Classroom of the Elite: The 100 Elites Who Really, Really, Really Love

by legalinmybooks

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has been cursed (blessed) by The God of Love who accidentally linked Ayanokouji and 100 different girls/women. They are to become soulmates bounded by love and fate. If their relationship with Ayanokouji fails, the girls are fated to die in an accident. It's a matter of life or death. Will Ayanokouji survive ANHS with 100 potential soulmates waiting for him? Wil

21. Chapter 20: Island Exam

*Timeskip (half a hour later)*

The fire crackled as the students of Class D huddled close to the fire and even Ibuki was attending the meeting, although she was sitting the farthest from the class and fire. The fire emitted warmth and light in the dark evening sky.

Ayanokouji's classmates' faces seemed to have brightened up due to the light from the fire. Hirata stood up and got everyone's attention.

"Thank you for being here, everyone. Tonight's meeting is going to be about our next course of action." said Hirata, showing initiative. "So far, we have spent about 38 points. I would like to discuss our future spending and schedule for the camp. The first thing to discuss is our schedule. Horikita-san?"

"This spot is quite decent and there's only one path leading directly to our camp. Based on what Ike-kun's knowledge, there is sufficient amount of edible fruits and berries in the forest . Ike-kun also bought some fishing rods to help catch fish. I recommend we divide the class to do 3 different tasks. The first team is the gathering team for gathering edible berries and fruits that Ike-kun approves of. The second team will be fishing with Ike-kun. The last team will be used for gathering firewood and do other various tasks around camp." said Horikita.

"I agree with you, Horikita-san. We're going to divide responsibilities for tomorrow." said Hirata. For the next 15 minutes, Hirata, Horikita, and Kushida divided the entire class up into the 3 groups that Horikita listed.

"No Koenji-kun?" asked Hirata, looking at the assembled class. Everyone began looking around and saw that Koenji is not present at all. They wondered if he's just sleeping in the tent or just hiding from them.

"Now... that you think about it. I don't think I saw Koenji-kun in the afternoon at all." said Sonoda.

"Yeah. Didn't he leave with Ayanokouji-kun's group?" asked Karuizawa. That got everyone's attention as they turned to Ayanokouji, Inogashira, and Sakura. Sakura looked nervous about the amount of attention that she's getting and

averted her eyes.

"Koenji left my group and went off by himself. I haven't saw him after my scouting mission. I assumed that he returned back to camp." said Ayanokouji. Hirata looked troubled by this.

"Koenji-kun is missing..." muttered Hirata. Apparently, Hirata seems quite anxious about Koenji's whereabouts.

"Let's worry about it later. If Koenji-kun is injured or missing, the school will know of his whereabouts." said Horikita.

"But..."

"There's no point in worrying about it. It's not like we can anything." "Yeah, but..."

"We have to worry about the task in front of us for now. You can ask Chabashira-sensei about Koenji-kun tomorrow morning."

Hirata nodded before clearing his throat and turning his attention back to the rest of the class.

"So, now that we have already made a decision. It's about our points. I've looked over the booklet that Chabashira-sensei gave us and found some things that may help us." said Hirata.

Hirata showed the class a shower, set of cooking utensils, the same tents that the school gave to each class, and other various items that are quite useful for camping in the woods. Ayanokouji noticed that there is a section featuring balls, frisbees, and other items used for recreational purposes. There was also a section that had food and water for points and Ayanokouji realized that there are different strategies on how each class can tackle the exam and the items that the school sell can help those strategies. The class discussed purchasing a set of cooking utensils for an additional five points which the class agreed. Then, after a few minutes of intense discussion, the class agreed to spend another twenty points to install one shower. The fact that one's health might worsen if they used only used cold water and could cause more damage than simply spending 20 points. The agreement was that the guys were only allowed to use the shower in

the middle of the night and all of the girls seemed to agree that they'd drink water from the river. Some that are not comfortable with drinking directly from the river will have to boil the water first. The last thing they agreed on was to buy 2 tents for the guys which cost another 20 points. It wasn't enough to fit everyone into the 2 tents, but it was enough to fit most of everyone. The boys agreed to take turns sleeping outside which helped reduce the amount of people sleeping in a tent. Hirata discussed the lack of food for tonight since they only got some fruits and berries that Karuizawa's group managed to find and it's not enough for the entire class. The class argued on how many meal sets they should buy for tonight since food and drinking water cost around 6 points per individuals units and a meal seat which include both food and water cost 10 points. Some classmates wanted to save all the remaining points they have and just stick with the fruits and berries gathered, but others argued that it wasn't enough. Hirata compromised with the two opposing sides and bought 3 meal sets, a cost of 30 points, to appease both sides. It wasn't that expensive and it was enough to feed the people that wanted more food. With that, it seemed the class has agreed on most of the topics covered from Hirata's meeting.

