"HOW ARE THINGS GOING, Tsubaki-san?" asked Yagami. He was concerned
that he still hadn't heard any reports yet over the walkie-talkie.
It was around eight o'clock in the morning. If things were proceeding well, the
first-year student groups should have been making contact with Ayanokouji
around this time.
"Don't panic," Tsubaki told him. "So far, everything is going according to plan.
Things have been going so well that it's almost scary."
"I'm glad to hear that," Yagami said.
Ayanokouji was making a clean detour to avoid being caught by groups of
first-year students that were closing the distance between themselves and him.
It was unclear exactly how often he was using the search function, but
it was obvious that he was using it regularly. If they could get him to waste as
many points as possible, that was the best they could hope for. Tsubaki had
been willing to resort to violence, but she thought that it would be much better
if they could crush Ayanokouji without doing so.
If they could manage to keep making Ayanokouji miss his designated areas,
that would open up a path to victory where they wouldn't even need to make
contact. If Ayanokouji couldn't stand it and tried to force his way through, all
they'd have to do was beat him back. Right now, they had surrounded him
without fully trapping him, intentionally leaving little paths that were easy for
him to escape through.
Tsubaki was spending the points that she had accumulated without
hesitation, running GPS searches in ten-minute intervals. It wasn't as if she had
been earning points through the twelfth day so that she could win the exam,
after all. It was all so that she could use them for this plan, at this very moment.
Just after nine o'clock that morning, they confirmed that Ayanokouji had
missed his third designated area in a row. His next destination, D2, was
displayed on Tsubaki's tablet. He was currently fleeing to C6, so he'd still have a
tough time reaching his designated area even without people standing in his
way. Two groups were still on the move to hunt him down. Even without
updates coming every ten minutes, his movements were easy to predict. If he
continued as he was so far, it was possible that Ayanokouji could pass between
areas B4 and C5 and move northward.
Therefore, Tsubaki instructed the remaining three groups to converge in C4.
Then, determining that it would be clever to just sit back and keep an eye on
the situation for a while, she took a break and stopped searching for an hour. A
little after ten o'clock, she checked everyone's positions again to get a grasp on
the situation. Ayanokouji was trying to pass between areas B5 and C5, just as
she had guessed that he would. The two groups that were giving chase were
just about to enter B5 as well.
"We won't let him get away."
Tsubaki instructed the groups that entered C4 to go after Ayanokouji as he
came down the mountain. The intention was to get ahead of him and then lead
him toward areas B4 and B3. From that point forward, Tsubaki once again
started performing searches every ten minutes to get an understanding of
everyone's overall positioning. Then, just as she had predicted, Ayanokouji
headed north toward B4 in order to escape the first-year students who had
gotten ahead of him. Upon seeing that, the three groups started moving north
from C4 in pursuit, to prevent him from escaping.
"May I ask you one question, Tsubaki-san?" asked Yagami.
"What?"
Yagami was standing some distance apart from Tsubaki and fiddling around
with a tablet, like she was. He turned to look at her.
"If you were to give more detailed instructions, wouldn't we be able to corner
Ayanokouji-senpai?" he said. "It looks to me like progress is a little less than
satisfactory."
"Irritating…" answered Tsubaki, speaking in such a quiet voice that Yagami
was unable to hear her.
Tsubaki decided to ignore him. After another thirty minutes had passed,
though, there was trouble. The three groups that she had ordered to move
north from C4 had hardly moved at all. Even if they had encountered some kind
of issue while on the move, why would all three groups come to a complete
stop? Tsubaki started conducting GPS searches at even shorter intervals now,
doing it every five minutes rather than every ten for updates on their positions.
"They really haven't been moving…" she whispered.
The three groups giving chase hadn't left C4, even though Ayanokouji was
trying to cut through to B3 now. At the rate things were going, there was a
possibility that Ayanokouji might actually make it to C3.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" asked Tsubaki, calling the groups
over the walkie-talkie.
She didn't get a response.
"Strange…" she muttered.
Tsubaki guessed that this wasn't the result of a simple accident that had
befallen the three groups.
"What's the matter, Tsubaki-san?" asked Yagami, seeing the clouded
expression on her face. He peeked at her tablet without asking. "Did something
happen?"
"Three of the five groups of first-years that we dispatched stopped moving,"
she replied. "The three that stopped all have something in common too. They
were all in the same position, and groups of second-year students were there as
well."
Considering that there were over 400 people on the island for this special
exam, it wasn't especially unusual for many groups to pass one another.
Therefore, Tsubaki hadn't been paying that issue much mind until now.
"Respond," said Tsubaki, once again calling to them via walkie-talkie.
But no matter how long she waited, she still didn't receive an answer.
"Could it be that they've simply suffered some kind of accident?" Yagami
suggested. "Many, many groups are constantly on the move in search of
designated areas and Tasks on the island. I think that arbitrarily deciding that
something is wrong could be dangerous."
"Even though three groups just so happened to be blocked by second-years?"
she rebutted.
"W-well, yes, that does appear true, but…"
After another five minutes had passed, Tsubaki, suppressing a desire to be
impatient and enduring, refreshed the search results.
"It looks like they've started moving again, more or less. But they seem quite
sluggish, don't they?" remarked Yagami.
"Those groups of second-years are sticking close to them, after all," said
Tsubaki.
Meanwhile, Ayanokouji slipped through B4, descended the mountains into
B3, and was heading toward C3. Now that it had come to this, Tsubaki figured
that she had no choice but to just let the two other groups that were giving
chase handle it. However…she noticed that the two groups chasing Ayanokouji
from behind had also stopped moving. Groups of second-year students were
sticking to them too, just like the other three groups.
"It certainly appears as though we're being sabotaged by some second-years,
but…if that's the case, then who in the…?" Yagami trailed off. Without asking,
he took the liberty of touching Tsubaki's tablet to check what was going on.
"Hey! Don't butt in," said Tsubaki, brushing him off.
"Wh-what?!" sputtered Yagami.
"I'm letting you stay here because we're allies for the time being, but I don't
remember allowing you to touch my things without my permission."
Tsubaki's eyes burned as she glared at him, causing Yagami to take a step
back.
"I understand…" he said. "But even so, I would like to share my opinion.
Shouldn't we check to see which second-year students are impeding our
progress?"
"Yeah, yeah," she answered, not needing to be told. She had been planning
on checking for herself anyway.
Tsubaki proceeded to use her tablet to look for the second-year students who
might've been sabotaging their efforts. However, among the five groups, she
didn't see a single student that she had previously flagged for concern.
"It appears that the second-year leaders aren't taking part," remarked
Yagami.
"And on top of that, it looks like there's an even distribution of students from
all four classes, with no noticeable bias toward any particular one," added
Tsubaki.
"So this isn't one specific second-year class? They're moving together, as the
will of the entire grade?"
Tsubaki had come to the same conclusion, but there was something about it
that bothered her. She couldn't imagine that their entire grade would come
together to protect Ayanokouji.
"So that's what's happening…" she muttered. There was one answer that
came to her mind from looking at this situation. "Those five groups of secondyear students don't know why they've been asked to stop us."
"You mean that they're helping Ayanokouji-senpai without even knowing
what's going on?" asked Yagami.
"I'm sure that the reason they were given could have been anything," replied
Tsubaki. "They could have basically been given a light task. Maybe they were
just asked to go and sabotage first-years from reaching designated areas and
taking Tasks to protect some second-year student. Right?"
After getting a grasp on the current situation, Tsubaki proceeded to look back
through the search records from that day. She flipped through screenshots and
tracked the locations of these upperclassmen.
"Their execution is too good," she said. "They knew about our attack today
from the beginning. Our plans were leaked. That's the only conclusion I can
draw."
"There are only two days left in the special exam. I don't think there's
anything strange about our opponents being so wary. Ayanokouji-senpai
himself must have known that there was a bounty on his head, so he likely laid
the groundwork for this operation in advance," reasoned Yagami. His words
suggested he didn't find it surprising they had known about the attack. After all,
now that they were in the second half of the exam, there were fewer days left
for the attack to occur as time went on.
"As we're the ones initiating the attack, we just need to devote our time to
carrying it out right now," Tsubaki told him. "And it's not as though the secondyears can protect Ayanokouji-senpai around the clock, can they? The special
exam is still on, after all."
With only two days remaining in the exam, this was the time to earn as many
points as possible.
