouldn't you be happy about it for now, at least?" I replied. "He did just

single-handedly get us 300 Class Points. That's an extremely significant increase

in moving us closer toward Class A. This is the second time that we've secured

our escape out of Class D."

Besides, Kouenji had always done whatever he pleased, anyway. There was

nothing to control him now.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Horikita conceded. "With the points we've

gained, we've closed the gap in one go. It wouldn't be surprising if we ended up

swapping with B or C, given the circumstances."

"Provided we don't make some careless blunder in our daily lives and end up

falling down tremendously," I added.

Class Points could be deducted rather subtly at times, after all, based on how

we conducted ourselves daily and from instances of problematic behavior.

"…Please don't say something so unpleasant," said Horikita.

Once again, I thought about how significant a two-point difference could be. I

thought back to when Nagumo showed up, having deliberately gone out of his

way to intercept me. I heard the voice of his comrade via the walkie-talkie back

then. I had the feeling that if Nagumo had responded to that student back then,

the first-and second-place winners would have been reversed—and that there

likely would have been different groups being expelled from school right now.

I supposed that I wasn't going to find an answer thinking about it now,

though. At any rate, this long, drawn-out special exam had come to a safe

conclusion. Miraculously, we had managed to get through the summer without

a single student from our grade level getting left behind. I had also

unexpectedly established that Amasawa Ichika was a student from the White

Room.

I didn't understand why, but she was siding with me rather than Tsukishiro, at

least for now. Was this part of some premeditated strategy? Or was it

Amasawa's decision alone, having betrayed the White Room? At present, I

didn't have enough evidence to make a definite conclusion either way. But the

information I had gained was in no way insignificant.

Still, some mysteries remained. At this rate, this summer vacation wasn't

necessarily going to end so quietly.

Postscript

SINCE LAST YEAR, I have been working continuously, from sunup to sundown,

without even giving myself enough time to catch my breath. And yet, there's

just one project after another, endlessly, and that infinite growth continues to

sap my physical and mental strength, day by day…

Oh, hello there. This is Kinugasa.

…Hm.

I…don't have anything to write about in the postscript!

Well, uh, my right thumb has been throbbing in pain lately. (It's probably not

gout.)

Oh, and there's this spicy curry place that opened in my neighborhood! It's so

good that I can't help myself from going there. (Yeah, who cares?)

Or, uh, there's the time that, after staring really hard at the website of a

delivery place for like an hour, thinking about how I wanted to get some lunch

delivered, I ended up riding my bike there and picking it up anyway after

considering the additional charges and the delivery fees. (So what?)

There haven't been any particularly new or notable changes. I've just been

going about my day-to-day life as it comes. Yep. That's all. I guess that's about it

for recent updates? Thank you for your understanding that, as usual, this is a

postscript without much in the way of actual content.

Anyway, this book was about the second half of the uninhabited island special

exam. This was the fourth volume of the second-year arc, but looking back,

both this book and the previous one really are massive! At any rate, even

though I wrote close to 700 pages between the two books, there were still

many, many more episodes that I wanted to