Chapter 7:
The Man Called Tsukishiro
THAT MORNING, I woke up somewhere along the right edge of area E3. I went
to check the map on my tablet. As a result of avoiding the first-years' assault all
day yesterday, I hadn't set foot in even a single designated area the entire day.
Although Sakayanagi had informed me that the first-years had withdrawn in the
afternoon, I still didn't dare head to my designated areas after that. Instead, I
just participated in Tasks that appeared along my escape route and scored the
bare minimum level of points needed for me to continue.
The one o'clock designated area yesterday had been randomly assigned and
was in area F3. The designated area after that was in G3 at three o'clock. I
opened the map app and brought up the screenshot that showed my GPS
search results as of one o'clock in the afternoon yesterday. At the time, there
had been five first-year groups following me around. After that, I had been
certain they would let Housen handle the rest, since he had been approaching
me with his GPS turned off. I was sure that was the plan.
It was also clear from my subsequent search results that after Housen had
confronted Ryuuen and they had settled their match, all the groups withdrew
and went back to their normal exam activities. However…while Sakayanagi and I
were focusing our attention on those enemies, several disparate groups of firstyear students had gathered and moved ahead of me in the direction of my
designated areas.
I thought there was something suspicious about these groups because as
soon as three o'clock in the afternoon rolled around and my fourth designated
area for the day was announced, they started moving west and heading toward
area F4. The paths were narrow there, and it would've been difficult for me to
escape if they blocked my way. In order to avoid them, I was forced to take a
considerable detour.
"I avoided the danger just in case, but that's going to cost me quite a bit. It'll
put that much more strain on my last day," I muttered to myself.
As a result of trying to avoid encounters with those students, I ended up
missing my designated areas six consecutive times. I was facing four
consecutive penalties. I needed to get out of this situation as soon as possible. If
I missed three more areas, then my penalties would cost me eighteen more
points. My total score was currently 119 points, but I was far, far from being
completely in the clear to avoid expulsion. According to my estimations, the
safe zone for me would be around 105 points. If I fell below that mark, then it
wouldn't be surprising at all if I ended up being expelled from school.
That was why I had moved about in the middle of the night last night. I had
successfully managed to reach the vicinity of area G3, which, again, had been
the fourth and final designated area of the previous day. Since we couldn't
check the leaderboards anymore, we'd have to fight our way through the final
day while only guessing at our rankings. The rankings as of the night of the
twelfth day might not have been entirely dependable, after all. Things seemed
like they should be fine since there had been a total of 157 groups, but in
reality, many of those groups had likely merged with one another by now. I
needed to assume that the number of groups had decreased considerably.
Doubtless, some of those groups' main goal would be to save their classmates
on the final day. If a group that was close to 200 points merged with a group
that had fewer points, they would immediately overtake me in the rankings. I
couldn't ignore the impact that doubled score values on the final day would
have either. The strategy that the first-year students came up with had slowly
but surely pushed me down the path toward expulsion.
It was possible that there were still first-year students waiting for me up
ahead, but the GPS search function was no longer a practical option for me. My
seven o'clock designated area was H3. I couldn't exactly say that it was a
particularly good position even if I was being charitable, considering that it was
in the mountains. But since I had no way to predict what was going to happen, I
didn't have any other choice. It was going to take me nearly two hours to get
from here to there, even if I took the shortest possible route.
I couldn't sit around hemming and hawing. I had no idea if I might find myself
forced into a close battle to see if I'd even be able to reach my designated areas
today, a day when many students would be tackling Tasks with doubled point
values. I could lose even more ground in the rankings by noon.
Just when I had packed up my things and set out, I received a call from
Sakayanagi on the walkie-talkie.
"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun," she said pleasantly. "It would seem you had
quite an ordeal yesterday."
"I made it through thanks to you, Sakayanagi," I replied.
"Will you be all right? With those penalties? Though it does seem as though
you've moved quite a bit over the course of the night."
She had noticed my movements via the GPS search.
"My first designated area is H3," I told her. "I don't have much time to spare,
but I think I can make it in time."
"H3, you say?" she muttered, repeating my designated area with deep
interest.
It sounded like there was something on her mind. As I continued moving,
Sakayanagi kept the conversation going.
"Truthfully, there is one thing that is troubling me," she said. "Ichinose-san
seems to have disappeared. She was nowhere to be found this morning."
"She disappeared? You think there was an accident?" I asked.
"No, I believe that she left voluntarily. There's been something odd about her
these past few days."
Come to think of it, I remembered her saying something earlier about
Ichinose seeming off.
"Why are you telling me this, though? I can't imagine that there's anything I
can do about it that'll help."
"Actually, I performed a GPS search to find Ichinose-san's location and
discovered that she was in E3, the same as you, Ayanokouji-kun. However, she
was at the opposite end, near area D3."
Even if she was in the same area, there was quite a bit of distance between
borders, end to end. And besides, I had already entered F3 by this point.
"What was your last designated area yesterday, Sakayanagi?" I asked.
"D5," she replied. "Ichinose-san was there too."
That meant that Ichinose had set out early this morning without telling
anyone and somehow made it all the way to area E3. Why?
"This morning, I noticed that our point total had gone down by one,"
Sakayanagi said. "I checked with everyone else in our group and there was no
evidence to suggest any of them used the GPS search. It would seem that
Ichinose-san was the one who used it. It's currently unclear whether she intends
to reach area E3 or some other area further away, but wouldn't it be rational to
assume that she left to meet with someone?"
"Yeah, you're right about that," I agreed. "If she was in your fourth designated
area yesterday, then that's just about the only reason she could have for
moving about so early in the morning."
"I thought perhaps she might have left to find you, Ayanokouji-kun, but—"
"Sorry, but I have no idea why she would," I told her. "And I haven't seen
Ichinose even once during this entire exam so far. I guess if I wait, then Ichinose
might come around to the F3 side, but unfortunately, I'm in kind of a hurry right
now. What are you going to do?"
"Our first designated area of the day is area E6, so that's where our group
ought to be heading. While this means that we will be discarding our chances of
getting the Early Bird Bonus, we have no other choice but to ignore it for now.
Even if, at worst, Ichinose is eliminated from the exam, it won't have a
significant negative impact on us since it's the last day."
At seven members, Sakayanagi's group was impressively large. They had been
in fourth place as of the end of the twelfth day, so they were in a prime position
to shoot for the winner's podium. Losing Ichinose now would be a serious blow.
Putting it another way, this meant that Ichinose had chosen to do something
selfish on the final and most important day of the exam. She was the sort of
person who went above and beyond for her friends, more than other people
did, which made what she was doing right now totally incomprehensible.
"Sounds like you've got it rough, too," I told Sakayanagi.
"Accidents happen," she said. "Well, I suppose even if we leave things be, the
special exam is going to be over in just half a day, so I don't think there will be
any problems. If you do happen to see her, though, please ask her what's going
on."
She added that continuing this conversation any further would only be a
hindrance to me, so she stopped transmitting then and there.
"Where is Ichinose headed…?" I asked myself aloud.
As I continued walking, I put the walkie-talkie away in my backpack and took
out my tablet. I didn't need to worry about charging it anymore since it was the
final day. I had about 31 percent battery life remaining, so I figured that it
would be fine. The map filled up the screen, showing me the designated area
that I ought to have been heading toward, as well as various Tasks scattered
here and there. Over these past two weeks, Tasks really had appeared
everywhere throughout the entire island.
However, at least for this final day, I could see that no Tasks had appeared in
the northern part of the island, meaning in any of the areas marked 1 through
3. Rather, many Tasks seemed to have been concentrated in the central and
southern parts of the island in the areas marked 5 through 10, more specifically
in areas A through E. This made sense, considering that this was the final day of
the exam and doing things that way would guide people back to the starting
area.
Moving quickly to reach my designated areas and to take on Tasks would be a
wise choice. I did want to use my GPS search to locate Ichinose, but right now I
was in danger of getting expelled. I needed to save every point I could if I was
going to increase my chances of survival.
7.1
MY SECOND DESIGNATED AREA for the day was revealed to be area I2, in the
northeast corner of the uninhabited island. I had managed to stop the penalties
from racking up, so it was a safe place for me to go for the time being. Students
were basically supposed to walk straight back to the starting point once the
exam ended at three o'clock this afternoon, but the school was apparently
planning to collect students here and there as needed via a boat that was
patrolling the island, depending on how things went at the end. It seemed like
the patrol boat would be coming to area J6, which was nearby, at five o'clock.
"It's the endgame and my designated areas are popping up in some really
ridiculous places…" I muttered to myself.
While the circumstances of the exam were technically the same for everyone,
with Tasks concentrated on the south side of the island, my designated area
was located at the area furthest northeast. I was tempted to bemoan my luck
that I was clearly in a bad Table, but there was nothing I could have done
anyway. It would have been easier for me to just accept that and be done with
it, but I was beginning to sense that there was something disturbing going on.