"By the way... That girl, Ibuki-san from Class C? I've seen her before." said Satou, bringing up the topic of Ibuki to the entire class. The entire class already saw her a few times when they are in camp, but it seemed some of them didn't know why she was here. Some of Ayanokouji 's classmates eyed Ibuki with suspicion. Ibuki continued to quietly sit far away and averted her eyes.

"Well, it sounds like there's been some kind of trouble in her class..." said Yamauchi, a little flustered, and he explained why Ibuki seemed to have been isolated from her classmates.

"I see. Your judgment was correct. We can't just leave her." said Hirata, supporting Yamauchi's decision. "Do you have a moment, Ibuki-san? I wanted to talk to you."

"I'm probably just getting in the way. You've already taken good care of me." said Ibuki, quickly standing up, as if she wanted to run.

"Wait a minute. I wanted to ask what happened. I want to help."

Ibuki stopped at Hirata's words. After seeing her swollen face, Hirata had likely surmised that the issue wasn't trivial.

"Nothing will change if I stay. I don't want to waste time just sitting around." said Ibuki.

"This is a test, so of course some students will doubt you. However, you're hurt. I don't want to chase you away if you can't go back to your own class. I think that's why Yamauchi-kun brought you here. So, tell me more about your situation." said Hirata.

"This isn't something I can just talk about. Besides, I've heard all your plans. You'd hate it if more of your strategies were leaked, right?"

"If you really were a spy, you wouldn't want to be chased out, would you? Am I wrong?"

"Enough. I'm just looking for a place to sleep." "It's crazy for a girl to sleep alone in the woods."

"Even if it's crazy, I don't have a choice. Helping me won't gain you anything."

"This has nothing to do with losses or gains. We can't just leave someone in trouble. We all think so."

Ibuki's expression cleared, and she turned towards the class without hesitation. It seemed Hirata's powers are working against a tough exterior like Ibuki. Ibuki seemed to believe Hirata, and it gave her confidence.

"I had a fight with a boy in my class. He hit me and chased me away. That's all." said Ibuki.

"That's horrible. Raising a hand against a girl, I mean." said Hirata.

"I won't say anything more on the subject. I didn't think you'd take me in and give me shelter, anyway. See you."

"Wait. I understand that you're really in trouble. Please everyone, I would like you guys to accept my selfish request and allow Ibuki-san to stay with us."

Some of the girls lead by Karuizawa, Hirata's girlfriend, seemed to have agreed with Hirata's request. And little by little, Class D agreed to look after Ibuki.

Though some students were strongly opposed, every time Class C held roll call, they'd hemorrhage points. Once everyone saw it as an opportunity, they were finally convinced. Hirata explained to Ibuki, and she promised not to wander near the device. It was too much of a risk for the class to allow Ibuki near the device and risk exposing Horikita as the leader.

After that, the boys began to set up their tents while the girls prepared the meal sets that school gave them. After about 10 minutes of hard work, all of the tents and the shower that they nought have been set up. Just as the evening slowly turned to night, all the preparations were complete and the students began eating their meals. Ayanokouji sat with Azuma and Ichihashi as they ate some fruits and berries. They decided to share a meal packet together and as Ayanokouji ate, he noticed that Horikita is sitting by herself and barely eating anything. Horikita huddled by herself and seemed to be cold as she rubbed her arms.

Interesting...

*Timeskip (2 hours later)*

Ayanokouji is laying down on the cold ground as he huddled by himself and wrapped himself with a thin, plastic covering which served as his blanket and man-made sleeping bag and pillow. It was a good thing that it's summertime and it was warm, but not very cold. Ayanokouji got the unfortunate spot of sleeping outside along with a few boys while the others slept in the tent. Tomorrow night, Ayanokouji could sleep the tent as the boys took turns. Ayanokouji was amazed that all of the girls managed to fit in the 2 tents that the school provided. As Ayanokouji was trying to sleep, he was hearing some rustling in the tents, some few murmurs and curses in the boys' tents, the crickets in the woods, and the crackling of the fire. The boys that are sleeping outside slept near the fire to help keep them warm and to keep insects and bugs away from them. After a few minutes of trying to fall asleep, Ayanokouji gave up and lie still, trying to tire his own body out, so he'll eventually sleep. Ayanokouji closed his eyes and after about 15 minutes, he heard someone walking by him and their footsteps growing more quiet as the distance between Ayanokouji and the person grew. Then, Ayanokouji heard the person softly calling his name.