"That's certainly true…" said Yagami.
"Another thing that bothers me, though, is how easily they got around us,"
Tsubaki said. "It's no simple task to capture five targets when they're scattered
and moving separately."
Yagami couldn't provide an answer to that question. He raised his hand to his
lips, deep in thought.
"You don't see why?" Tsubaki asked. "This just proves that there's a
commander hiding in the shadows on their side."
"You mean that there's someone lurking behind the scenes and giving orders,
just like you, Tsubaki-san?"
She nodded. She pulled up a map of the entire island and looked it over. Right
now, somewhere among all the GPS signatures on the screen, there was
someone who was looking at the unfolding war efforts, just like she was. And
this person was giving precise orders to keep the first-year student groups
contained.
"Personally, I say that we should consider momentarily suspending our
operation," said Yagami.
"Why?" she asked.
"Don't tell me you're thinking about pushing through by force. Are you? That
would be dangerous."
"I'm not going to do that," said Tsubaki. "With five groups of students
contained right now, there's no way we could pull off something so daring."
"Then why won't you pause the operation?"
"Because it would yield the same result either way."
"The…same?" repeated Yagami.
Everything that was happening now was still within the realm of Tsubaki's
expectations, planned right from the very beginning. In fact, if anything, she felt
grateful for the groups that had come forward to sabotage their efforts.
"Though we don't know who is giving the orders on their side, I'll teach them
that the information you can see with your eyes isn't everything," she said.
"What in the world are you going to do?" asked Yagami.
"Most likely, their commander noticed the five groups of first-year students
moving last night," said Tsubaki.
"I see. Which means that whoever it was, they were constantly searching,
even throughout the night," said Yagami.
"As I said before, the second-years have to deal with the exam as well," said
Tsubaki. "We've readied five groups for this, so they went ahead and prepared
five of their own in similar fashion. They were skillfully positioned ahead of us
to strike back. If they had prepared six or seven groups for this task, then that
would mean they were neglecting the special exam."
"Isn't it possible that they have one or two more groups in reserve, just in
case?"
"True, there could be, but from what we can see right now, there are only five
groups of second-years moving irregularly. Don't you think that means they feel
confident enough to deal with us using the same number of students as we are?
But that's going to cost them dearly."
Walkie-talkie in hand, Tsubaki issued new orders.
"There's no one left to interfere anymore. You can go ahead and make things
happen however you want."
"Who did you just contact?" said Yagami. "There isn't a single group in the
vicinity that we can move anymore…"
"I already told you. The information you can see with your eyes isn't
everything," said Tsubaki.
After giving those orders, she paused and thought for a moment. She
wondered what upperclassman could have been involved in this battle.
"While Ayanokouji was on the run…?" she muttered. "No, that'd be
impossible. Even I don't have the kind of charisma to control and command the
other classes. And I don't have that kind of time right now either." She was
speaking in such a faint voice that Yagami wasn't able to hear her musings
despite standing right next to her.
All Yagami could tell was that she was moving her lips. When Tsubaki was
thinking like this, she tended to talk through her reasoning in such a quiet voice
that no one around her could listen in. No matter how quietly she spoke,
though, she always cleared her mind by vocalizing her thoughts. To use an
analogy, it was similar to rearranging a dresser that had clothes haphazardly
shoved inside. She was taking them out, one by one, and then neatly putting
them back inside to make everything nice and tidy.
"It's safe to assume that Ayanokouji was in contact with whoever is involved
in this situation right now, and that he asked for their help earlier," Tsubaki
mused quietly. "In that case, he could have been preparing for this movement
from an early stage."
"Huh? Did you say something?" asked Yagami quizzically.
"Nothing. Don't worry about it," said Tsubaki, sounding a little irritated and
down.
Had something that resembled words reached his ears through her repeated
whisperings? Tsubaki wondered. She lowered her gaze once more to look at her
tablet.
6.4
SAKAYANAGI TOOK A SINGLE SIP of water as she stared out at the ocean. The sea
glittered brilliantly, like diamonds. The sip was more to wet her lips than for
hydration. It was now five minutes after seven in the morning—exactly the
same time that Tsubaki started executing her plan.
"Seems like they're on the move," said Sakayanagi.
Looking down at her tablet, she issued her orders via the walkie-talkie in her
hand. She had continuously used the GPS search function for three nights in a
row, meaning the nights of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth days of the exam.
She had done so because she knew that in order to surround Ayanokouji, his
opponents would need to make moves outside of the regular exam hours.
"It looks like everyone is in position," she said into her walkie-talkie. "So, let's
begin, shall we?"
"That's all well and good, but there's no guarantee that we'll be able to bump
into each other just by proceeding to the same area, right?" replied a somewhat
languid voice.
The voice belonged to a student in her class named Tsukasaki. Sakayanagi had
already explained to him that they would be sabotaging the first-year students
and blocking them from Tasks today. Tsukasaki was currently on his way to the
location she had ordered him to go.
"Over the past twelve days, the terrain on this island has undergone gradual
changes, bit by bit," Sakayanagi told him. "Do you understand what that
means?"
"The terrain changed…? You mean like after people passed through the area?"
"Exactly right," she said. "Students and teachers move about and across the
island day after day. In fact, you've chosen a quick and safe route to take
yourself today, Tsukasaki-kun. Would you say that you went about doing that
naturally?"
Though the changes to the topography were slight, there were more than a
few paths where you could clearly make out people's footprints made since the
storm.
"More importantly, if you've decided on a destination, it is not difficult to
guess which route to take."
"Even though I know you shouldn't be able to really see the path, you almost
can," answered Tsukasaki.
Though she was only looking at the map via her tablet, Sakayanagi could
indeed see the uninhabited island three-dimensionally. She ran through some
realistic simulations in her head, figuring out who was advancing where and
how they were moving. From there, she went on to determine exactly who was
behind the overall strategies as they moved about the map. After all that, she
spent some time gazing out at the ocean.
Roughly thirty minutes later, she looked at her tablet again.
"Now then," she said, "since this is the time when people will be headed to
designated areas and Tasks, there should be hardly anyone who isn't moving."
By further refining her search and focusing only at the first-year students,
Sakayanagi was instantly able to narrow down the list of suspects. From there,
she discovered that there were three GPS signatures that had not moved at all
since seven o'clock that morning, the start of the day's exam period.
"Yagami Takuya-kun, Utomiya Riku-kun, and Tsubaki Sakurako-san,"
Sakayanagi mused. "Now then, which one is my opponent, I wonder? Or
perhaps all three of them are?"
She narrowed her eyes into a happy squint, chuckling to herself. She began to
think back to the person who had brought this rather interesting battle to her. It
had happened three days ago.
Now, let's return to the night of the tenth day of this special exam.
Sakayanagi had been contacted by Takemoto's group via walkie-talkie.
"Why are you contacting me at such a late hour? Are you in trouble?" asked
Sakayanagi.
She had thought, perhaps, that there had been some kind of accident, but
apparently that was not the case.
"No, no, it's not like that. Actually, Ayanokouji wants to talk with you," replied
Takemoto.
"Ayanokouji-kun?" replied Sakayanagi.
At that unexpected name, Sakayanagi felt her slight drowsiness vanish in a
flash. She was instantly completely awake and alert.
"I'd really appreciate it if you could talk to him. I kind of owe him and—"
"Of course I can. I do not mind at all. Please, pass the walkie-talkie to him,"
said Sakayanagi.
"Hold on just a minute," replied Takemoto.
There were a few moments of silence.
"Sakayanagi?" Ayanokouji's voice came over the device.
"Good evening, Ayanokouji-kun," she replied. It was such a graceful greeting
that one could almost forget that they were in the middle of a special exam on
an uninhabited island.
"Seems like your class is really coordinating together well," said Ayanokouji.
"Yes. I was able to get in contact with Ryuuen-kun and Horikita-san as well,"
said Sakayanagi. "Things are proceeding quite smoothly. Also, while I am not
privy to all the details, from the sounds of things it seems like Takemoto-kun
and the others are indebted to you."
"And your group is really jumping up in the rankings, Sakayanagi. You're in
fifth now, right? You've put yourself in a good enough position to slip into the
top spots."
"It's not as though I am entirely free from concerns, however," replied
Sakayanagi.
"That so?"
"Have you met with Ichinose-san?" asked Sakayanagi.