I hadn't passed any other students in a while, not a single one. I hadn't even
seen any other students. Though this island was vast, there were many
opportunities to spot or overhear other people as long as you kept up with the
Basic Movement system. Of course, it wasn't hard to understand why I hadn't
bumped into any of the students from my Table yesterday, as I hadn't arrived at
my final designated area. What this indicated to me was that most students
were already heading down to the southern part of the island, where the Tasks
were concentrated. Perhaps I could touch down in I2 and then ignore my final
designated area for the day in favor of Tasks.
A narrow river in H3 divided the area. It couldn't be used as a shortcut, which
made that area a pain in the rear as it inevitably forced me to take a detour.
The silver lining was that all I needed to do was walk along the river, so there
wasn't any need to worry about getting lost. If I didn't panic and just made my
way southwest along its banks, once I reached the point where I could cross the
river, I could head northeast from there. I figured it would be a good idea to just
walk along the water until I reached the mountains, and that was exactly how I
got to the other side.
Once I got near the center of area H3 though, something happened.
"Ayanokouji-kuuuuuun!"
I was just walking along and listening to the sound of the flowing river when I
heard someone calling my name from far away. The voice came from the north
side of the river, from where I just crossed. When I looked in that direction, I
spotted Ichinose, covered in mud. She was looking over at me and was
completely out of breath.
"Ichinose… You came all the way to H3?"
If I remembered correctly, according to what Sakayanagi had said, Ichinose
should've been in area E3. It was just after ten in the morning right now. If I
assumed that the sun started to rise around five-thirty in the morning, then that
meant Ichinose must've walked for about four and a half hours to get here. And
she would have had to walk at a rather fast pace at that.
"I…I came to see you, Ayanokouji-kun!" shouted Ichinose from the other side
of the river, though the fact that she was exhausted and out of breath made it
tough for her to get the words out.
"I'm coming over to you right now!" she added, breaking into a run along the
riverside. She wobbled and staggered as she moved.
Her heavy-looking backpack must have been weighing her down because she
tossed it to the ground right then. Her gait looked incredibly unsteady, like she
was limping. She had probably reached the limits of her physical strength, and it
must have taken a backbreaking level of effort for her to have come this far. I
hurriedly headed back the way I came to meet up with her. After about five
minutes of us both running along the riverside, we reached a point where we
could cross and meet up. I crossed over to the north side since I couldn't force
Ichinose to push herself.
"I, I finally… I finally caught up… Please wait, I'm coming," Ichinose panted,
heading toward me.
I wondered if she felt responsible for following me here and calling out to me
or something. She struggled desperately to stay on her feet, summoning all her
strength to walk, and she approached me, one step at a time. She was
completely out of breath by the time she arrived before me, and now she
couldn't even seem to stand anymore. She pitched forward, falling.
"Oof!"
I caught Ichinose just as she was about to fall.
"What in the world is the matter, Ichinose?" I asked.
Ichinose looked up at me, her mouth moving quickly, as she desperately tried
to sort out her words.
"Th-there's something I have to tell you, Ayanokouji-kun, no matter what!"
she pleaded.
"Something to tell me?" I repeated.
"I was so, so worried!" she said, frantic. "I was so worried for such a long
time. I worried what I should do, and… I have to protect my friends and my
classmates, but…"
What in the world was she talking about? I couldn't understand what she was
getting at, but at the very least, I could tell that she was trying her absolute
hardest to tell me whatever it was.
"But still, even so, I was worried about you, Ayanokouji-kun…which is why, no
matter what, I had to—"
I hadn't had any contact with Ichinose at all during the course of this special
exam. I was sure something unexpected had happened. She had traveled
frantically for four hours just to come and tell me about it.
"I, I… My watch broke, so, I thought I'd go back to the starting point and
exchange it, but…when I did, Acting Director Tsukishiro and Shiba-sensei, they
said…!"
Ichinose was exhausted to the point that she couldn't even catch her breath
anymore. She spoke in gasps. I didn't know when all this had happened, but it
sounded like she had been worrying about this for several days.
"Th-they said that if you were still here on the final day of the exam, that they
were going to call you to I2 and bury you, Ayanokouji-kun!" she wailed.
I2. Bury. It was certainly true that if someone overheard a conversation like
that, they'd find it very disturbing. I figured the reason Tsukishiro and this other
teacher had so carelessly allowed Ichinose to overhear their conversation was
because her watch had been broken, so she wouldn't have had a GPS signature
for them to sense.
"You said something about protecting your classmates… Does that mean that
Tsukishiro threatened to do something to them?" I asked.
Ichinose seemed momentarily surprised by my correct guess. She nodded
repeatedly.
"He, he said that if I told you, Ayanokouji-kun, that…that he'd expel my
classmates… But, but, I just couldn't abandon you, Ayanokouji-kun!" she wailed.
"You should have not cared about it and just abandoned me," I told her. "I am
your enemy, after all."
In this situation, she should have been thinking to herself, "Hopefully that
Ayanokouji will get expelled," and been satisfied with that. It would have been
better if she had. When Ichinose heard me say that, though, she vehemently,
emphatically shook her head.
"I couldn't do that! Ayanokouji-kun, you're… I mean, you're… You're not my
enemy, Ayanokouji-kun!" she shouted, clutching the front of my shirt.
"I think that I am your enemy, though," I answered.
"But, I… But to me, you're—"
She already had a firm hold on my shirt, but now her grip tightened even
more.
"B-because, because I love you, Ayanokouji-kun!" she shouted.
Most likely, Ichinose hadn't expected she would let those words leave her
lips. Once they had, though, she covered her mouth and averted her eyes.
"N-no, that's not what I—! Wh-what I just, I, um?!" she squeaked.
It was like she couldn't grasp what had just happened either. She panicked,
quickly shaking her head repeatedly.
"Wait, what did I just say?!" she wailed.
She was flustered, unable to comprehend what was happening, as if the
memory of what she had just said had fled.
"Do you want me to repeat it? What you just told me?" I asked her.
"Y-yes… Ah, I mean, no! I just remembered what I said, so you don't have to
say it after all!" she wailed.
"…Thank you, Ichinose."
"Wh-wh-wha—?!"
I had to express my thanks to her once again. She had put me ahead of her
classmates, and even ahead of her own group, the people she had joined in
hopes of winning this exam. I wasn't going to make light of or disrespect her
feelings.
"If you hadn't given me this warning, then I don't know what might have
happened to me," I told her.
Perhaps this was actually a huge crossroads for me. Had I not met Ichinose
here, I would've gone on to I2, not expecting Tsukishiro to be there. It was
certainly true that he would have threatened Ichinose too, to keep her quiet.
But here she was, right in front of me. She was willing to take the risk to tell me
everything that was going on.
"Was what you said before the truth?" I asked.
"O-oh, well that, it's just, um—it's not like that," she said, flustered. "I mean,
you know?"
"If it's not like that, then please take it back right now," I said. "I'll get the
wrong idea."
"…Um, well… It's…not exactly the wrong idea…" she answered, meekly.
She had tried to deny it at first, but now, she seemed convinced that she
couldn't talk her way out of it anymore.
"…I…I do love you…" she said softly.
She spoke so quietly, and in such a faint voice, that it was like her words
vanished into the air as soon as they passed her lips. But I heard it.
"Also, I, um, I've noticed that I've probably felt this way for a while now… I-I'm
sorry," said Ichinose.
There was nothing for her to apologize for.
"To be honest, I didn't expect that you would think of me that way," I said.
"I'm a little shocked."
"I-I'm sorry… It probably bothers you, right?"
"Not at all. It's just that I can't respond to your feelings right this minute."
"Ye… Yeah, I, I figured that I'm not really good enough or a good match for
you, Ayanokouji-kun…"
"That's not true. There are a few things that I still need to take care of right
now though, so I don't think that I can answer 'yes' or 'no' at the moment. Not
with the way things are."
Besides, I needed to avoid telling her about Kei. Even if Ichinose would be
even more hurt and resentful if she found out about her later, we were at the
tail end of the uninhabited island exam right now. There was still some time
left, so I shouldn't do anything that would rob her of her will to fight in this
exam.
"I'm sure it might not be easy to accept," I said, "but that's the best answer I
can give you right now."
"Yeah… I understand." Ichinose nodded. She wasn't upset or angry in the
slightest.
"I'm planning on heading to I2 anyway," I told her. "There's something I need
to do there."
"B-but you can't! It's dangerous!" she exclaimed.
"If I don't go, then I won't be able to protect you or your precious classmates,
will I?" I replied.
I was sure that Ichinose should have understood that herself since she had
agonized over it so much. It was easy to imagine that Tsukishiro would find out
that she had told me something. However, I thought that I needed to teach
Tsukishiro that this wasn't a predicament for me. Instead, this would be my
comeback.
"Take a nice, long break, and then try and join back up with your group,
okay?" I told her, gently stroking her head.
It was time for me to go to I2.
7.2
THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN I2 and I3 was quite rocky. There were even some
bushes there that came up past my knees.
"Think this'll be a good place," I said to myself.