"Ayanokouji-kun..." whispered Onodera. She tried whispering his name quietly and after a few tries, she gave up. "Ahh... He's probably asleep. I guess I have to ask someone else."

"Onodera." whispered Ayanokouji as he turned towards Onodera's direction which seemed to be caused Onodera to jump back. She was clearly not expecting Ayanokouji to move and talk as she assumed that he was asleep.

"Whoa. You scared me." "What's up, Onodera?"

Ayanokouji got up groggily and stretched before walking to Onodera, so he could get into close whispering distance, and he didn't want to make too much noise for the others with their long-distance whispering.

"Sorry. I was using the bathroom and wondering if you can come with me." whispered Onodera. Ayanokouji nodded and she thanked him before the duo walked towards the woods. The bathroom and shower was located near the woods and by the riverside. The campsite was not well-lit and it was somewhat dark, but the light emitted by the fire helped a little bit. But the farther they got from the tents and fire, the harder it was to see. They were being mostly guided by the rising moon and its natural light as their backs faced the fire. Ayanokouji stood nearby as Onodera went into the toilet stall. Ayanokouji yawned as he looked at the woods. It was a first time experience for him: camping and experiencing the great outdoors. After a few minutes, Onodera came out of the toilet and walked over to Ayanokouji.

"Thanks for helping me out, Ayanokouji-kun." said Onodera, thanking Ayanokouji again.

"It's alright." said Ayanokouji. "Let's go back."

As the duo took a few steps back towards the campsite, Onodera noticed something and stopped dead in her tracks. Ayanokouji stopped when he noticed Onodera stopped.

"What's wrong?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Nothing. It's just that..." said Onodera. She pointed in a direction and Ayanokouji turned to face it. There was a tree line that outlined the forest and in the dimly lit moonlight, Ayanokouji could see there was a fade in the tree line. It

looked like there's a path in the tree line that leads into the forest and Ayanokouji hadn't noticed it during the day.

"I see. Do you want to give it a look?" "Yeah... Do you want to come with me?" "Sure."

The duo headed towards what Onodera spotted and they found a path into the forest. Onodera and Ayanokouji looked at each other, silently debating whether or not they should check it out and after a few moments, they nodded at each other. The duo quickly walked into the forest, following the path. Ayanokouji noticed how dimly lit the path is due to the lack of light and the moonlight above is dimly coming through the canopy and trees above. The duo could barely see what's in front of them from about 15 feet away.

"It's pretty dark." said Onodera. "I can barely even see you, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Yeah. I hope we don't get lost on the way back." said Ayanokouji. He pushed away a branch that was in his way and the branch flew back and scrapped against Onodera's cheek. Onodera yelped and grabbed Ayanokouji's arm.

Ayanokouji stopped walking and turned towards Onodera, who seemed to be on edge and a little scared.

"S-Sorry, A-Ayanokouji-kun. I thought it was a bug or something." said Onodera.

'"You don't like bugs?" asked Ayanokouji. "Who actually likes bugs?"

"Good point."

"I'm going to keep holding your arm, Ayanokouji-kun. It's hard to see." "Go ahead. It's better than getting lost."

Onodera kept her hands on Ayanokouji's arm and the duo walked in silence down the path and after a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a empty field.

Ayanokouji could clearly see the clear night sky, stars, and the moon. They walked into the field and out of the woods before sitting down on the ground, looking at the sky.

"Wow. The stars are so beautiful." said Onodera, whistling as she gazed at the night sky.

"The rest of the class is missing out on this." said Ayanokouji, agreeing with Onodera's opinion. This was first time that he ever saw the stars and it was lucky that it was a clear night with a full moon to provide light since they haven't brought a flashlight with them.

"H-How about we spend some time here?"

"Hmm... are you sure ? Wouldn't people notice that you're gone?" "I snuck out of the tent. I think nobody noticed."

"That's reassuring, but let's do it. It's not every day that we see this. Why not enjoy the moment?"

"Yeah. You're right about that."

Onodera decided to lay down on her back and facing directly up at the sky and Ayanokouji decided to follow her since it's more comfortable than just sitting there and tilting his head to look up. The duo lay down on their back and stared up at the night sky and stars in silence.