"No. I haven't even seen her once during this exam. Is something the matter?"
asked Ayanokouji.
"I received a call saying there's something a little strange going on with her,"
Sakayanagi told him. "I am concerned that she's been here in body but not in
spirit, so to speak, over the past several days."
This was a particularly long, drawn-out marathon of a special exam. It was not
unusual for someone to become sick or disheartened.
"At any rate, what can I do for you?" she asked.
"There's a favor I'd like to ask of you, Sakayanagi," replied Ayanokouji.
"In that case, do not feel shy," she said. "Please, tell me what it is. I will return
the favor we owe you for helping my classmates."
"It involves the White Room."
"This sounds like it will be quite an interesting favor then."
Since Sakayanagi also knew about the matter of Acting Director Tsukishiro,
Ayanokouji explained that Nanase was one of the agents that Tsukishiro had
sent in after him. He also explained that, aside from Nanase, there was a
student from the White Room lurking in the shadows. He then went on to tell
her that there was an extremely high possibility that Amasawa Ichika was that
White Room student.
"I wish you would have told me about this sooner," said Sakayanagi,
disappointed. She sounded like she felt that she had missed an opportunity to
have some fun.
"I didn't tell you because nothing was certain," answered Ayanokouji.
"So, you would like me to handle this Amasawa Ichika-san?"
"No… That's not quite what I'm asking."
Ayanokouji found himself flustered by Sakayanagi being able to say something
so outrageous in such a forthright way, without batting an eye.
"To tell you the truth, there's another thorn in my side," he continued.
Ayanokouji then got to the matter at hand and told Sakayanagi about the
bounty that had been placed on him by Nagumo and Tsukishiro. Sakayanagi was
the sole person among all the second-years who knew Ayanokouji's real
background, as she had known him since they were both very young. The
reason Ayanokouji hadn't spoken with her about these matters until now was
because the problems he was dealing with were major, of course, but he also
hadn't counted her as his ally before.
Besides, there was no changing the fact that at their school, once students
were placed into different classes, they were enemies until graduation.
Ayanokouji had thought it was entirely possible that Sakayanagi might use
information related to the White Room to win. But from his conversations with
her, he knew that the risk of that happening was not that high. And in this
particular case, after weighing that small risk against this new issue he was
facing, he found that the situation had changed.
"So, you're telling me that in the near future, the first-years will start to move
against you, Ayanokouji-kun," said Sakayanagi.
"Yep, that's right. I wanted to ask you to deal with them for me," he replied.
"I do not think that anyone could manage to drive you into a corner though,
Ayanokouji-kun. At least not anyone other than a student of the White Room
like yourself."
"I suspect that the first-years are going to take drastic measures. The best way
for them to get me expelled would be to take advantage of the fact that I'm
working alone. In that case, I can expect that they'll aggressively block me from
Tasks, and if they try anything beyond that, it'll likely prevent me from reaching
my designated areas," he explained.
Sakayanagi believed that no matter how many people might come after him,
if Ayanokouji were to adopt more aggressive measures of his own, it wouldn't
be difficult for him to repel his opponents. However, this would not be a
desirable way to deal with the situation by any means.
"If you become someone that the first-years cannot defeat even after
mustering the totality of their strength, then your name will be on the lips of
every student in our school in a heartbeat, Ayanokouji-kun. Personally…I'm not
sure whether I would be pleased or saddened by such a thing. I feel conflicted,"
said Sakayanagi.
"If you had to choose one, then I'd prefer that you be sad about it," said
Ayanokouji. "Besides, it's possible that Tsukishiro could still be plotting
something. I'd like to concentrate on that, if possible."
"I understand the situation."
"It's inevitable that the burden that falls on you will get bigger, Sakayanagi."
"I know. If I'm going to be monitoring you constantly, that means I'll
inevitably run the risk of needing to use the GPS search function on a regular
basis."
In the end, there were certain things that would have to be entrusted to
Sakayanagi's side, no matter what.
"Please, do not worry," she went on. "I already have a firm understanding of
the point totals of all groups belonging to Class A."
"Well, I guess…that's because you've been in close contact with each other
and coordinated so carefully," Ayanokouji said.
"That's because this exam's structure is such that we can see the point totals
for the groups in the bottom ten until the twelfth day of the exam, and it is
extremely important to have an understanding of which groups are in trouble
and which groups have some breathing room," Sakayanagi explained. "There
are several groups that have a certain degree of leeway, but not to the extent
that they'd be able to break into the top ten. So, supposing even if we were to
use the GPS search function multiple times, once per group, we should have
more than enough to cover those expenses until the final day."
Her strategy was made possible thanks to both her own perfect leadership of
Class A and the fact that her class had joined forces with a group that would
never, under any circumstances, betray them—Ichinose's Class C. It was fair to
say that this was a strategy that Class D could never have implemented. Even
just the cost of providing walkie-talkies was nothing to scoff at.
"We just have to keep the first-years coming after you in check, yes?" she
asked.
"I take it that means that you're going to help?"
"This exam was getting a little boring anyway," said Sakayanagi. "I was just
helping classmates clear Tasks. Besides, this favor of yours seems like it might
offer some significant benefits to me as well."
"Meaning?" he asked.
"Meaning that what I'm doing for you is far too great to serve simply as
payback for what you've done for Takemoto-kun," replied Sakayanagi. "In other
words, this'll be the start of a new debt that you'll owe me. Wouldn't you
agree?"
"That's painfully true," Ayanokouji agreed. "But how about this? If you get me
satisfactory results, then we'll say I owe you a favor instead of a debt."
"It's decided, then. I'll go ahead and get started on the preparations."
"Oh, and also, if you don't mind, could I hold onto this walkie-talkie?" asked
Ayanokouji. "As a loan?"
"Of course you may. I was already planning on letting you have it. It'll make it
easier if we can stay connected with one another. Well then, could I ask that
you please hand it back to Takemoto-kun for the moment? I'll have him give it
back to you after I have explained the situation, Ayanokouji-kun."
Sakayanagi had a warm smile on her face as she recalled what happened on
the tenth night of the exam. It was a wonderful memory. Displayed on her
tablet, she spotted the five groups she had dispatched to stop the first-years.
"Now then, we've managed to stop those five suspicious groups from moving.
Shall I go ahead and identify who planned this attack?" she mused.
Walkie-talkie in hand, Sakayanagi proceeded to contact the students of Class
A.
6.5
"UM, TSUBAKI-SAN?" said Yagami.
"What now?" asked Tsubaki.
"While I don't know exactly what you're planning to do at this point, I think
that it was a mistake to not have given detailed instructions to our five groups
in anticipation of something like this happening," he said. "Surely it shouldn't
have been all that difficult for our groups to have escaped before the secondyears surrounded them, no?"
A total of five first-year groups had been dispatched. Even if someone had
marked and been watching all five of them, actually catching them here on such
a vast island shouldn't have been so easy. Yagami was suggesting that the fact
that those five groups had been stopped so easily indicated a strategic error.
"Even if our groups had to somehow force their way past to make their
escape, we could have come up with any number of excuses after the fact.
Maybe our fellow first-years feared an entanglement with their senpais, or
something to that effect. If only you had consulted with me sooner, then we—"
"You're saying this happened because I was careless?" asked Tsubaki.
"If you want to phrase it so harshly, then yes, that's precisely it," Yagami
retorted.
Looking at the dissatisfied look on Yagami's face, Tsubaki spoke up once more
to respond to his criticisms.
"Well, since it's all done, I guess I'll tell you… It's actually the opposite."
"What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.
"They didn't catch my groups," said Tsubaki. "I captured my opponent's
groups."
"U-um, but… I apologize, I'm afraid I still don't quite understand."
"Five groups were dispatched to go after Ayanakouji-senpai to get him
expelled," Tsubaki said. "Even if those groups had been able to track him down
and push him into a position where they would see him for what he really is,
and even if there was a substantial difference in their physical abilities,
Ayanokouji-senpai would just cut his way through, wouldn't he? Rumor has it
that his physical abilities might be close to Housen-kun's. What I'm saying is
that I had no intention of having those five groups run into Ayanokouji-senpai
from the beginning."
Yagami cocked his head to the side, confused.
"If you put it that way, though, it sounds like you're saying that the groups we
sent after Ayanokouji-senpai had no way of beating him in the first place," he
said. "There was no point to this strategy."