I took off my backpack and hid it in one of the bushes. I didn't know what
awaited me from this point forward, and I figured that my stuff would only get
in the way. I decided to leave everything behind, including my tablet. If I headed
toward the seaside, then I could probably make my way back to this rocky area
without getting lost.
So, according to Ichinose, this was the place Tsukishiro was planning to bury
me, huh? Perhaps the other groups in my Table were actually being shown
completely different designated areas. I didn't want to waste a point
conducting a search just to find that out for sure, though.
Besides, now that I knew that Ichinose was involved, the option of not going
to I2 had disappeared. If I chose not to go, Tsukishiro would show Ichinose's
class no mercy. It was hard for me to even guess what kind of awful punishment
he would dole out in retaliation.
I finished getting ready and was just starting to walk toward I2 when…
"Hey, Ayanokouji. What a coincidence."
It was Nagumo, tablet in hand. He looked over at me as though deeply
interested in something.
Given the situation, it was odd for anyone else to be in the vicinity. Aside from
the bounty on my head, was it possible that this young man was involved with
Tsukishiro in some way? No, I figured that the title of student council president
probably didn't mean much of anything to Tsukishiro. Nagumo being here
didn't necessarily mean that there was a connection between him and that
matter. Still, I thought I ought to be cautious.
"Student Council President Nagumo, why are you in a place like this?" I asked.
Even with just a quick look around the area, I didn't see any other students
that could possibly be a member of Nagumo's group.
"Relax. It's only you and me here," said Nagumo, trying to ease my concerns.
Perhaps he had used the GPS search.
"There aren't any Tasks nearby. Where exactly did you come from?" I asked.
Nagumo had come from somewhere in the southeast.
"I was playing around on the sandy beaches in I4," said Nagumo. "The
uninhabited island exam is pretty much finished already, after all."
To think he was playing around, having a good time on the beach while
almost all of the other students were whipping themselves up into a frenzy
trying to collect points for the final day.
"Is that what you'd call the luxury of being king?" I asked.
Nagumo didn't answer the question. He only laughed.
"Even if that were true, I suppose I could say something similar back at you,
Ayanokouji. You came all the way to a place like this even though it's not a
designated area. There are no Tasks either. Were you meeting with Honami?"
It wasn't surprising that he brought her name up. Even if Nagumo hadn't seen
Ichinose directly, if he used the GPS search, it would have been clear that she
was in the proximity.
"Is it a problem if I did?"
"Nah," said Nagumo. "Not really? Well, I suppose if you two were together
even now, then there would be a lot I could say, but you're alone, and that
means that you have some other purpose. What's over in I2?"
Though I decided to just let his question slide, Nagumo continued speaking, as
though he were trying to change the subject.
"The uninhabited island exam's already over, right?" he said. "I was just
thinking that I'd come and talk to you, at least once. There aren't many
situations at school where I, as the student council president, can talk with you
alone, just the two of us."
"That's certainly true," I agreed.
I was simply a student who hung back in the shadows. He, on the other hand,
was the head of the student council, someone intimidating enough to quiet a
crying child. We were a mismatched pair. Still, I couldn't imagine that he had
come all this way just to make small talk.
"I get the sense that you were aware that the first-year students were going
to come after me," I told him.
"Not a bad guess," said Nagumo.
There was a twenty-million-point bounty on my head. Someone would
receive those points if they got me expelled. Even though Tsukishiro was the
one who spearheaded the idea, it was an undeniable fact that Nagumo was
involved. A man in his position could have easily monitored the situation via
GPS searches regardless of the time of day. If he had watched my and the firstyears' movements yesterday, then it would have been obvious to him that they
had mounted their attack.
Nagumo could see the whole picture for this particular special exam as well as
I could. No, actually, he could see it better. If he had gotten here without any
difficulty, it could only be because he knew what I was about to do.
"Don't think badly of me because of the whole bounty thing, okay?" he said.
"It wasn't my idea in the first place."
"It was Acting Director Tsukishiro's," I acknowledged.
"If you know that much already, then this conversation will be brief. The
points all came from the Acting Director. I only put my name on it as student
council president."
The question of whether Nagumo had wanted to be part of the plan was
irrelevant. If it had been an order from the acting director, he wouldn't have
had a choice but to obey.
"If it were a demand from the acting director, then I can understand why you
would go along with it," I said. "But the Student Council President Nagumo that
I know would've rejected such an idea. That's what I think."
"I would have, sure," Nagumo agreed, "if it had been any student other than
you when he came to me about the bounty. But of all people, he named you.
The only man to win the praise of Horikita-senpai."
It was as if Nagumo was looking through me and could see Horikita Manabu
standing behind me instead.
"Answer me, Ayanokouji. What are you planning on doing now?"
It would have been easy to tell him not to worry about me, that I was
someone completely insignificant. But I was sure that Nagumo wouldn't be
deterred by words as simple as that. Since I didn't know what exactly was lying
in wait ahead, I wanted to make the most of the time I had left.
"It has nothing to do with the Student Council President," I told him.
"Shouldn't you be concentrating on the final part of the special exam instead of
worrying about someone like me? In terms of scores, Kouenji must be closing in
on you fast. If you don't head back, you won't be able to earn the Early Bird
Bonus. You won't be able to participate in some of the Tasks either, if you stick
around here."
There was still a possibility that I could turn this situation around.
"Don't worry about that. I have Kouenji perfectly under control for the final
day," said Nagumo, taking a walkie-talkie out of his back pocket.
I took that to mean that even if he were some distance away, everything
would be fine if he just gave his people instructions.
"I was curious about why you came here," he went on, "but since you can't
answer my question, I'll ask a new one. Actually, it's more of a demand. I want
to know if you're really good enough to fulfill Horikita-senpai's lofty
expectations. Show me what you can really do."
So that was the real reason he had come here then.
"You're not telling me you want me to engage in a fistfight with the student
council president here, are you?" I asked.
"I wouldn't reject one, per se," he admitted. "But personally, I'd prefer
something more proper and straightforward. Even after this uninhabited island
exam is over, there will still be opportunities for students from different grade
levels to fight each other. I'll deal with you during one of those times."
The student council president was directly targeting me.
"You already understand where we stand from how things went in this exam
though, right?" I said. "Between you and me, it was no contest."
The fact of the matter was that Nagumo consistently hovered around first and
second place throughout this exam. Kouenji was close behind him, and there
was a chance that he could turn things around, but there was no denying that it
was still going to be a difficult battle.
"There's one of you, and seven of us. It would've been crazy if we actually
competed against each other," said Nagumo.
"Kouenji is good enough to be your opponent if you're looking for one
though, right?" I said. "He is an odd one, but his skills are undeniable. I, on the
other hand, didn't even break into the top ten during this exam, not even
once." I urged Nagumo to reconsider Kouenji as a more viable choice for a fight.
"Well, he's more than I expected, that's for sure. He was the only opponent in
this test worth attacking," said Nagumo.
Though he sounded like he was somewhat approving of Kouenji, he also
shrugged his shoulders in exasperation. I guessed that part about attacking
Kouenji was exactly what he was using that walkie-talkie for right now.
"I'm sure that using the entirety of the third-year class to jump ahead and
take the Early Bird Bonuses, not to mention monopolizing all the Tasks, is a feat
that only you could pull off, Student Council President," I said.
Unlike the first-years and second-years, almost all of the third-year students'
groups were under Nagumo's control. If he wanted to contain Kouenji for sure,
he could certainly have done so by mobilizing his entire grade. It wouldn't
matter how much stamina Kouenji had, or how fast he was, or how proficient
he was at clearing Tasks.
Groups summoned from all over could have circled Kouenji and taken away
every opportunity from him, right at the root. As a result, he would only be able
to earn Arrival Bonuses from the Basic Movement system. Meanwhile, Nagumo
and his teammates could widen the gap just by collecting Arrival Bonuses for
their group.
"I should have guessed, but wow. You figured out all of that. When'd you
notice?" asked Nagumo.
"I had my suspicions that there was something going on since the Beach Flags
event," I replied. "I noticed Vice President Kiriyama left a spot open in the
roster. They must have deliberately chosen not to fill it, because they wanted it
open for someone else."
That spot had been reserved for the Student Council President. However,
since I arrived before Nagumo did, Kiriyama had no choice but to fill in that
remaining space with one of his available teammates—leaving Nagumo to
leisurely play around while waiting for Kiriyama and the others to finish the
Task.
"I always thought that you and the Vice President were enemies," I added,
"but apparently not."
"Even though he hates me, he's willing to work together if it means he'll
graduate from Class A," said Nagumo.
"Which means that aside from anyone totally outside the norm like Kouenji,
no regular students could raise a hand against you, huh?"
Nagumo laughed, as though he found what I'd said amusing.
"That's not how you really feel at all though, is it?" he said. "You don't think
I'm a great person, not for a moment."
"That's—"
I tried to deny it, but Nagumo silenced me with a gesture of his hand.
"I'm sure you're thinking that I won by brute force alone, by mobilizing the
third-years. But that's not true. Now, I'm going to show you my psychic
abilities."
"Psychic abilities?" I repeated.
"I'm going to guess what your group ranking was at the end of the twelfth
day."