"Ayanokouji-kun. Do you know any stars and astronomy?" asked Onodera. "Only a little bit." replied Ayanokouji.

"Ohh! Can you tell me?"

"Sure, but my knowledge is not that good. I think that constellation is Orion."

Ayanokouji pointed at a cluster of stars to the north. Then, he pointed at another one cluster.

"I think that one is Ursa Major or Minor. I'm not sure." said Ayanokouji.

"Isn't that based off a bear?" asked Onodera. "I believe so."

"There are so many stars. How many of them have names?"

"Probably some of them. Who knows? Maybe some of them are unnamed." "It would be fun if we can name something like a star."

"What would you name a star?"

"Hmm... I don't know. I guess I'll call it Yano or something like that." "Yano... Is it after your name? Kayano?"

"Y-Yeah. I don't know, it's kinda of lame." "I'm sure there's worse name out there." "What about you, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"No idea. If I did come with a name, it's not going to sound good like yours." "Hahaha! You're-"

Onodera froze and Ayanokouji turned towards her. "Onodera?" asked Ayanokouji.

Wait. How did I get so close to her?

It turns out that Ayanokouji unconsciously pulled Onodera closer to him when he was trying to show her the stars. It did provided Onodera a good view of them, but their bodies were pressed closer together and Ayanokouji had a good look on Onodera's face more closely. Her face was flustered and red in embarrassment. Ayanokouji could see short brown hair fluttered in the wind and blowing in his face. He could see the dimples on her face and could tell that she often smile brightly and he already experienced that firsthand. He could also feel her well-toned and shaped muscles pressed against his body.

"A-Ayanokouji-kun!" yelped Onodera.

"Sorry about that. I honestly didn't mean to do that." said Ayanokouji. "It's okay."

"I'm going to separate myself from you. Sorry about that."

Ayanokouji tried to separate himself from Onodera, but Onodera stopped him. She still had that embarrassed expression on her face, but she forced herself to speak.

"H-Hey... I actually don't mind. C-Can we please stay like this for a while?" asked Onodera, shyly. She said it with her eyes averted from Ayanokouji and Ayanokouji could tell that she meant it.

"Okay. If that's what you want, but tell me if you're uncomfortable about it." said Ayanokouji. He stopped pulling away and the duo lay side by side closely together. They were not cuddling, but their bodies are quite close and pressed together. They looked up at the night sky and pointed at the stars and talking about it. Ayanokouji knew some of the stars and constellations, but there are many that he saw that he didn't know. As they were talking, Onodera was internally having panicked thoughts about the situation that she is in.

'Whoa! How did a simple bathroom trip ended into an alone star gazing session with Ayanokouji-kun?! I'm not complaining about it though! I have some alone time with him finally! Ahh! I can't believe I'm having these kind of girly thoughts especially about a boy! I always thought that things that are too girly does not look good on me or shouldn't be pair with me like girl's clothing with frills and pink. Honestly, that's why I like wearing hoodies and sportswear and preferred shorter hair. And now I'm doing this alone with Ayanokouji-kun.

Doing something so romantically cliche like star-gazing and telling him to not let me go, I don't think I can take this anymore. Calm down, Kayano. Don't take this opportunity for granted.' thought Onodera.

After a bit, Ayanokouji could feel his eyes closing in exhaustion and predicted that he's been awake and with Onodera for about 30 minutes. He glanced over at Onodera, who was busy looking at the sky, but he could that she's getting a little tired.

Okay. A few more minutes and we should really get back to camp otherwise someone will notice that we are gone.

That's what Ayanokouji was thinking, but before he knew it, his eyes closed and he drifted to a gentle slumber.

*Timeskip (1 hour later)*

Ayanokouji suddenly opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings in a sleepy daze. His eyes adjusted and he shook off his sleepy daze as he remembered what happened before he fell asleep. He turned towards Onodera and found her sleeping and hugging him. Ayanokouji observed Onodera's sleeping and peaceful face and found it cute as she made some soft snoring noise as her cheeks puffed up and down in between her intervals of her gentle snore.

Her brown hair was a bit messy with bed hair and bits of grass as she was lying on her head on the soft grass below her. Ayanokouji did not know how long he's been asleep for, but he knew that he has to wake Onodera up and get back to the camp immediately. He wasn't sure if anyone has noticed his or Onodera's absence, but he wasn't going to risk it. Ayanokouji sat up and began to gently shook Onodera to wake her up.