"Our objectives are twofold. The first is to probe into Ayanokouji-senpai's
thought process. Things like what he likes and what he dislikes," explained
Tsubaki, drumming on her tablet with her index finger, making a tap-tap noise.
"He was more reluctant to make direct contact with the first-year students
than to incur the penalty for missing his designated areas. He's been avoiding
Tasks where instructors are present and staying clear of second-and third-years.
What we can interpret from this is that he has an extreme dislike of standing
out, and he's willing to take on penalties to avoid the spotlight."
"Even if we were doing all of this to learn his behavioral patterns though,
there wasn't any need for our groups to be captured," insisted Yagami.
"There's something more important here, don't you understand? By doing
this, we've caught the groups that were trying to protect Ayanokouji-senpai."
When Yagami heard that, he let out a surprised gasp.
"What we need to avoid now is letting someone else interfere as we're
eliminating Ayanokouji-senpai," Tsubaki went on. "And the only person capable
of eliminating him, apart from Utomiya-kun, would be Housen-kun."
Yagami finally understood what Tsubaki was getting at. He tried to search for
Housen's GPS signature, but he couldn't find him anywhere.
"So, that's what you meant when you said something about what you see
with your eyes not being everything," he said, realizing what the plan had been
all along.
Having provided her explanation at last, Tsubaki decided to brush off any
unnecessary distractions for the moment.
"Please allow me to ask you one final question," said Yagami. "If Housen-kun
hadn't accepted your request to assist us in this matter, would this strategy
have been possible?"
"No, it's not like that," she said. "Not exactly. You would be correct in saying
that we decided to carry out this operation because we were absolutely sure
that Housen-kun would be on board with the plan. He seemed like he was
already fully prepared to fight alone anyway. Still, in the unlikely event that
Housen-kun hadn't gone along with it, then I would've sent Utomiya-kun
instead. In any case, I have perfectly managed to create an environment where
a one-on-one confrontation will be unavoidable. All that's left to do now is to
wait for the two of them to go at it. Win or lose, everything will turn out just
fine."
Ayanokouji, who was working alone, would inevitably be eliminated.
6.6
AYOUNG MAN of exceptional size and stature among all the students in
school ran through the woods at a breakneck pace. He had but one goal:
defeating Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from Class 2-D.
Acts of violence were not recommended in this uninhabited island exam.
Well, they weren't exactly endorsed in terms of what was acceptable behavior.
However, unlike at school where students were monitored via surveillance
cameras, there were no eyes on the students on this uninhabited island.
It would've been possible to figure out what was happening by examining a
single student's wristwatch. Tsubaki had come up with and proposed the idea
of surrounding and attacking Ayanokouji. But, even from the very beginning,
this certain student was uninterested in being involved. It wasn't easy to find a
specific person on a vast, uninhabited island like this. However, there was a
reason why he finally agreed to take part in the plan.
Repeated GPS searches were necessary to pull this plan off, and if someone
were to interfere, it would've all been for nothing. However, if someone were
to take command, they could be useful and remove such obstacles. It was
precisely because Housen had thought as much that he decided to pretend to
follow Tsubaki's instructions. He would find Ayanokouji and finish him off in a
one-on-one showdown, without anyone else getting in the way. And he could
do it all without any extra effort on his part.
Now that Housen was only a short distance from Ayanokouji, he tossed his
walkie-talkie aside. Doing so was the same as declaring that he was done
following Tsubaki from that point forward. Then, Housen took out his own
tablet and used the GPS search to confirm the home stretch of his hunt. On the
map, he confirmed that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's GPS signature was about 300
meters ahead of him. Housen was going to get closer to Ayanokouji than any
other first-year student had before.
Just a little bit further. Housen was already rejoicing at the idea of being able
to throw down in a serious fistfight. But then…
On the screen, right before Housen's eyes, a single GPS signature appeared,
catching his attention as if someone was blocking his path. He thought it was
just a simple coincidence and didn't bother confirming their identity. Just
ahead, at the end of his line of sight, all Housen could see was that he was
about to capture Ayanokouji.
"Found you, Ayanokouji-senpai!" he shouted, unable to contain his
excitement.
Ayanokouji turned and noticed Housen standing there.
"Oh, Housen." Ayanokouji stopped walking and looked at him calmly.
"I've been waitin' for this time to come!" announced Housen.
"I was expecting you to come and see me much earlier," said Ayanokouji.
"Guess you're calmer and more composed than I thought."
"That's 'cause it's a bummer when someone gets in the way when you're
'bout to throw down with someone," said Housen.
"What are you talking about?" asked Ayanokouji.
"Don't pretend ya don't get it," said Housen. "I already know that Nanase ran
to you and tattled. She gave ya a friendly warning."
"Oh, I see. You deliberately made time so Nanase would come and tell me
about the attack a day early."
"I thought it'd be the kind of cheap little trick that I hate, but it turned out to
be pretty convenient for me. I just decided to put it to good use!" shouted
Housen. He clenched his fists and slammed them together.
One would certainly have believed without any doubt that an honest-togoodness fistfight would begin in less than ten seconds.
"That's a pretty tall order there, Housen. Don't you think?"
"Huh?"
Though they were in a place where the stage should have been set for a oneon-one confrontation, another young man barred Housen's path, not even
projecting a shadow.
"Hurry up and get lost," sneered Housen. "You're in the way."
The other student had been lying in wait, as if he had foreseen Housen's
arrival. Ayanokouji shared a brief glance with him and then quickly disappeared
into the woods. Housen wanted to run after him immediately, but it would have
been difficult to ignore this other person standing right in front of him.
"The hell are you doin' here, Ryuuen?" demanded Housen.
"Took the words right outta my mouth, Housen," the other replied. "What are
you doin' in a place like this?"
Just from that brief comment, Housen immediately understood the situation.
"What…? Heh. Seems like we got intercepted somewhere, huh?"
He laughed in amusement, now realizing what was going on.
"So it wasn't a coincidence that those other first-years got caught by you
second-years then," he added.
The people that Tsubaki had sent to hunt down Ayanokouji were in the same
positions as second-year students, their respective GPS signatures overlapping
on the map. None of them were moving from their respective locations. This
proved that, just as Tsubaki was controlling the first-year students, there was
someone else controlling the second-years.
"Is it you?" said Housen. "Nah, I don't get the feelin' it is."
If Ryuuen had been the second-years' commander, he would have had a
tablet and a walkie-talkie, as those would have been indispensable items for
giving orders. However, as far as Housen could tell, Ryuuen wasn't even
wearing a backpack. Besides, it would have been difficult for someone fighting
on the front lines to issue out commands to multiple groups.
"You finished sortin' out the situation?" Ryuuen asked.
"Dunno. But what I'm about to do is none of your business anyway."
Though Housen had come to understand what was going on, one thing he
couldn't wrap his mind around was why Ryuuen had become one of the people
working to prevent Ayanokouji from getting expelled.
"Unfortunately for you, it is my business," replied Ryuuen. With a thin smile
on his lips, he started walking slowly toward Housen. "Y'know, I've been pretty
busy, and my wallet's gotten a bit thin. I can be a bit of a mercenary if the
situation calls for it."
"Money, huh?" Housen said. "But do you seriously think that you can stop
me?"
"What? You seriously think that I can't?" Ryuuen sneered.
Both flashed wicked grins at one another, standing extremely close to one
another just an arm's distance between them. Ryuuen was the first to throw a
punch. Without taking his eyes off Housen, the second-year swung his left fist
straight at him. Since there was a clear difference in power and resilience
between the two due to differences in their physiques, Ryuuen aimed for
Housen's jaw.
"Oof… That's a mischievous left hand ya got there," said Housen.
Even though Ryuuen had thrown the first punch in this fight, Housen had
already prepared himself for war. He hadn't let his guard down at all and caught
Ryuuen's fist out in front of his chest, showing him a big, open-mouthed grin.
"Damn, dude, your breath stinks," said Ryuuen. "Don't spew your nasty air at
me, you gorilla."
"Only thing you got going for you is your mouth," Housen mocked. "Come on,
why don't you show me the pride and skill of a second-year? Bring it!"
Housen released his grip on Ryuuen's fist for a moment. But just when
Ryuuen thought he was being let go, Housen immediately clamped down his
fingers and gripped his fist once more. He pulled Ryuuen in close and then
slammed his forehead against the older student's.