Only the top ten and bottom ten groups were displayed publicly. If you
excluded those twenty groups from the total 157, that left you with 137, albeit
with the assumption that none of them had merged. So, of course, I was the
only one who knew my exact ranking. At the end of the twelfth day, before the
date had changed, I had been in sixteenth place.
"You were in…eleventh place, right?" said Nagumo.
Though he answered with confidence, he was slightly off. But I couldn't
exactly laugh him off for being wrong. I had used the GPS search function
repeatedly on the twelfth day in preparation for the first-years' attack.
Hypothetically, if I hadn't spent those extra points, it was entirely possible that I
would have been in eleventh place.
Considering the rules, it was impossible to know the rankings of all the groups
—which meant that there was a good reason for Nagumo to have come to that
conclusion.
"Actually, I might've been a little bit off," he mused. "You're probably
somewhere around fifteenth or sixteenth. Right?"
"That's right," I replied. "I'm honestly impressed."
I sincerely acknowledged his ability, and Nagumo simply said, "Of course," in
response, calmly accepting it as the truth.
"I was just kidding around about that psychic stuff. I just assumed that if you
really were hiding incredible abilities, there wasn't any range of rankings you
could be in except for that."
Apparently, the student known as Nagumo was much, much better than I'd
previously thought.
"You've been keeping yourself slightly behind tenth place so you wouldn't
stand out," he continued. "And you've been positioning yourself so that you
could jump ahead of the people at the top of the rankings at any given time.
Right? If Kouenji and I clashed and we each dropped down in the rankings, you
could go for an upset."
I had avoided drawing attention to myself with the intention of lurking in the
shadows until the end of the twelfth day. When people started to feel fatigued
during the home stretch of the exam and the people in the top ranks started to
slow down their pace of collecting points, I would have raced for a spot among
the winners by scoring a bunch of points all at once, depending on how the
situation played out. Well, no, rather, that's what I had intended to do.
"Did you realize it? That it would have been impossible from the beginning, I
mean," added Nagumo, asking if I understood that the strategy that I had come
up with had immediately been rendered ineffective thanks to him.
"You know how Kuronaga's group, from the third-years, was in tenth place for
a long, long time? That was me, keeping them in tenth. I kept them there so
that I could shut down anyone who might have tried to turn the tables on me
by racking up points while staying out of sight."
The gap between my scores and the ninth and tenth groups had been
widening, and it had gotten increasingly difficult for me to shoot for those top
spots, day by day. Based on what Nagumo was saying, that had been part of his
strategy too. Everything went as he planned. He forced out the enemies that
couldn't be seen, narrowing the field down to only the enemies that he could
keep an eye on.
"I've always doubted your abilities, but now it's clear to me," said Nagumo.
"You have earned the right to fight and be crushed by me. So, rejoice."
"Was it part of your strategy to go out of your way to take command and
target Kouenji on the final day of the exam too, Student Council President?" I
asked.
"I could have easily earned 400 or even 500 points if I had wanted to,"
Nagumo said, "but that would've posed a slight problem. Besides, that wouldn't
have been interesting, would it? I gave the second-years and first-years some
hope that they might be able to win. And on top of that, if it ends up being a
close race and Kouenji loses, then I might get the chance to see the frustration
on his face."
As someone in the most powerful group, Nagumo had fought rather
comfortably for the past two weeks. And now, on the final day of the exam, he
was considering making a display of his presence by sinking Kouenji and taking
first place for himself. If Nagumo was serious, he could even find out how many
points a particular group had. He could find out whether they were earning the
Early Bird Bonuses, what kinds of results they were pulling in Tasks, and so on.
He could learn those things either via GPS searches or through the eyes of his
allies.
Even now on the final day when the scores were unknown, it was safe to
assume that Nagumo knew exactly how many points Kouenji had. That meant it
was possible for Nagumo to stage a dramatic victory, for example by pulling
ahead by just one single point.
"Well, I don't really care about Kouenji anymore," he said. "What do I care
about is the last thing that I'm going to do at this school. I'm going to eat you
alive, Ayanokouji."
Nagumo had constantly chased after Horikita Manabu's shadow. And now, he
was trying to superimpose that person's image on top of me. I thought he must
be trying to make his position with Horikita Manabu clear by overtaking him,
albeit in an unconventional way, by defeating me soundly and decisively.
"Unfortunately, Horikita is the leader of Class 2-D," I told him. "Even if there
was another special exam where we could compete against you third-years, I'm
not going to be fighting you, Student Council President Nagumo."
"In that case, I guess I have no other choice but to drag you out to the front of
the stage by force then, huh? Including the matter of the bounty on your head."
It sounded like he was willing to bring everything and anything about that
situation to light too.
"I'm sorry, but I'm going to be hurrying on ahead now," I replied. "Let's
continue this conversation another time."
"Do you think I'll let you get away that easily?" Nagumo said. "I have no
intention of letting you go until you say that you'll throw down against me.
Y'know?"
He started walking after me, as though he were intending to follow me. If
something was lying in wait ahead, Nagumo would end up getting dragged into
it. My opponent was Tsukishiro. In the worst-case scenario, Nagumo could lose
everything that he had built and be expelled thanks to the authority that man
wielded.
Even if I tried to persuade Nagumo with words, he most likely wouldn't
comply. And I obviously couldn't spin a convincing enough lie that I'd promise
to do something when the time was right. I stopped and turned around.
"So, do you think you want to fight—"
Nagumo had mistaken the reason for my turning around and was delighted.
He thought that I was going to agree. Instead, I shoved him hard and without
warning, thrusting my hand against his chest. He must not have thought that a
younger student would have the gall to lay a hand on him because he didn't
resist at all. He crumpled to the ground, falling on his backside. The tablet he
was holding and the walkie-talkie that had been in his pocket spilled out onto
the ground.
"Wha—"
He seemed unable to understand what had just happened. I figured I'd take
care of what needed to be done before he could wrap his head around the
situation.
"Student Council President Nagumo," I said, "even now, I still have a high
opinion of you. You have different abilities than President Horikita does, and
you've risen to the top of this school, brilliantly. In fact, it would be no
exaggeration to say that not only have you maintained the top spot in this
special exam with plenty of room to spare, but you have also completely
dominated it."
He was still calm. I continued speaking before he remembered his anger.
"It's simply that there are some places that you should not tread. Please
withdraw here."
"Hah… Don't mess with me, Ayanokouji. You really think you can order me
around?"
"It is precisely because you are my senpai, and thus someone I ought to
respect, that I'm not going to go easy on you," I replied.
"Huh? What are you—"
I looked right into Nagumo's eyes with all the killing intent I could muster.
"Huh?!"
"I told you to withdraw. Do you understand?" I told him sternly.
Nagumo quickly shot upright, jumping back to his feet, as if to refuse to
recognize the fear that I had instilled within him.
"Okay, that's enough, do you hear me? You are the first person who has
disrespected me this much, Ayanokouji, you—"
Just then, a voice came through the walkie-talkie that he had dropped.
"It worked great, Nagumo. This is the third time in a row that we've blocked
Kouenji from a Task. Give us your next orders."
The voice of a joyful third-year student came clearly through the device. It
sounded like their plan to suppress Kouenji was coming along well. Nagumo
glared at me, but didn't react to the voice at all.
"Hey, Nagumo, our people aren't gonna move unless you give the order. Don't
we need to keep attacking until the end of the exam to make sure that Kouenji
falls to second place?"
"Don't you need to answer that?" I asked.
Even from just the part of the conversation that I could hear, I got the sense
that the message was important to Nagumo. He silently took the walkie-talkie
in hand and turned the knob so that it was pointed to the Off indicator,
powering it down.
"Kouenji isn't what's important to me," he said.
He walked up to me, not even bothering to brush the dirt from himself.
"I'll take you on and beat you thoroughly into the ground. I'm making that my
final point of business as student council president."
Willpower, was it? He was trying to rouse himself as student council president
and shake off the intimidation he felt from me.
"I—?!"
Without warning, I punched Nagumo right in the solar plexus without batting
an eye.
"A…yano…ko—!"
Immediately rendered unable to breathe, Nagumo collapsed right on the
spot, temporarily losing consciousness. I caught his body as he fell and propped
him up against a large tree, placing him out of direct sunlight. Since he wasn't
going to be listening to any of my unsolicited advice, this was the only way I
could have dealt with the situation. Nagumo's watch must have detected an
abnormality because the Warning Alert sounded for five seconds.
I figured it wouldn't be long before he woke up, perhaps just twenty or thirty
minutes. At any rate, this would save him from getting involved in whatever
came next. Of course, there was no avoiding the fact that other problems would
emerge again after this uninhabited island exam was over, but even that was a
trivial concern right now. I needed to deal with Tsukishiro, and the path ahead
would not open until that matter had been resolved.
7.3
IT WAS JUST AFTER ten o'clock in the morning on the final day of the exam, and
I—that is to say, Horikita Suzune—was heading north along the border of I4 and
I3 toward area I2. I was wringing out every last bit of energy I had for the final
stretch, as this was the final day. The special exam was finally almost over.