"Onodera. It's time to wake up." said Ayanokouji, shaking her. After a few attempts, Onodera's eyes snapped open.

"Huh? What's happening? Did we... fall asleep?" asked Onodera, sleepily as she yawned and sat up. She stretched before looked around.

"Yeah. We got to head back to camp." "How long did we fall asleep?"

"I don't know. Maybe a hour or more." "Yeah. Let's go."

Ayanokouji got up and reached out his hand for Onodera and she accepted it. The duo got up and began heading back towards the woods and the path they took to get there. They looked up at the night sky for one last time and saw the bright stars and moon. It might be the last good view of the stars and the moon they would get in a long time. The duo entered the dark woods and stuck closely

together as they made their way back to the campsite. With the darkness making visibility low, it covered up Onodera's nervous and panicked look on her face as she realized that she and Ayanokouji basically slept together and he was looking at her defenseless and sleeping face. Onodera was secretly happy that Ayanokouji was leading the way back to the camp and that it was pretty dark because he couldn't see her face. Ayanokouji led the way back to the camp and after a few minutes of walking in the dark, they saw a faint light ahead of them and it eventually led to their campsite. Ayanokouji noticed that it was quiet and peaceful, and it seemed that nobody noticed their absence. Ayanokouji led Onodera back to the girls' tent and Onodera thanked him and said her goodbyes before reentering the tent. Ayanokouji made his way back to his sleeping bag and by the fire, he noticed that the fire is getting a little dim and low so he added some few logs and branches before entering his sleeping bag. Ayanokouji tried to go sleep, but he felt more awake than ever. He stayed awake for a bit before his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep.

*Timeskip (next morning)*

Ayanokouji and the rest of his classmates woke up about 8 AM in the morning for roll call. Some of Ayanokouji's classmate complained about having to wake up some early and most of them were yawning and had a very tired expression on their face. It was clear that most people were not used to sleeping outside.

Chabashira-sensei was calling everyone's name as everyone stood in a line. After Chabashira-sensei called everyone, she marked everybody down on her clipboard and turned to leave, but Hirata called out to her.

"Chabashira-sensei. I have a question. We haven't seen Koenji-kun since yesterday. Do you know about his whereabouts?" asked Hirata, with a concerned expression on his face.

"Oh, Koenji complained about being in poor physical condition and returned to the ship. Of course, that means that you've had thirty points deducted. Those are the rules, so there's nothing to be done. Koenji has retired, and he's obligated to stay onboard the ship for one week for medical treatment," said Chabashira- sensei.

"Whaaaaat?!" yelped some Ayanokouji's classmates. Screams sounded throughout the peaceful morning.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! Koenji, you jerk! What the hell were you thinking?!" scowled Yukimura.

"Goddamn it! We lost thirty points! This sucks!" growled Sudou. Both the boys and girls were furious over Koenji's actions, but could do nothing about it.

Ayanokouji could imagine Koenji's loud, haughty laughter reverberated throughout the island as if he's taunting them.

"Let's calm down everyone!" said Hirata, in an attempt to calm the class down.

"What do you mean calm down? We just lost 30 points and now the margin for error is now smaller than ever!" said Yukimura.

"Koenji, that fucker! Wait until I get my hands on him!" snarled Sudou. "We can't lose any more points!" said Ike.

"Calm down, everyone. I know that we lost some points. It doesn't change the fact that we're in this exam so, let's do it together." said Hirata. No other person beside Kushida could do something like this and have such a potent effect on the class. If Kushida can control the boys, then Hirata can control the girls. It seemed that Hirata's statement have its intended effect of calming or getting the attention of most of the girls in the class.

"Yeah! Hirata is right!" said Karuizawa, his loyal girlfriend. Ever since Karuizawa started dating Hirata, her position in the high social hierarchy was secured and became the head girl in Class D. It seemed that Karuizawa's influence and Hirata's popularity seemed to have gotten most of the girls relieved and, on their side, while some of the other boys wanted to say something, but didn't because they didn't want to be that guy to ruin the moment and speak up.

Hirata organized everybody into groups to do their task and Ayanokouji made his way to Horikita, who was silently observing the class from the side.

"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun." said Horikita.

"Good morning, Horikita. Are you okay?" asked Ayanokouji. "Y-Yes. I'm alright. Why are you asking me?"

"I thought you looked at a little off."

"R-Ridiculous. I'm perfectly fine." "That's good to hear."