"Ugh!"
The unexpected blow violently rocked Ryuuen's brain, causing him to stagger
about wildly. It wasn't as though he didn't have any experience with this sort of
thing. If anything, when it came to being right in the middle of a fight, he had a
much more impressive record than the average delinquent. It was just unlucky
for him that his opponent's résumé was several times longer.
"Oraah!"
Ryuuen, unable to stand up straight again to move out of the way of Housen's
incoming attack, took a kick right to the abdomen. He fell to the ground hard,
landing on his back. This gave Housen a huge opening to exploit, but Housen
just howled with laughter, not moving from his spot.
"That's all you've got? You were talking such a big game, but it ain't even
been ten seconds yet, y'know?" he scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, man."
"Ugh… Damn, your head's as hard as a rock," grunted Ryuuen. "Are you sure
your skull isn't just filled with 'em? You damn ape."
Ryuuen immediately hopped back up onto his feet and started throwing
insults to provoke Housen again. At the sound of this, the underclassman just
scratched the back of his head, seemingly exasperated.
"Guess I was expectin' too much, anyway," Housen said. "I should've known
you weren't even worth it."
"Can't imagine there's anybody out there who could satisfy you though,"
argued Ryuuen.
"There is," said Housen. "Ayanokouji, who just strolled on past you, idiot.
Now hurry up and get the hell out of here."
"Oh?" replied Ryuuen. The smile had disappeared from his face. "What?
You're talkin' like you know it too, Housen."
"Know what? That the fact he looks all harmless on the outside is all just an
act? Guess that means he's for real, huh."
"I thought there were only a few people who knew what that dude was like,
deep down," Ryuuen said. "Seems like this really is something we've got in
common, then."
They each sounded more as if they were monologuing than having a
conversation, trying to convince the other of what they thought.
"I've started feelin' interested in you for the first time, Housen. When and
where did you throw down with him? And what was the result?"
"What, you infatuated with Ayanokouji too or somethin', Ryuuen?" replied
Housen, mockingly.
The biggest reason Ryuuen had chosen to stay at this school was to get
revenge on Ayanokouji. And that was why he could never allow Ayanokouji to
be defeated, whether it be in a fight or something else, even by someone like
Housen whose abilities as a fighter far exceeded those of a typical high-school
student. Housen, noticing both the passion in Ryuuen's words and also what
seemed to be a kind of murderous intent behind them, snorted.
"Relax. Things with me and him ain't even been settled. Or maybe more like
they ain't even gotten started yet."
Housen then quickly snapped his head to the left and right, cracking his neck,
and started approaching Ryuuen.
"I've never seen anybody just stop my punches like that before, all calmly like
they were nothin'. And I definitely never saw anybody look like they didn't even
feel any pain after gettin' stabbed with a knife," said Housen.
When Ryuuen heard the words "stabbed with a knife," some memories
immediately stirred within his mind. He recalled that Ayanokouji had, for a
time, worn some bandages over his hand, and knew he had a scar.
"Tch. Sounds like he's been havin' a lot of fun without me, huh?" Ryuuen
scowled.
Even though Ryuuen had been hit twice by Housen, there was no change in
the look in his eyes as he glared at the underclassman. Despite seeing such an
ominous sight, Housen didn't put up his guard. He simply went after Ryuuen
even harder. Housen was always ready for battle, and he had never worried
about being proud or careless in a fight in the first place. That was even more
evident now, considering that the person he was facing off against was none
other than Ryuuen, who had made quite a bad reputation for himself in junior
high.
Housen kicked him, and then, with swiftness you wouldn't expect from
someone so large, he closed in on Ryuuen once more. Ryuuen braced himself,
trying to guard his face. Unfortunately, the first-year knocked him off his guard
and threw a punch straight for it, using so much force that if Ryuuen hadn't
been blocking, it could've easily broken his nose.
Ryuuen managed to get up, but he was quickly and violently slammed down
to the ground once again. From that last blow, Housen could tell that the
difference in their abilities in a one-on-one fight was clear as day. The
upperclassman immediately started to push himself up, but Housen connected
a vicious kick to his face, as though he had been waiting for just that moment.
He sent Ryuuen crumpling backwards onto the ground with great force.
"Looks like yer pretty busy fallin' asleep and gettin' back up, huh?" Housen
sneered.
Less than a minute after their actual fight had started, the winner was already
obvious to anyone watching.
"That friggin' hurt, you jackass…" huffed Ryuuen.
"Ha ha!" Housen guffawed. "You're just like I thought you'd be, Ryuuen.
That's all you've got!"
Housen hollered in triumph, but the situation itself was clear enough without
the need for him to shout. The gap in their fighting ability had been obvious
from the start, and it was too vast for Ryuuen to possibly overcome it. Even so,
Ryuuen's will to fight showed no signs of breaking whatsoever.
Eighty percent of the people who went up against Housen had their spirit
broken with just one blow. Another ten percent tried to act tough and bluff
their way out. The remaining ten percent fell into total despair after the second
or third blow. However, despite the damage Housen had already inflicted, the
look in Ryuuen's eyes hadn't changed at all. That was precisely why Housen was
trying to bring him down with words, trying to force him to see the difference
between them. In a mental exchange like that, however, Ryuuen was one step
ahead.
"Seems like you're havin' fun, but do you really think you've won?" he
taunted. Though he was in pain, he didn't stop smirking. Ryuuen picked himself
up once more, sitting upright.
"Don't make me laugh," Housen replied, standing before him. "As if someone
like you could possibly compete with me." He seized Ryuuen by the scruff of his
collar, holding him up.
"In the end, you're just a guy who can't get anythin' done unless he's usin'
small fries to do his dirty work."
"Winnin' one-on-one isn't everything nowadays, y'know?" said Ryuuen. "In
fact, back when we were in junior high, our opinions of the world weren't all
that different."
He was trying to use logic against Housen to get him riled up.
"Seems like you'd prefer just sneaking around to avoid direct conflicts. What a
touching effort," said Housen.
Ryuuen's attempts to shake Housen weren't meaningless, not completely.
Unfortunately, they just weren't doing enough damage to be effective. Nothing
changed the position they were in now; the fact remained that in a fistfight,
Housen had an overwhelming advantage. But just then, while Housen still had
his hands on him, Ryuuen swung wide with his left hand. He opened his hand
before it connected, slapping the dirt he'd been holding right into Housen's
eyes.
"Agh!"
The attack took Housen by surprise, but he defended himself with his free
hand while his other was busy wiping away the dust.
"Yer really in for it now!" shouted Housen.
"That so?!"
This time, Ryuuen swung his right arm, once again aiming for his opponent's
eyes. He flung some more sand he had been holding onto at him.
"I told you, yer really in for it!" Housen roared.
Though Ryuuen had tossed the sand from his dominant hand, Housen had
managed to block it with his arm without much difficulty. Ever since he had
picked up Ryuuen earlier, he'd been paying close attention to both of Ryuuen's
clenched fists.
"If those're the kinda cheap tricks a small fry like you's gotta rely on in a fight,
no wonder you never stood a chance against me!"
Then, just as Ryuuen was about to launch his counterattack, Housen quickly
hit him again, slamming his fist into the right side of Ryuuen's face. The punch
was a quick jab, more focused on speed than force. Housen followed up with a
blow to the left side of Ryuuen's face, and then switched back to the right,
delivering a barrage of blows like a boxer hitting a sandbag.
Even though the savage beating Ryuuen was getting was leading him to lose
consciousness, he shot a quick glare at Housen. The sharp gleam in his eyes
caught Housen's gaze for just a moment and pierced right through him.
Housen's field of vision wavered for a moment as watched Ryuuen fall over
onto the ground, like the upperclassman was getting blown away.
"Oof…"
Ryuuen twisted his body as Housen worked him over, delivering a spinning
kick just as he was about to fall. The kick just slightly grazed the tip of Housen's
chin. Housen hadn't intended on letting himself get hit even once. Frustrated,
he pressed closer to Ryuuen, grabbing his red bangs with his left hand, holding
his head up.
"Satisfied with your little payback shot there, huh?" he bellowed. "Huh?! I'm
gonna kill you!"
Before Ryuuen could hold up his arm to defend himself, Housen slammed his
right fist into Ryuuen's abdomen again and again.
"There ain't a single person out there who can beat me in a fight!" he roared.