Fortunately, as of just before midnight last night, no one from Class 2-D had
been in the bottom ten groups. The bottom five, the ones in danger of getting
expelled, were all third-year groups. Still, I couldn't be completely relaxed about
this. Considering the fact that those five groups could still join with other groups
which would inevitably raise their point scores, it was possible that the rankings
could change at the last minute. It was very possible that some of them could
easily swap with the groups that were just barely managing to hold onto sixth
and seventh place. If I were to take this idea to its logical extreme, if all the
groups in the bottom ten were to merge with groups in higher positions, then
all ten of those groups could break themselves out of the bottom of the
rankings.
My designated area, displayed on my tablet, was I7. It was in the opposite
direction of I2, where I was headed. Ignoring the designated area that I should
have been headed toward could have been interpreted as a reckless act. Why
was I doing such a thing, you ask? The answer to that could be found on the slip
of paper that I held in my right hand. When I had woken up in my tent this
morning, I had found this paper, folded up small, secretly tucked inside the
entrance.
When I unfolded it, I saw four things written, without any real order or
sequence to them: "Noon," "AK," "Expelled," and "I2."
My first two thoughts when I saw this were as follows: First, I thought that the
person who had written this note had very neat handwriting. So much so that I
wanted to use it as a reference to improve my own. The second thought I had
was that pens and paper were not handed out for free as supplies for this exam.
"How many points was it for a notebook and a pen, anyway…?" I muttered to
myself.
I vaguely remembered that those items were listed in the uninhabited island
manual, but I didn't remember exactly how many points they were as I had
deemed them worthless. Though I supposed, in hindsight, I might have needed
the notebook if my tablet had run out of battery life or if it had suddenly
stopped working. At any rate, someone rather eccentric had purchased the
notebook and writing tools and sent me this coded message.
"Well, no, this message is far too simple for me to say that it's a code," I
uttered, correcting myself.
"I2" referred to the area on this uninhabited island. "Noon" clearly referred to
the time. Since the note had been delivered to me on the final day of the exam,
that indicated to me that there was something happening today, the fourteenth
day. If this were a simple prank, then that would be all there was to it, but the
two other things written on the note made me think otherwise.
"Expelled" and "AK." Putting aside the first word, the problem was the "AK"
part. If another student saw this message, they surely would not have
understood its meaning. The instant I saw it, though, I understood what it
meant. Those were Ayanokouji Kiyotaka's initials.
"If I were to consider the meaning of the message as it stands," I said to
myself, "it says that Ayanokouji-kun will get expelled at noon in I2…"
What a ridiculous notion, I thought. That was why, when the designated area
was announced this morning at seven o'clock, I had intended to ignore the
message. Still, I was a little concerned that Ayanokouji-kun's GPS signature was
in E3. I thought that if he got closer to I2 as time went on, then perhaps this
might not have been a simple joke. With that in mind, I decided to give the
matter some time and then use the GPS search again.
As a result, I learned that Ayanokouji-kun had left F3 and was currently
making his way through G3. If he continues at this rate, if he really heads to I2,
then… I considered this. Driven by that hunch, I decided to head north to
confirm what was going on. There was a bounty on his head, after all; the
probability that this had something to do with said bounty could not be
dismissed.
There was still some time before noon, but I wondered how far Ayanokoujikun might have gone. Of course, there was still the possibility that this was all
just a simple coincidence, and that he was already headed toward another area.
I felt the desire to use the GPS search welling up inside me, but I firmly reined in
that impulse.
My score was good enough to place me conceivably in the top 50 percent.
However, if I abandoned designated areas and Tasks from this point on, and
especially if I used the search function, then I wouldn't know where I might
stand in the rankings. In any case, if I was wasting my time coming this way, I
decided that I might as well just continue all the way to I2.
Just as the river came into view, I heard a voice coming from behind me.
"Ah! I finally caught up with you! Wait right there, Horikita!"
"…What are you doing here?" I asked in return.
It was Ibuki-san, glaring at me, completely out of breath. I didn't get the sense
that she had appeared here by chance, which made me think that she had
deliberately gone through the trouble of using the GPS search to chase after
me.
"Your score. Show me your score," she huffed.
"Wait a minute. What in the world are you saying?"
Showing up entirely unexpectedly and demanding that I, her enemy, show her
my score? I couldn't even begin to understand what she was thinking.
"I told you before, didn't I? That I wasn't going to lose to you in this special
exam," barked Ibuki-san, thrusting her index finger at me intensely, pointing
right at my eyes.
"There's no need to check that right now," I told her. "Can't you just wait until
the exam's finished?"
"There's no guarantee that all of the groups' points will be shown at the end
of the special exam," she argued.
"That certainly might end up being the case," I conceded. "What's important
are the top and bottom groups, after all."
There was no guarantee that all the rankings of the numerous other groups
would be viewable right away. Of course, it was also possible that they would
publicly announce all the scores as a matter of course too.
"So, you're going to let me confirm it right here and now," she ordered.
From the sound of it, she wanted to make it absolutely clear which one of us
had scored more points as of the final day of the exam.
"This is so incredibly stupid that I can't even believe it… But you must be
serious about this if you went through all the trouble of coming here. How
many times did you use the GPS search?" I asked.
"…Three times," she answered. "You were close, so I thought now would be
the only time to do this." Ibuki-san had used the GPS search three times and
come all this way…for this.
"I appreciate all the effort you went through," I said sarcastically.
"I don't need your appreciation. Just show me your score. My score is 131
points!" she announced confidently, as if to say, "How about that?"
"Thank you for telling me even though I didn't ask," I said. "But there are two
things I'd like to say. First, there's no proof that what you're telling me is your
real score."
"Huh? In that case, how about I show you?!" she shouted.
Ibuki-san was about to take her tablet out from her backpack, but I stopped
her from doing so.
"Second," I went on, "even if you do show me your actual score, I'm not going
to tell you mine."
"Huh? What the hell? Are you saying that you're the same as him?" she
sneered.
Him? Though I was a little curious, I continued saying my piece anyway.
"Though we are both second-years, we are enemies. I don't want to run the
risk of disclosing information to you."
At this point in time, I couldn't imagine that my name would appear in the
bottom ten. However, the scores would keep changing until the very last
minute. Even though it was the last day, there was a nonzero possibility that
giving information to Ibuki-san could result in the rug being pulled out from
under me.
"I get it," she said. "Hearing my score made you scared, huh? You're losing to
me, aren't you?"
"Even if you keep talking about who is winning and who is losing, I'm still not
going to answer," I said firmly.
Even though I had repeatedly told Ibuki-san that I had no intention of sharing
any information with her, she kept snapping back at me.
"Why can't you just admit it already?" she huffed. "That you can't beat my
score?"
"Sure, I'll do that for you. I admit it. Now you can go back to the exam."
I figured that if it satisfied her, I'd go along with her demands.
"…You're really pissin' me off," she grumbled. "Show me your actual score."
"I gave in and admitted it, and you're still not satisfied?" I asked.
"I wanna know your actual score. And I wanna know how much I beat you
by," she added.
"This is so stupid…"
"It's very important to me," she insisted.
"I'm sorry, but I need to be moving on."
"Trying to run away?"
"I'm heading to my designated area. It's funny that you would describe that as
running away."
I turned and hurried off toward I2. Ibuki-san must really have thought that I
was running away because she followed me, giving chase.
"Do you have a designated area up north? Or are you just chasing me?" I
asked.
"What I want to know right now is your score," she answered. "Once I find
that out, I'll go back to my own designated area."
I figured that meant she would stubbornly remain fixated on me—and me
alone—no matter where I went. I honestly did not want to end up getting held
up here for such a bizarre reason. Even if I was just being led around by this
single piece of paper, I still didn't want to waste my time.
"…I give in," I told her.
"Y-you do? So, you're finally admitting that you lose?" said Ibuki-san.
"That's not what I meant. I'm saying that I've given in to that thing you have
that resembles a kind of stubborn persistence. I've earned 145 points.
Unfortunately for you, you came close, but I beat you in points earned."
I revealed the information that I should have kept hidden. That was the
reason I had declared that I had given in earlier.
"Wait, you beat me? If you're saying that you beat me, then show me proof. I
want evidence," demanded Ibuki-san.
Of course, she would say that. But I had no intention of stopping anymore. I
just wanted to get to I2 as soon as possible and make sure that Ayanokouji-kun
was safe.
"…Fine."
In terms of efficiency… Well, no, actually, I couldn't imagine that this was the
right tactic. But letting Ibuki-san know what my score was on the final day of
the special exam would most likely not have a significant impact. I didn't want
to waste a single second of a single minute. I took off my backpack and reached
for my tablet in the outer pouch. Ibuki-san still had a stern look on her face, and
it didn't seem like her expression would change as she waited for me to show
her my point total.
I had the tablet in my hands. I was just about to press the power button. But
just then, Ibuki-san and I both, at almost the exact same time, sensed a
powerful presence ahead and looked up. It was someone who made no attempt
to conceal their presence, either.