"Ayanokouji-kun... I have an idea." "Go ahead."

"Do you mind accompanying me? I want to check out what the other classes are doing."

"Okay. By ourselves?" "Of course."

"Wow. It looks like someone wants some alone time with me."

"I-Idiot! Why would I ever want to spend time with a person like you?"

Horikita gave Ayanokouji a karate chop to the side, but Ayanokouji could tell that she was doing it a little more lightly than usual. Ayanokouji rubbed his side in pain.

"Ow. You don't have to keep doing that." said Ayanokouji.

"It's the most effective way. Are you coming or not?" asked Horikita, getting up and turning away from Ayanokouji. He thought that he saw a faint blush on Horikita's face, but he nodded and the duo made their way away from the campsite.

"You renewed the spot?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Yes. The girls in the tent followed me and we renewed it without anyone seeing. It was dark, so the likelihood of anyone spotting me is unlikely."

"What about Ibuki?"

"I've sent Azuma-san to keep a watch on her when we went to renew the spot. She was sleeping when it happened, so it's impossible."

"Okay. Where are we going first?"

"If I remembered correctly, Class B headed off in this direction and based on the map from the booklet. There should be a waterfall area around there."

"Should be?"

"I would have to guess Ichinose-san would go in a sensible and central location like that waterfall. I believe it would most likely be a spot."

"Okay. It doesn't hurt to have a look."

There was a brief silence between the duo as they walked and Ayanokouji observed the woods. It was quite peaceful and is completely different in the night than day.

"Horikita. What's your opinion on this exam?" asked Ayanokouji. "Why are you asking me that?" asked Horikita, frowning.

"Let's say... curiosity?"

"If you insist... At this stage, I'm not optimistic enough to say it'll be easy. I'm the same as the others. I've never lived in such an environment before, so I can't really make any predictions. I realize now that this test is more complicated than we thought, and our position more precarious. I do want to increase our points, but I can't come up with a good solution. What an unpleasant exam."

"I would have to agree on that. There's too much we don't know and too many variables at play."

"Yes... I hope we can get more insight when we're looking for the other classes." "Is that why you're going to Class B first? Because of our friendly relations?"

"Yes. They are most likely going to be the ones to provide the most and best assistance. I don't know about the other classes. I think we're almost there."

The duo had walked for about 25 minutes and Ayanokouji could hear a faint noise of water up ahead and the duo walked until they came into a small clearing with trees and a small waterfall.

"Well, I suppose it's just what we'd expect from Class B..." said Horikita, looking at the camp. Class B's way of living was entirely different from Class D. Their class had made practical use of their spot, with many trees surrounding a well which Ayanokouji was surprised that there was one on the island. It looked like they didn't have enough space to spread out three or four tents, so they'd made good use of the space by putting up hammocks.

"Huh? Horikita-san? And Ayanokouji-kun?" called out Minamikata, waving at them. Ichinose was trying to tie a string around a tree to put up a hammock.

Kanzaki sat a little further away from her.

"Your class seems to be functioning well, despite obstacles." said Horikita. The duo approached Ichinose.

"Ha ha, yeah. It was really difficult at first! But we tried a bunch of different things, and it worked out. Though the list of chores just keeps on increasing. There's still a ton of work left." said Ichinose with a big smile.

"I'm sorry if we're getting in the way."

"Oh, I'm sorry. That probably sounded like I was trying to drive you guys away. I think it's all right if you hang around for a while. You probably came here to ask me something, right?"

Ichinose welcomed the duo without any hint of protest. She invited them to sit on the hammock, but Horikita declined the offer, so Ichinose sat instead while the duo stood nearby. Kanzaki also joined them and was leaning against a tree.

"I was wondering if it might behoove us to tentatively enter into a cooperative relationship, like last time." said Horikita.

"I think so, too." replied Ichinose.

"Well, how many points have you used so far? What did you purchase? Also, if you could tell us the value of your tools that would really help. We would disclose information in return, of course."

Ichinose, with a grin, took out a manual from a bag near her feet. She showed us a white sheet of paper, which itemized what they'd purchased, and read aloud.

"Hammocks. Cookware. Small tent, lantern, and temporary toilet. Fishing rod, a water shower... If we combine those items with the food we purchased, the total comes to exactly seventy points." said Ichinose.