Just as Housen landed his seventh blow, Ryuuen's wristwatch started
sounding an alarm.
"Ha ha ha! You're tryin' to act all cool, but your body's already hit its limit! It's
screamin' for mercy, huh? Your watch is a lot more honest than you are!"
The students' watches were designed to detect abnormalities in status such
as heart rate, and Ryuuen's was issuing a Warning Alert.
"Damn, you really are a friggin' gorilla…" Ryuuen groaned. "Guess I'll at least
admit you're good in a fight…"
Housen interpreted Ryuuen's compliment to mean that he was yielding. The
first-year smiled in triumph as he let go of Ryuuen's bangs. Unable to get back
to his feet, Ryuuen just laid there, crumpled on the ground. The Warning Alert
echoed uselessly into the woods.
"Your Warnin' Alert's goin' beep-beep, huh?" Housen taunted. "Guessing that
means you can't take much more, right? It's all right to just be honest and admit
it. You don't gotta hide it, y'know?"
"Ha… Quit jokin'. My watch is just broken, ain't it?" said Ryuuen.
He lowered his gaze toward his watch, grinning, but it was obvious to just
about anyone that he was truly hurt. Disgusted by such an unsightly spectacle,
Housen spat on the ground near his feet, bored.
"See ya, Ryuuen. You weren't even fun."
"Hold up," said Ryuuen. "I'm wonderin' why you think that you've won."
"Wuzzat?"
"Did I say I lost this fight?" Ryuuen asked him. "Even once?"
Even Housen was beyond exasperated at hearing that. He was taken aback for
a moment, but he regained his composure in the next. Although this situation
was entirely one-sided with one person heaping abuse on the other, Ryuuen
didn't look dead in the eyes yet. Just as he insisted, Ryuuen hadn't given up.
"I'll admit, you're tough mentally, at least," said Housen. "But…you ain't
gonna last forever!"
Human beings are creatures that are sensitive to pain. Even the strongest
person alive would still feel pain at being hit with blows as powerful as the ones
Housen dealt out. It was just a matter of how many hits you could stand. Even if
you could endure them, it would be impossible to overcome that overwhelming
disparity.
Although Ryuuen's Warning Alert went off for a second time, it didn't faze
Housen. He then proceeded to inflict even more pain on Ryuuen in an even
more precise manner.
After getting hit by countless attacks from the first-year, Ryuuen's wristwatch
finally upgraded from a Warning Alert to an Emergency Alert. At this rate, if the
situation didn't change in the next five minutes or so, some of the teaching staff
and a medical crew would be on their way to his location.
"Your body's being honest, I guess," Housen told him. "Enough already. Just
accept that this situation is hopeless for you."
"Ah…" Ryuuen sighed. "The pain is so numbing… It feels good…"
He didn't even glance at his wristwatch. He simply stood up, with an eerie grin
on his face. Right then and there, for the first time, Housen realized that
Ryuuen's indomitable will was the real deal.
"Dude, what even are you?" Housen demanded. "Why do you keep on tryin'
when you can hardly stand? Being stubborn isn't getting you anywhere."
Ryuuen brought his watch up to his ear, as if the piercing, shrill sound of the
Emergency Alert was an alarm clock to wake himself up.
"Stubborn?" Ryuuen repeated. "Hah! Y'know, that way of thinkin' is just plain
wrong."
At that point, Housen thought that Ryuuen would have silenced the
Emergency Alert. But in the end, he didn't. He simply lowered his arms and
shoved his hands into his pockets.
"This fight ain't over yet," said Ryuuen.
"You insane? You realize that if you call the kiddie police here, you're gonna
get eliminated, right?"
"And in that case, you realize that you'd not only get eliminated, but expelled
too, right?" countered Ryuuen. His unspoken question was how exactly the
school would judge the situation if they saw what happened here.
Sure, Housen had received a slight kick to the jaw, but he had essentially
suffered no external injuries. The likelihood that the school would interpret this
incident as a one-sided act of violence could not be ignored.
"What, seriously?" Housen sneered. "There's no way you can beat me, so
you're just gonna play the victim instead? Lame. You're so lame, Ryuuen."
Depending on how things played out, considering their current positions, the
tables seemed to have been turned. Even so, Housen wasn't that intimidated.
He had already decided to use violence to bring Ayanokouji to his knees in the
first place; the time to feel any reservations had long since passed.
"If the kiddie police are so, so scary, then wouldn't it be better for ya to just
turn tail and withdraw?" Ryuuen taunted him.
"What a load of bull," said Housen.
He had determined that Ryuuen's strategy was to deliberately keep his
Warning Alert on. He moved forward once again, stepping toward Ryuuen.
"My GPS has been turned off for a long time," he said. "If I just beat the ever
lovin' crap outta you before they get here, then there ain't no problem."
Even if the school administrators rushed to their location, it would take about
thirty minutes for them to arrive.
"Ku ku. Yeah, I suspected as much," replied Ryuuen.
Ryuuen welcomed the other boy to come and try to attack him, even though
Housen wasn't intimidated by his threats. Ryuuen didn't even remove his hands
from his pockets.
"If you ain't gonna put up your guard, then just go back to sleep!" shouted
Housen. He clenched his right hand into a fist, not wanting to waste any more
time.
Likewise, Ryuuen removed both of his fists from his pockets.
"Don't think for one second your cheap little tricks are gonna work on me!"
Housen yelled.
Housen's intuition had told him that Ryuuen was clutching something in his
hands, but that didn't stop him at all. He launched his right fist at Ryuuen in
another straight punch, fully intending to shatter Ryuuen's spirit with it.
Seeing the punch coming his way, Ryuuen simply took it head-on, holding his
arms up to block, but without opening either of his palms. Housen tried to
wrench his arms open to get through his guard, but something happened in
that next instant.
"Raaaah!"
Two shadows leapt out from a blind spot amongst the trees and landed right
behind Housen, grabbing hold of him.
"Wha—?!"
It was no wonder that Housen was so shocked by these completely
unexpected new arrivals. When Housen had used the GPS search just a few
minutes prior, he hadn't picked up any other signatures in the area except for
Ayanokouji and Ryuuen. Even if they ran straight for this location after Housen
and Ryuuen started fighting, there was no way someone could have gotten here
in time. And yet, despite all of that, these two young men were here, holding
Housen's right and left arms. It was almost like they were ghosts.
If it were only Ishizaki, that would be one thing, but Albert was here as well,
someone whose physique was in no way inferior to Housen's. Not even Housen
could continue to stand his ground in this situation. Albert held his dominant
right arm, while Ishizaki pinned the left.
"The hell?! GRAHH!"
Housen desperately struggled to keep up his rampage, but not even someone
with a build as large and powerful as his could shake the two of them off that
easily. In the next instant, Ryuuen was back in Housen's face. He had now
dropped his guard and wore an ominous grin.
"It's simple," said Ryuuen. "When a watch is busted, it can't get picked up by
the GPS search."
Ryuuen had instructed Ishizaki and Albert to keep their GPS functions disabled
over the past few days and had them accompany him. Housen understood now
that when he walked into this fight thinking that it was going to be one-on-one,
he had already fallen for Ryuuen's scheme.
"What, you seriously plannin' on fightin' me three-on-one, huh? Huh?!" he
barked.
"Don't bellow so loud, ya ape," taunted Ryuuen. "Your execution begins now.
Got it?"
Ryuuen clenched his fists once again and began throwing punches at
Housen's face over and over without an ounce of hesitation. Housen jerked his
head to the left and right, and after suffering repeated blows for what seemed
like an eternity, he fell to down to his knees. Housen howled, knees trembling,
but Ryuuen simply kept on punching without letting up at all.
Eventually, thanks to the beating he had been given, Housen's knees gave out
and he collapsed to the ground. Just as his head dropped into the perfect
position, Ryuuen held him in place with both hands and rammed his knee right
into Housen's nose.
"Urk…!" Housen sputtered incoherently, and he fell to the ground on his back
for the first time during their altercation.
Ryuuen signaled to his two classmates with his eyes, and they each pinned
down Housen's arms again, just as they had while Housen was still standing.
"Gorillas gotta be handcuffed at all times, after all," Ryuuen said, brushing
back his hair as he straddled Housen. "You really did a number on me, though,
huh, Housen?"
"Lookin' down on me… You piece of shit!" shouted Housen.