"Found youuuuu!"
It was an innocent-sounding voice, like a child calling out to a playmate.
"Hello there, Horikita-senpai."
Seeing this girl appear before us from seemingly out of nowhere, Ibuki-san
didn't even try to hide the dissatisfied look on her face.
"…Who's that?" she huffed.
"It's Amasawa Ichika-san, from Class 1-A," I answered.
It was possible that Amasawa had just so happened to show up here, but
something seemed strange. Feeling on edge, I turned my attention to her,
though I was still holding onto my tablet. The whole situation with the bounty
that the first-years were after and what was written on that slip of paper I
found this morning… It couldn't be her, could it?
"Oh, don't worry about me," said Amasawa-san. "You can keep doing what
you were doing, 'kay?"
"No, we can't," I informed her. "We were discussing private matters."
I was sure that Ibuki-san was well aware that I wanted as few other people as
possible to know my score. I was also sure that she understood that was why I
didn't want to show her my tablet right now to prove whether she won or lost.
I gently urged Amasawa-san to leave, but she wasn't budging. Seeing this,
Ibuki-san must have lost her patience because she spoke up.
"You're interrupting us," she huffed, sounding irritated.
"So, how's Sudou-senpai, Horikita-senpai?" asked Amasawa-san.
"Huh? You ignorin' me?" grumbled Ibuki-san.
Even though Amasawa-san should have heard Ibuki-san's question, she acted
as if she didn't. She must not have been planning to leave right away because
she set her backpack down and rolled her shoulders.
"…He's well," I replied. "He was saved, thanks to you. I'm incredibly grateful
for that."
She smiled brightly at me, but I didn't get the sense of anything even
remotely like an apology from her. Did she think I wasn't worth apologizing to
for how she had acted toward and responded to Ayanokouji-kun? Or, perhaps,
did she think she hadn't done anything wrong in the first place?
"I told you that you're interrupting us. We've got an engagement of our own
here, so get out of here," snapped Ibuki-san.
"An engagement?" Amasawa-san repeated. "Didn't you just selfishly barge in
and demand Horikita-senpai's time though, Ibuki-senpai?"
It sounded as though she had been listening in on our conversation for a
while. Perhaps it really was true that she had been here, eavesdropping.
"Even so, it's got nothing to do with you," Ibuki-san said. "Beat it."
Ibuki-san's tone was becoming more and more stern. If this went any further,
Ibuki-san might've really started getting physical. But even though she was
being threatened, Amasawa-san just smiled, as though she found it all amusing.
Putting Ibuki-san aside for the moment, I turned my attention back to
Amasawa-san. "I'm wondering what you're after, Amasawa-san," I told her. I
didn't want to waste any more time, but I didn't have any other choice.
"Tch." Ibuki clicked her tongue in irritation. But still, she waited too, probably
because she sensed that she didn't have a choice either.
"I have one question I'd like to ask you," said Amasawa-san. "Where are you
going from here, Horikita-senpai?"
"Right now, I'm speaking with Ibuki-san right here," I replied, "but after I'm
finished, I'm planning to head toward area F3 right away."
That was a lie, of course. I had already intended on giving up on my
designated area. But there was no benefit in telling Amasawa-san that. She had
colluded with other first-year students in their plan to get Ayanokouji-kun
expelled so they could collect the bounty on his head. It was safer for me to not
say anything unnecessary in matters related to him. That was what I had
decided, anyway, but I soon realized my mistake.
"You're a liar, Horikita-senpai," Amasawa-san declared. "Your designated area
isn't that way, is it?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "Are you trying to trap me with
some strange trick?"
"It's pointless to try and fool me," she responded immediately. "Your
designated area, where you're supposed to be going, is I7. Am I wrong, Horikitasenpai?"
The area that she had mentioned was exactly the place that I was supposed to
be headed to next. She couldn't have guessed that by mere coincidence.
Judging from the look on her face, I could only imagine that she had intended to
catch me in that trap from the very start of this conversation.
"We second-years have our own way of fighting," I told her. "It's not like we
can tell the absolute truth about everything."
After I told her that, I continued right away.
"Besides, I think it's inevitable that we'd be wary of someone who tried to
take down Ayanokouji-kun."
I smoothly transitioned from one topic to the next. The first-years were our
enemy. There was no need for us to show any shame.
"Hmm. Well, you might be right about that," she said.
Though that was what she said, it was as if my words never even reached her
ears. I couldn't help but feel that, based on her attitude, she had come here
with a predetermined conclusion in mind.
"So, where are you going, Horikita-senpai?" she pressed. "It couldn't be…I2,
could it?"
It seemed that I had guessed right, but in a bad way.
"You seem to have figured out quite a few things," I said. "But I've only just
decided to head to I2 as of this morning. You're an exceptionally good guesser,
aren't you?"
Even if she had used the GPS search and pinpointed my location, it wouldn't
have been easy for her to get ahead of me like this. If that was the case, then I
could assume that Amasawa also had something to do with that piece of paper I
found this morning. While I wondered whether to question her about it, Ibuki-
san stepped forward instead.
"Hey, how much longer are you gonna drag out this boring conservation?"
she snapped.
I certainly felt frustrated too. At this rate, I was going to be forced to deal with
Amasawa-san on top of all the time I had already wasted on Ibuki-san.
"Ibuki-san."
I decided to power on my tablet and show my score to her, resigning myself
to disclosing my own personal information. Inevitably, Ibuki-san would also see
that I had earned three additional group member slots, but since it was the
endgame and I hadn't used them, I figured there was virtually no harm done.
From her point of view, something like my maximum group size was probably
completely irrelevant.
The moment that she saw my score, Ibuki-san faintly clicked her tongue.
Then, scratching her head, she put her irritation into words…loudly.
"Huh? Seriously? HUH?! This sucks," she grumbled.
I supposed this was a somewhat cruel conclusion for Ibuki-san after all the
hard work that she put in over the past two weeks. That being said, I still
thought that she performed admirably. The fact that she was able to achieve a
score on level with mine, even though she had a lower level of academic ability,
was something that she should look back on proudly.
"Well then, if we're done here, you can head to your designated area," I told
her. "You still have a chance to turn things around, since we earn double points
on the final day."
"Well, yeah, sure, I guess that's true… But what the hell is this about you
giving up on your designated area?" Amasawa-san's words must have piqued
her curiosity.
"This is your chance, Ibuki-san," I said. "For reasons I'm not going to go into, I
will not be scoring any points from this point."
I tried to signal to her with my eyes. Surely you can understand without me
having to explain everything from the beginning, right?
"Well, you're right that our contest isn't over until the uninhabited island
exam is finished," she said, exasperated. "If you're telling me that you're staying
put, then I won't lie, I'll be more than happy to go ahead and turn the tables on
you."
She must have been satisfied, at least to some extent, because she turned her
back to me and started walking away. At any rate, I had succeeded in getting
her away from here for the time being. As I put my tablet away, tucking it into
my backpack, I focused my attention back on dealing with Amasawa-san.
"I'm going to be heading over to I2 now," I informed her. "What are you going
to do?"
"Why are you giving up on your designated area and going to I2, which is
totally irrelevant to you?" she asked. "There aren't even any Tasks there. I
mean, we are still in the middle of the special exam, right? Aren't we?"
"I think you know the answer to that better than anyone," I replied. "Don't
you?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"Don't play dumb with me. You slipped this piece of paper into my tent while
I was sleeping. Why did you do that?"
I held out the small, folded paper between the thumb and index finger of my
left hand.
"…Paper?" said Amasawa-san. "If you don't mind, could you show it to me for
a sec?"
This was practically a textbook example of an unconvincing performance. But
I supposed I had no more use for this piece of paper anyway. I handed it over to
Amasawa-san, who I believed to be its original owner. When she received it, she
unfolded it and read its contents.
"A bunch of things scribbled in no particular order… 'Noon,' 'AK,' 'Expelled,'
and 'I2,'" said Amasawa-san, closing her eyes for a moment as she read the
note aloud. "For the love of… Just how much do you like playing these
games…?"
"Games?" I repeated. "What exactly are you planning on involving
Ayanokouji-kun and me in?"
"I dunno," said Amasawa-san. "Seems like I'm nothing more than just another
participant, just like you, senpai."
"Don't try and fool me. The fact that you appeared right here proves that
you're the one who wrote that note."
Amasawa-san smiled, looking somewhat annoyed, and began tearing up the
paper. She ripped it seven or eight times and then proceeded to toss the
scattered pieces away.
"Did you sense anything disturbing about the four things written in that
note?" she asked.
"That Ayanokouji-kun might get expelled," I replied. "It was quite easy to
interpret the message that way."
"Hmm."
It sounded as if she knew more about the situation than I did. At any rate, it
was a waste of time for me to play word games with her any longer. I slung my
backpack over my shoulders once more and started walking toward her.
Amasawa-san snapped at me, just as I was about to walk past her. "I'm not
happy about this. You don't know aaaaanything about Ayanokouji-senpai at all,
and you're just pretending to be his ally because you're classmates. I gotta
wonder about that, I really do. You don't know anything about Ayanokoujisenpai, do you, Horikita-senpai?" she added.