"Well, let's go over the situation bit by bit, shall we? Since there are various places in the woods where we can find fruits and vegetables, we can compensate for deficiencies in points by foraging for food. We can also head out to the sea and fish. That's what I was thinking we'd do for food. We're not worried about water, since we have a well." said Ichinose. Horikita agreed since Class D had similar methods to obtain food and water. Ichinose took us to the well,

and showed us the pulley system used to bring up a bucket of water.

"At first we were worried whether the water was safe to drink, but when we looked around at the surrounding environment and the cultivated food items, we determined that the well must have been all right. To be on the safe side, I tried drinking the water yesterday. I waited for some time, but never got an upset stomach. Starting this morning, we had everyone use the well to get water." said Ichinose.

"Also, there's enough natural water that we can use it for showers. That's what a water shower is?" asked Horikita. She pointed at some kind of large apparatus placed next to the well.

"After we put water in the tank here, we get hot water in only a few seconds. It's really convenient. We use a gas can for the heat source. When we run out, I plan to request another." said Ichinose.

That's different from a temporary shower. I wonder which one is more cost- efficient.

"We set up this temporary toilet instead of getting a shower room. We got it so that the people who dislike being seen by others when they shower could have privacy. The fabric is also waterproof." said Ichinose. Ayanokouji could see why it was empty.

"So, you don't struggle with sleeping on the hard ground?" asked Horikita.

"Ah, yeah. At first, I wondered what we were going to do, but then we took appropriate measures. Want a look?" said Ichinose. The grass crunched underfoot as Ichinose made her way to the tent. After giving a heads-up to the

girls inside, Ichinose lifted the bottom flap. Underneath the tent was a thick bunch of vinyl sheets, which looked to be about two centimeters thick.

"When we paid for the temporary toilet, we were told we had access to an unlimited number of vinyl sheets. So I might have asked for too many, but we received a large number of them. Of course, I don't want to waste resources, so I plan to put any unused vinyl sheets into one sheet, and return them in the end." said Ichinose. Ayanokouji found it interesting and was thinking about implementing it. It was better to have an extra layer of protection against the hard, cold ground.

"By the way, what precautions have you taken against the heat? For some reason, it feels cooler around here..." asked Horikita.

"I wonder if it's because we sprinkle water around. We've sprinkled water near our beds, because they're close to the well. We put some water in the plastic bottles that people drank from, and then everyone carries them around so they can sprinkle water efficiently. The water soaks into the soil quite easily, and since it takes some time for it to evaporate, the effect lingers

and removes the heat." said Ichinose.

That strategy is only effective if the campsite is near a body of water. This is some useful bit of information for Class D. Ichinose and her class weren't just relying on tools; they were making

good use of their knowledge to improve the campsite.

After receiving this information, Horikita carefully explained Class D's situation. She left nothing out in the spirit of fairness.

"I see... Having someone retire sounds like it really hurt you guys." said Ichinose.

"Yeah. There's a lot to make us uneasy right now, but we have to try and make it through." replied Horikita.

"I see. Well, can we continue our cooperative relationship? I thought it would be a good idea to ignore the rule about trying to find out the leader's identity. What do you think?"

"I was thinking that we should talk about that, too. If we didn't have to be on

guard with even one class, we'd really appreciate it. As long as you don't mind, Ichinose-san, I'd like you to accept the proposal."

"Of course I'm okay with that."

"This class has fallen in line far better than I could have imagined. I suppose that's because you're the one taking command, right?"

"Yeah. For the time being, anyway. Is there anyone in Class D who can bring everyone together? Is that you, Horikita-san?"

"No. We do have a boy named Hirata, though. Everyone in class clusters around him."

"Ah. From the soccer club! I know him, I know him! He's really popular among the girls."

Horikita seemed disinterested in talking about Hirata, so she changed the topic.

"Ichinose-san. I'm terribly sorry to keep asking you questions, but we want to confirm Class A's status. Can you tell us anything that will help us capture their base camp? Even something you know about the area might really help."

"Well, if you're okay with something that might be useful, I can tell you something about their place. However, obtaining information is going to be tough."

"Just after you cut through this area, there's an opening. Turn right and go straight until you see a cave. That's probably where the Class A base camp is. I went there myself to investigate, but I don't know for sure. It's because they're so thoroughly defensive...or rather, secretive."

"Secretive? What kind of measures has Class A taken?"

"Honestly, seeing is believing. If you take a look yourselves, you'll understand right away. Since you two are going to check on Class A, does that mean you already understand Class C's situation?"

"Situation?"