"Lookin' down on you? Heh. What in the world's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're a damned small fry who can't even fight somebody one-onone!"
"Ku ku. Don't make me laugh. Like I'd be stupid enough to challenge a gorilla
all on my own," said Ryuuen, laughing as he raised his fist in the air.
Then, without hesitation, he brought it down hard, savagely striking Housen's
cheek.
"Oh, yeah, that reminds me," he added. "Don't worry, Housen, I ain't gonna
tell ya to cry. Nothing's gonna change even if you do apologize, anyway."
Housen wasn't so weak that a blow like that would do him in, even in a totally
defenseless state like this. Rather, it only pissed him off and made him struggle
harder. Albert and Ishizaki did their best to keep him subdued.
"You pieces of shit! Out of my way, you small fries!" he howled.
"Quit strugglin'," Ryuuen told him. "We're just about to start cookin', y'know?
And I'm gonna work you over pretty thoroughly, so enjoy it."
Ryuuen slammed his fist down a second time and then a third. Even so,
Housen wasn't whining tearfully; he was bellowing angrily.
"Guess you weren't braggin' when you said you were good in a fight, after
all," said Ryuuen, amused.
Housen had proven, both physically and mentally, that he could rise to the
occasion in battle. Ryuuen had concluded that had the fight had been
established as a three-on-one contest from the very beginning, his own side
would have been on the losing end. That was how much Ryuuen acknowledged
the strength of Housen Kazuomi, the person before him right now.
However, in a battle, it was occasionally a quick, spur-of-the-moment decision
that spelled victory or defeat. A single punch, a single fall, something like that
could change everything. A split-second of carelessness and arrogance could
turn the tables. Ryuuen had brought a one-sided beatdown upon Housen, and
sure enough, even Housen was starting to lose strength.
"Damn, you're hard as a rock. My arm's startin' to hurt," said Ryuuen, smiling
as he gently blew on his reddened fist.
"Huff, huff… You loser…" wheezed Housen.
Using his dominant right arm, he tried to wrestle himself free from Albert, but
it was no use.
"Never thought you'd have an underling like him… Didn't expect that."
Housen glared at Albert. If you compared the two on strength alone, Albert was
in no way inferior to the first-year.
"Yo, Biggie… Why the hell are you followin' Ryuuen, anyway? Huh?"
And in terms of pure combat ability, it was clear that Albert was a cut above
Ryuuen.
"Well, it's certainly true that I couldn't beat a guy like Albert no matter how
hard I tried, even if I came after him a couple times," said Ryuuen.
"Then why?" asked Housen.
"You just don't get it, do you, Housen? Just bein' freakishly strong ain't
enough for someone to stand at the top."
As someone who had always fought alone, an explanation like that was
completely beyond Housen's grasp.
"Ku ku," Ryuuen chuckled. "Well, in Albert's case, I figure it's more just
camaraderie, I guess."
Although Albert preferred not to engage in unnecessary fights, he had
determined that following Ryuuen's lead was the best course of action in order
to keep the class together. This was exactly why he never hesitated to lend a
hand, even though the things he was asked to do were sometimes outrageous.
Though going along with Ryuuen's instructions had at times meant that Albert
was required to injure his fellow comrades, he had decided to follow Ryuuen
anyway because he believed that it would ultimately be for the benefit of his
classmates. Albert was, by nature, a tender-hearted young man who did not like
violence.
"Don't think this means you've won, Ryuuen!" snapped Housen.
"Well, I figure it probably wouldn't make any sense to you," said Ryuuen.
"Losin' like this, I mean. But as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter how we
got here. The last one standin' is the winner."
Ryuuen personally didn't have any lofty ideals about the concept of a one-onone fight, so he hadn't been hoping for one, not even from the beginning. To
him, Housen's provocations were meaningless. If anything, he took them as the
grief-stricken cries of a loser and basked in the joy they brought him.
"G-goddamn it…!"
After being smacked around dozens of times, even Housen was reaching his
limit. At this point, even if there hadn't been anyone holding down his arms, it
wouldn't have been so easy for him to defeat Ryuuen anymore.
"Remember this…" Housen panted. "Even if you beat me right here, next time
we meet, I'm gonna kill you right on the spot."
"Eh, I ain't plannin' on letting a gorilla get his revenge on me though…"
Ryuuen said. "If you're gonna do somethin', just make sure you do it good. You
got that? Winnin' ain't that simple. Even if you beat the crap outta me, if you
end up gettin' expelled 'cause of it, then you lose."
"What kinda bull—"
Before Housen could finish, Ryuuen swung for him with a straight punch,
hitting him right in the cheek and knocking him out cold.
With Housen unconscious, the outcome of their fight had been decided.
Ryuuen slowly got back to his feet. Wiping the blood off his fists, he turned to
look up at the sky and let out an exhausted sigh.
"Phew… That was a bone-breakin' fight," he muttered.
"Still though, talk about a real crazy dude…" said Ishizaki. "I seriously thought
he was a monster or somethin'."
"It would've been stupid to go toe-to-toe with a thing like him," replied
Ryuuen.
Albert nodded his head in agreement.
"Good work, you two," said Ryuuen, offering them words of appreciation.
"N-nah, dude! I mean, all we did was back you up! Right, Albert?" exclaimed
Ishizaki, flustered.
Neither Ishizaki nor Albert had any significant, obvious wounds. That was
because Ryuuen had decided that if he was going to drag them both into this
fight, he needed to avoid letting them get hurt. If more people had gotten
needlessly injured, this fight couldn't be written off as a simple scuffle.
"You two should get goin'," said Ryuuen. "Wouldn't be surprised if some
teachers showed up any minute now."
A fair amount of time had passed since his watch had started emitting the
Emergency Alert.
"Um, what 'bout you though, Ryuuen-san…?" asked Ishizaki, sheepishly.
"Well, this situation is what it is," Ryuuen replied. "Even if I tried to continue,
it ain't like the school would let me carry on so easily."
Just like the unconscious Housen, Ryuuen had also suffered some serious
injuries.
"I'll just let myself get eliminated, like Housen," he said.
"Are you sure that's okay?" asked Ishizaki.
"I've already entrusted everythin' that needs to get done to Katsuragi. Though
it has gotten pretty tough to break into the top three."
If Ryuuen had just let Housen go, there was a chance that he would've
headed after Ayanokouji and found him again. And if Ryuuen disappeared after
the fight, having beat up Housen, that would've been a problem in itself too.
With how things stood, the school would determine that they had a one-on-one
fight, and they would both be eliminated. Ryuuen had determined that this plan
was the cleanest way of going about the situation, not to mention the only
solution, really.
"…That's pretty disappointin' though," said Ishizaki.
As of yesterday, Ryuuen and Katsuragi's group were in fifth place. Though
there was only a slight chance of it, there was a possibility that they could've
climbed even higher in the rankings. Ishizaki lamented over that fact.
"Nah, not really," Ryuuen said with a thin smile. It sounded as though he'd
remembered something.
Ishizaki and Albert exchanged glances, not really understanding the reasoning
behind what Ryuuen had said.
"I'll tell ya 'bout it soon enough," he promised them. "But for now, get goin'."
Ishizaki and Albert both wanted to make sure that they made it through this
exam together with their groups, so they had to avoid getting left behind. The
two needed to exchange their watches for new ones and join up with their
groups as soon as possible. They ran off toward the starting area as quickly as
they could.
Once they were gone, Ryuuen sat down on Housen's unconscious body, using
it like a bench.
6.7
"THANKS FOR THE REPORT. You can head back to the exam now," said Tsubaki,
quietly ending the transmission on her walkie-talkie.
"I take it that means the results were not favorable?" asked Yagami. Based on
the look on her face, he guessed that the plan didn't seem to be going well.
"I sent someone to the location where Housen-kun was supposed to have
made contact," Tsubaki told him. "Apparently, the teachers had already
collected him and were taking him back to the starting point. From the sounds
of it, he had an altercation with someone named Ryuuen from Class 2-B, and
both were seriously injured. Well, I already found it suspicious that Ayanokoujisenpai was still on the move anyway."
If Housen had been waiting for a one-on-one match with Ayanokouji, then
Ayanokouji's GPS signature shouldn't have moved from that spot. It was odd
that it hadn't stayed there.
"Admittedly, I do not know very much about that particular person, but I
suppose this means that he managed to stop Housen-kun," said Yagami.