That didn't sit well with me for some reason, and I stopped in my tracks.
"So, then, would you say that you know a lot more about him than I do?" I
asked.
When I cast a glance at her, she met my gaze with an overbearing glance of
her own, smiling broadly and triumphantly.
"Of course," she declared. "I know Ayanokouji-senpai very, verrrrry well. Like,
I know why he's so cool, so smart…and so much stronger than everyone else."
I found it hard to believe that a first-year student who had only just started
attending our school could know so much about Ayanokouji-kun. Did that mean
that they had been acquainted with each other since junior high school or
earlier, in that case? Just like how Kushida-san and I had known each other
since junior high?
Amasawa-san continued speaking, not caring about my reaction.
"So, what do you know, Horikita-senpai?"
What did I know? He was… Since I enrolled in this school, Ayanokouji-kun was
my very first…friend. Yes, I supposed that it would be fair to say that we were
friends, more or less. Since we just so happened to sit next to one another in
class, we ended up talking about lots of different things… At first, I thought he
was just an ordinary student, but he turned out to be much, much smarter than
I could have ever imagined.
Even my older brother recognized his talents early on, finding Ayanokouji-kun
to be well-versed in martial arts. But he was also someone who usually hid
himself away and just wanted to live a quiet life at school. Although there were
a few people who knew about his true abilities, really, there were a lot of
rumors and lies, making it hard to discern the truth from fiction.
"Yes, I suppose you might be right," I answered. "I might not really know
anything about him. I cannot deny that."
When I thought about Ayanokouji-kun again, I couldn't help but come to that
conclusion. Perhaps Amasawa-san was well aware of that too. She smiled
happily at what I said, taking my words as a declaration of defeat.
"But."
"But?"
Surely, that was not what was important. It's not about how much I know
about him right now, I thought to myself.
"I want to continuing getting to know more and more about him from here on
out, until the time we graduate. As a classmate… As a friend. Until I know far
more than you do right now," I declared.
That was my wish at present. That feeling was the sincere truth. He had
certainly caused me some grief more than once or twice, but he was an
indispensable person to our class. He was a valuable ally that we could not
afford to lose. If he was in danger right now, then of course I would go running
to save him. That was precisely the reason I was heading over to I2, even
though I was going as far as giving up on my designated area.
Now, I had once again reaffirmed what it was that I was trying to do. That the
choice I was making was not the wrong one. If everything turned out to have
simply been baseless fears, then that would have been perfectly fine as well.
"Do you really think that you can be of any use?" asked Amasawa-san.
"Someone like you, Horikita-senpai?"
"I may not be skilled enough yet at this point in time, but I intend to become
someone who can help him when he's in trouble."
Our lives as students at this school had really only just started, and we were
just beginning to turn the pages. This conversation, which I could have
interpreted as a waste of time, might have held some great meaning after all. I
needed to be grateful to her, then, for making me realize all of this. As I was
about to walk away though, Amasawa-san stretched out her right arm, blocking
my path. When I looked at her face again, her smile was long gone. Instead, she
looked at me with severe murderous intent.
"I've learned something from our conversation here," I told her. "That
something really is about to happen in I2. If not, then there would be no reason
for you to be trying so desperately to keep me here."
I couldn't afford to waste any more time here.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"After everything I've said, don't you understand? I'm going to I2 to save
Ayanokouji-kun."
It was my first step in becoming someone who could help him when he was in
trouble, just as I said earlier.
"Don't make me laugh," Amasawa-san scoffed. "There's no way that
Ayanokouji-senpai would look to someone like you for help, Horikita-senpai."
"That might be true at present, at the very least," I admitted.
"Meaning that in the future, it'll be different?" she asked.
I nodded, then turned back to look at her.
"Oh, and there's one more thing I've come to understand from our
conversation," I told her. "That you really do not want to let me go to I2. Which
means that you were not the one who sent me this piece of paper."
When I tried to move past Amasawa-san's outstretched arm, she quickly
moved to stand in front of me, blocking my path once again.
"I'm not letting you go, Horikita-senpai," she said firmly.
"The more you try and stop me, the more I feel that I absolutely must go to
him. Judging from the way you're talking, I'm guessing that he must be in
trouble right now. Right?"
It didn't matter how much she knew about the situation. The one thing that I
was sure of was that there was obviously something going on with Ayanokoujikun.
"You really think you can go?" taunted Amasawa-san.
"Yes, I really think I can," I answered decisively. Even if I have to remove any
obstacles standing in my way by force.
"Hmmm. Wow, I can really, really feel your determination loud and clear. I'll
wait for you just long enough so you can put your stuff down."
She clearly meant that she was planning to keep me here, even if she had to
use force in return. I figured that it would be best to assume this was no simple
verbal threat. I took her at her word and slowly lowered my backpack down to
the ground, near my feet.
"I'll just tell you this up front. I am an experienced martial artist," I cautioned
her.
"I know."
"…I see. You are quite well informed."
"And let me tell you something up front," she retorted, "I'm super strong, so
you better be ready for me."
From the moment that she unveiled her anger, I could instinctively sense that
she was no ordinary child. I was sure that wasn't just some random conclusion
on my part either; this was real. It was certainly true that I was getting
increasingly fatigued due to being on an uninhabited island for this exam. But
the same was true for Amasawa-san here as well. Since she appeared to be in
fine physical condition, I couldn't say that we were evenly matched in that
regard.
In any case, I was not going to be easily defeated. I slowly positioned myself
into a stance and observed Amasawa-san's behavior. She didn't seem to be
getting into any particular stance herself. She simply looked at me with an
unsettling expression on her face.
"If you're saying that you're going to see Ayanokouji-senpai, then I think I'll
play with you a little bit. To stop you."
Amasawa-san took a step forward with her left foot, and then—
"Wha—?!"
I had been completely alert and thought I was ready for her, but in the instant
she started to move, I sensed intense danger coming in my direction. I hopped
backwards to get out of the way. She hadn't put much power behind her
movements when she'd reached out toward me with her arm. Was she trying to
grab hold of me? At any rate, I avoided the first blow. Or so I thought, at least.
The next thing I knew, Amasawa-san had grabbed me, clutching onto my right
sleeve and the fabric around my chest.
"That's im—" I sputtered.
As I almost silently muttered those words, my field of vision started to spin. I
felt pain shoot through my back, and I realized that I had just gotten shoulder
thrown.
"One point for meeee! Heh, just kiddin'!"
"Koff!" I hacked painfully, unable to breathe.
"Come on now, you can't let your guard down, silly." Amasawa had a wicked
grin on her face as she looked down at me. "All right. Back on your feet. Let's
go, stand up, stand up."
It was unnecessary to reiterate just how humiliating this experience was. I
understood well enough just from getting grabbed by her once that Amasawasan possessed incredible physical abilities. I had assumed that since we were
both women, even if there was a difference in our level of skill, it would have
only been slight. Ingenuity, quick-wittedness, a flash of opportunity, luck—I
thought it would be possible for any one of those things to lead to a
turnaround. But that line of thinking might have been naïve.
At any rate, the damage done to my back wasn't something I could just shrug
off. Fortunately, I had landed on soil, but it was still going to take some time for
me to recover. If Amasawa-san was so proud of her overwhelmingly superior
position, I decided I'd take advantage of that as much as possible. I purposefully
spent a prolonged time on the process of getting back up.
"Don't worry, I'll wait. You can rest up for five, even ten minutes," said
Amasawa-san.
"Of course you'd say that, since your intention is to keep me from going to
Ayanokouji-kun," I replied.
"It's best to settle things without having to fight, right? I'm sure you must
think so too, Horikita-senpai."
That was certainly true. The uninhabited island exam had been going
smoothly up to this point. We were only just starting our altercation here in the
endgame. If I wasn't careful, I could very well end up being eliminated and
become the only one here to be expelled from school.
"…One more time," I announced.
Once the pain in my back had subsided, I once again entered a fighting stance,
the same one as before. Even with my knowledge of martial arts, it didn't mean
I was good at raw, bare-knuckle fights like this. I could only demonstrate the
abilities I had acquired, just as I had learned them. I was surprised by how fast
Amasawa-san moved, but I had my own ideas about how to fight due to my
specialty: namely, judo.
Once, an assistant karate instructor taught me what to do when a man came
at you to try and grab you and push you down to the ground. I remembered
that lesson, tucked away deep in my memory, and thought I would try and put
it into practice here. I wasn't exactly of sound enough mind to be able to adjust
it by feel and go easy on my opponent, but I decided that since Amasawa-san
was the one I was facing now, I probably didn't need to worry about that. I
tossed aside any thoughts about how she was younger than me and instead
made myself focus on the idea that I was fighting a superior opponent.
"A ha ha!"
Just when I was focusing on the slight changes not just on Amasawa-san's
face, but also in her legs and shoulders, she laughed, as though she were
amused.
"Yeah, yeah. I can tell, Horikita-senpai. I know exactly how you feel. But, hey,
y'know…?"