There's something off about this situation. Tsubaki pursed her lips into a pout
and wondered why the operation had failed. Ayanokouji's designated areas
were C3 and D2, and the first-years had been in the perfect positions to encircle
him. However, one could also say that the first-years' advantage had also given
their opponents more time.
"This isn't the end of our attempt to drive Ayanokouji-senpai toward
expulsion, is it?" Yagami tried to press Tsubaki for answers. "If we're going to
ensure that we save those in our grade, then we need to crush the other singleperson units. If you have a plan to continue the operation, I'd like to hear it."
Tsubaki simply averted her gaze and muttered, disinterested.
"It's not worth getting involved in any more risky business beyond this," she
said. "Even if we force the issue and manage to help some groups who are
failing now, in the long run, people like that are destined to disappear."
"Meaning that…we're going to withdraw?" asked Yagami.
"I don't like this," said Tsubaki. "My strategy might have been doomed to fail
from the very beginning."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Talk about the bounty on Ayanokouji-senpai's head has been going around,
and he's been extremely cautious. More importantly, if we can't even trust our
fellow first-year students, then this plan is foolish."
Rather than feeling disheartened, what Tsubaki disliked about failing was the
unsettling disturbance that followed.
"I should have just done this alone," she said. "I could kick myself." She
regretted what had happened deeply.
But when Tsubaki lowered her tablet, she noticed something.
"Huh…?" she muttered.
She realized that Utomiya wasn't there.
"What's the matter?" asked Yagami.
"Where's Utomiya-kun?" asked Tsubaki.
Yagami also acted as though he was only just now noticing that Utomiya
wasn't there. "I thought he was nearby? At least he was about thirty minutes
ago…"
That was when Tsubaki threw herself into a battle with an enemy that
couldn't be seen on the tablet. Sensing that there was something troubling
going on, she brought up the screenshot of the map from ten minutes ago and
proceeded to look for Utomiya's last location. He was shown to have been
about 400 meters southwest of where they now stood.
"What are you doing…?" she wondered aloud.
There was only one other GPS signature near Utomiya's, and it belonged to a
student from Class 2-A named Kitou Hayato. The instant Tsubaki saw the name,
she took her walkie-talkie in hand.
6.8
VISIBILITY WAS POOR among the trees, but a large young man ran through the
woods anyway. His destination was the campsite where Tsubaki Sakurako,
Yagami Takuya, and Utomiya Riku had been staying. He had been given
instructions by Sakayanagi; she had entrusted him with the task of finding out
the identity of the enemy leader. As Kitou ran, trying to scan the area for signs
of the campsite, he caught sight of a lone figure just ahead. It looked to be
another young man. He stood there, watching Kitou, as though he planned on
barring his path.
Kitou didn't recall seeing this person's face before, but he immediately
recognized that this was not an ally. There was still some distance between
them, so Kitou tried to take a different route, but as soon as the other person
noticed him changing direction, they followed suit. Now aware that he was
most definitely an enemy, Kitou stopped running and turned directly toward
him.
"You got some business over here?" Although his opponent was an
upperclassman, Utomiya forgot to speak politely. His voice was hostile, and
there was an aggressive look in his eyes.
"If I remember right, you're Kitou Hayato… My senpai, right?" he added. He
spoke more calmly now, remembering his manners and managing to be a bit
more polite.
Though the second-year had originally been working alone, Utomiya
remembered removing this upperclassman from his list of targets when Kitou
joined up with a group over the course of the exam. However, Utomiya figured
that telling him that he had known of him from the very beginning might arouse
suspicion, so he addressed him as though he had not really been aware of him
until now.
"I'm in a hurry right now," said Kitou, intentionally refusing to engage. He
tried to pass, but when he went to move, the first-year grabbed him by the
shoulder to stop him.
"…What?" said Kitou. He glared at Utomiya, irritated.
Utomiya simply shot back a sharp look of his own. "Sorry, but I'm not planning
on letting you get any farther than this."
"What?" repeated Kitou, brow furrowed in puzzlement.
Utomiya threw a punch right at Kitou's face. Kitou calmly avoided it and put
some distance between them.
"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded.
Just then, Utomiya rushed in close and moved to grab his upperclassman by
the collar.
"I told you," Utomiya growled. "I'm not planning to let you get any farther
than this."
"What's your name?" asked Kitou.
"Utomiya Riku. Class 1-C."
Utomiya. He was one of the people that Sakayanagi had ordered him to
investigate. Since he had come here to stop Kitou, that ruled him out as the
enemy commander.
Utomiya, for his own part, had surmised that Kitou must have been sent here
on someone else's orders as well.
"Who ordered you to come here?" barked Utomiya.
But Kitou showed no sign that he would give up any names.
"Even if you're an upperclassman, I'm not going to show you any mercy,"
Utomiya warned him.
At that, Kitou's eyes lit up and sharpened. He thrust a thick arm right at
Utomiya's neck. Utomiya didn't panic at all and calmly kept his distance,
evading the attack easily. However, due to his quick evasive maneuver, the
walkie-talkie in his pocket fell to the ground near Kitou's feet.
"Damn…!" he shouted.
Even if Utomiya rushed and tried to press in close to Kitou again, leaping at
him would be a stupid decision, considering the other student's stance. A tense
standoff between the two ensued for a while, but the silence was broken
thanks to someone else.
"Utomiya-kun? What are you doing?"
Tsubaki's voice could be heard coming from the walkie-talkie laying on the
ground near Kitou's feet.
"Tch…"
Utomiya clicked his tongue and looked down at the fallen device. Tsubaki
seemed to suspect something suspicious going on when she didn't get a
response to her first question, so she spoke once more:
"Weren't you supposed to be following my orders?"
Utomiya was still looking for an opportunity to pounce, but Kitou motioned at
him, signaling with his hand that he could relax. Kitou bent down and picked up
the walkie-talkie at his feet, and, to Utomiya's total surprise, casually tossed it
over to the first-year.
"Hmph. What the… I mean, what are you plotting, senpai?" asked Utomiya,
sounding as though all the ill will had left his body.
"My objective is complete," said Kitou, flatly.
Kitou had determined that there was no longer any need for him to fight, so
he picked up his belongings and turned back. He heard Tsubaki's voice coming
from the walkie-talkie, so he had concluded that she was the enemy
commander. Kitou turned his back to Utomiya and started to leave, leaving
himself completely open.
"Utomiya-kun, if you can hear me, then calm down. Fighting with Kitou-senpai
right here and now would be a bad idea."
Utomiya didn't answer right away. He could only stare at the device for a
while, and as he did, Kitou completely disappeared from view.
"…It's me." Utomiya finally spoke up now that he was alone.
"Are you okay? What happened with Kitou-senpai?"
"He just left," Utomiya said. "I watched him go."
"Why did you do something so inconsiderate?" Tsubaki scolded him. "If things
went badly, you could've been expelled along with him, Utomiya-kun. Don't you
see? Or did you do that to keep the second-years from getting close to me?"
"No, it's not like that… I'm sorry. It was a selfish decision on my part. I just
thought that, even if the plan didn't work so well this time, it still wasn't
necessary for us to let our opponents get too much information about us. I
wanted to stop them from getting close to you, Tsubaki."
"Well, I'm not going to criticize you over something that's already passed. But
was this your idea, Utomiya-kun?"
There was a brief period of silence before Utomiya answered.
"Well… Y-yeah, it was mine," he said. "It was selfish."
Perhaps it was because he sounded upset, but Tsubaki remained silent on the
other end of the line for a while before speaking again.
"I see. Anyway, for the time being, if you can move, head on back."
"Got it."
Utomiya ended the transmission and looked down at his tablet. Then, he took
the walkie-talkie in hand once more, entered in a different code, and started
transmitting again.
"I got rid of that pesky second-year insect," he said. "They should be satisfied.
They think that Tsubaki is the commander."
"Excellent work. Just as I'd expect from you, Utomiya-kun."
"So, what about Tsubaki's plan?" asked Utomiya.
"It failed, just as you wished. Still, I think it was a mediocre plan that was
never going to succeed anyway. I probably didn't even need to go out of my way
to make sure Ayanokouji-senpai was warned ahead of time."
"I'm ending the transmission."
Taking care not to pointlessly prolong the conversation, Utomiya powered
down his walkie-talkie.