I wouldn't play along with her mind games. In that moment, I focused all my
attention, all my reflexes, on watching to determine what her first move would
—
Just as I was counting the seconds, not even sparing time to blink, I saw her
right leg coming straight at me. I tried to intercept her attack, but then I realized
that she had switched up and quickly swung her left leg at me instead,
connecting with the side of my torso.
A jolt of pain shot through me. "Ngh!"
She had kicked me hard enough to knock me back down to the ground,
inflicting so much agonizing pain that I felt as if I might start crying or just lose
consciousness. The only thing I could do with my arms in that moment, as I
couldn't even defend myself with them, was to simply catch myself as I hit the
earth. I rolled along the ground two or three times. Though I understood how it
had all happened, I still felt confused.
"Did you think this fight was mostly going to be judo? Pretty naïve of you to
think that," she taunted.
"U-ur…k…!"
I reflexively held my right side, where she had kicked me, closing my eyes. The
pain was so intense that I felt my spirit shatter in an instant. This was the
second time that I had felt such overwhelming, despair-inducing strength. I
hadn't felt like this since…that time we confronted Housen-kun, which wasn't
all that long ago. With events like that happening in such quick succession, I felt
like I was losing confidence in myself.
"I guess none of this year's batch of first-years are just cute underclassmen…"
I huffed.
"Oh, so does that mean that you used to be a cute girl last year, Horikitasenpai?" she retorted. "Unlike me?"
I figured she would say something mean-spirited in response to my jab, but
that still really hurt to hear. Even though we were different types of people, I
didn't think I was totally lacking in the cuteness department myself… Just as I
tried to stand back up, though, I felt overwhelmed by a sensation that felt like
all the energy had just drained out of me. Just one shoulder throw and a single
kick had sapped more of my strength than I imagined.
"Who are you?" I asked. "It seems like you know Ayanokouji-kun from long
ago…"
One thing was for certain: Amasawa-san possessed a bizarre strength, just like
he did. I had caught glimpses of that power before from Ayanokouji-kun, both
when he faced my brother and when he faced Housen-kun.
"Yeah, well, there's no way I'd tell you something like that, senpai."
"I suppose so. You don't seem like the kind of person who would answer so
easily."
At any rate, there weren't exactly many positives in this situation, not with
Amasawa-san playing around with me like this. From her point of view, she just
needed to keep me from getting to Ayanokouji-kun, so I supposed it didn't
matter to her how much time she spent on this fight. For me to move forward, I
would need to avoid taking any more damage.
"You know, actually," Amasawa-san started, "it's like…I'm really disappointed
in you, in a lot of ways. You're nowhere near as superior as you seem to think
you are, Horikita-senpai, are you? That's exactly why Ayanokouji-senpai won't
talk 'bout anything with you."
She looked at me as though she was peering straight into my heart.
"You say things like how you want to save him, but in reality, you can't even
trust him, and you just want to know what he thinks about you."
"…You might be right about that," I conceded.
"But it's like I told you before, Horikita-senpai. Ayanokouji-senpai can't count
on someone like you."
"Even if that were true, I'd rather hear that from his mouth, not yours."
"Can't you understand how that would just be so tactless?" she shot back.
She wasn't even attempting to hide her irritation with me anymore.
Amasawa-san then came up beside me.
"Kushida-senpai still has more worth seeing," she added.
"Kushida-san? Why did you just mention her name…?"
"Stand up, Horikita-senpai. Talking to you any more would just piss me off, so
let's end this already."
She gave me a moment to get back up and regain my stance at least, which
was a small mercy. In that instant, I decided that I couldn't give up this fight
until the bitter end. I got back to my feet and focused all my attention on trying
to detect Amasawa-san's next attack. I realized that I was repeating myself,
doing the same thing as before, but that was all I could do. I didn't really have
any other choice.
"Bye-byeeee!" taunted Amasawa-san.
She drew in closer with fleet-footed steps. Should I catch her attack? Avoid it?
I was sure that I wouldn't succeed with either option though. In that case, I
decided that I'd at least get in one good shot, as retaliation. And—!
Smack! I heard the dull sound of a fist hitting something, right near my ear.
But no pain came.
Then, a figure appeared before me, blocking my line of sight.
"Why are you…?" I stammered.
The student who had caught the fist that had been coming straight for me
didn't even turn around to look at me. She spat. I stared at Ibuki-san's small
figure. She should have left minutes ago.
"Ow… Damn, that's quite a punch you got," she huffed.
"And nice catch!" said Amasawa-san. "I'm a little bit surprised by you just
showing up here out of the blue."
I was unable to wrap my mind around what was happening anymore and was
equally unable to move. Just then, Ibuki-san looked back and glared at me.
"I'm the one who's going to defeat you," she said, letting go of Amasawasan's fist. "I don't wanna see you lose to some random first-year from whoknows-where."
Amasawa-san once again put some distance between us.
"Hi there! I'm Amasawa Ichika-chan. Please remember my name, okay, Ibukisenpaiii?"
"I don't have a good memory for names and junk. If you want to make me
remember who you are, then you gotta leave that much of an impression on
me. Got it?" snapped Ibuki-san.
"A ha ha! You're kinda funny," said Amasawa-san.
"I'll play around with her," Ibuki-san told me. "Why don't you just go
wherever it was you wanted to go?"
"What are you saying? Weren't you going to keep trying your hardest to beat
me in this exam?"
"You're giving up on your designated area, right? It's pointless for me to turn
things around and win because of something like that," she said.
And you came back just because of that? I wanted to ask in return. But I
swallowed my words.
"She's unbelievably strong," I told her. "You might come to regret this. Are
you sure you're all right doing that?"
"The hell are you on about?" said Ibuki-san. "You trying to tell me that I'm
going to lose?"
"That's how strong of an opponent she is."
"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to lose to someone like Ibuki-senpaiiii,"
Amasawa-san interjected.
"…Heh, bring it on," said Ibuki-san.
Amasawa-san's casual threat seemed to have had the opposite effect, instead
lighting a fire under Ibuki-san.
"Supposing you do beat Amasawa-san," I said, "it's entirely possible that you
could overdo it. Your Emergency Alert might start going off, and you'd be
eliminated. Since you're alone, you're at risk of being expelled."
"Aren't you in the same boat?" she replied.
"Huh? Well, yes, I am," I conceded.
"I'm confident that I'm stronger than you," said Ibuki-san. She made a gesture
with her hand, telling me to hurry up and go.
"Which one of you is gonna fight me?" Amasawa-san called out. "Come on,
decide already."
"I'll fight her," I announced.
"Yeah, is that really something the person who was just about to lose minutes
ago should be saying? Look, you're in the way, so just get outta here," snapped
Ibuki-san.
"This is my fight," I insisted. "It has nothing to do with you."
"You're spouting nonsense, you know that, right?" Ibuki-san said. "Did you hit
your head and go nuts or something?"
"I just—"
This wasn't working. I wasn't going to be able to stop Ibuki-san with any halfhearted attempts. But I couldn't just let her handle this fight, either. I grabbed
her by the shoulders and forcefully shoved her back.
"What are you doing?!" she shouted.
"I've been trying to put this delicately so I wouldn't upset you, but I'm just
going to come out and say it. You cannot beat her."
"Don't screw with me," she huffed. "Don't just make assumptions before we
even start."
"It's the truth," I said. "I couldn't even do a single thing against her, so there's
no way that you can beat her."
If Amasawa-san had lit a fire in Ibuki-san, then I was going to fan the flames
until they became a raging inferno.
"All right then, show me some proof th—"
I thrust out my left arm toward Ibuki-san before she could finish speaking.
"What?"
"I'm not intending on fighting a losing battle," I said. "If you're going to jump
into this fight too, then you're going to have to show me your resolve. Join my
group. That way, if one of us is completely incapacitated, the other can retreat.
That way, we won't be disqualified."
She balked. "You're kidding, right? Why would I ever join up with you?"
"I already told you. You need to show me your resolve," I replied. "If you're
not ready to do that, then don't butt into this fight."
"I don't like this…" she whined.
"You don't have to like it, but if you're going to be a part of this, I want to be
able to count on you."
"This seriously sucks. This sucks so hard it makes me want to die. But…I guess
I couldn't laugh it off if you got expelled because of some first-year," Ibuki-san
sighed.
We both understood that we were conflicted about what to do here. But even
so, we brought our watches together. You needed about ten seconds for the
link to be finalized. I supposed that if Amasawa-san wanted to stop us, she
could have done something, but she didn't show any signs of moving. She just
kept watching us with amusement.
"It's not a bad strategy," she said. "If two people going it solo came together
and made a group, then they'd be able to avoid getting expelled even if one of
them gets seriously injured."
She had her back to us, quietly putting more distance between us. I couldn't
imagine that it was because she sensed there was danger in a two-on-one fight
and was trying to pull back. After getting a reasonable distance away, she
turned again and looked back at us.
"But, you know, you've made one miscalculation, Horikita-senpai."
"Oh? What in the world do you mean by that?" I asked.