"They seemingly have no intention of taking this test seriously. There are five days remaining, and they are spending points recklessly and they'll run out of points well before the test is over. I can't imagine they'll be able to change their situation even if they enter into 'point-saver mode' right away. They're not even looking for a spot. I can't even begin to understand them."

"That's... stupid. Do you know where they are?"

"Yeah. They are by the beach where we started. You should be able to find them."

"Hmph. We'll check it out later."

"Pardon me, Ichinose-san? I'm sorry to interrupt. Do you know where Nakanishi-kun is?" asked a male student in a rather reserved voice.

"I think Nakanishi-kun headed down to the shore. Why do you ask?" said Ichinose.

"I thought I'd offer to help. Is that unnecessary?"

"Oh no, not at all. I'm really happy you feel that way, Kaneda-kun. Can you head over and follow Mako-chan's group? If you tell them I told you to do so, it'll be okay."

"Okay. Thank you very much!"

Horikita looked a little perplexed after watching that short exchange and Kaneda made her way towards a group of Class B students. Kanzaki followed Kaneda and the two boys merged with the group of Class B students and Ayanokouji could hear some laughter.

"He sounded incredibly formal for a classmate, didn't he?" asked Horikita. "Ah, he's—" said Ichinose.

"A Class C student?" asked Ayanokouji. Ichinose confirmed with a nod.

"Do you know him? It looks like he had some kind of dispute with Class C. He said he'd get by on his own, but I couldn't just leave him. I haven't asked him

about his situation yet."

"We also picked up a student yesterday. Another student who escaped from Class C." said Horikita, telling Ichinose in on the details about Ibuki, one of the rebel students, who'd

defied Ryuuen for just doing whatever he pleased. She also explained that Ibuki had been hit. After hearing that, Ichinose's eyes hardened, as if strengthening her resolve to protect her class.

"Ichinose... do you mind if we have another look around?" asked Horikita.

"Sure! I'll be your guide." said Ichinose. The two girls began walking away, noticed that Ayanokouji isn't following them, and they stopped and turned towards him.

"Ayanokouji-kun? Are you coming?" asked Ichinose.

"No. I'll just stay around here for a bit." replied Ayanokouji. "Okay. We'll be back in a bit."

"Take your time."

Ayanokouji decided to stay in the area, but he was silently observing Class B's camp. He noticed small or big groups of students tending to their tasks as some of them sprinkled water around the tent while others were collecting water or heading into the woods. After a few moments, Ayanokouji heard a soft voice calling his name.

"Ayanokouji-kun!" called out Shiranami. Ayanokouji turned towards her and she gave him a wave before making her way towards him.

"Hello, Shiranami. How are you?" asked Ayanokouji. "I'm doing good. What about you?"

"Just surviving."

Shiranami giggled at Ayanokouji's response before having a serious expression on her face.

"Ayanokouji-kun... Thank you." said Shiranami. She said it in a shy manner as she scratched her arm shyly.

"Why are you thanking me? I don't think I did anything that's worth being thanked for." said Ayanokouji.

"No, you're wrong. Remember the time that you gave me advice and encouraged me to not give up on Ichinose-san."

"Correct."

"My relationship with her has been improving and it's been improving and fixing itself. Things are finally returning back to normal like before."

"Are you happy with that?"

"Yes! E-Even though Ichinose-san rejected me, I still like her as a person. I don't hate her for that."

"Interesting..."

"Interesting? What do you mean?" "Oh nothing."

'Even though it hurts when Ichinose-san rejected me, I feel like I could understand. If a random person confessed to me, I would probably reject them because it came out of nowhere and I don't have feelings for them. If Ayanokouji-kun did that... I-I don't know what to do! I mean he's really helpful and very good at giving advice. Maybe I should reject him?! Ahh... it's too complicated and everything seems to be changing when I'm near him!' thought Shiranami.

Shiranami doesn't hate Ichinose or at least feel uncomfortable after the rejection. That's interesting. Is this the doing of Ichinose's friendly and good nature attitude or is it because of my intervention and soulmate's power? It could be a combination of both.

"Ichinose is really an amazing person. Your camp seems really organized and different from our camp." said Ayanokouji.

"Really? Ichinose-san is amazing!" said Shiranami. "By the way, our class has formed an alliance."

"Oh really?! Looking forward with working with you, Ayanokouji-kun." "Same here."

Ayanokouji looked over at Shiranami and noticed her strange behavior. Shiranami was acting strangely and a little different from her usual behavior. She looked a little nervous and more reserved than usual as if she's hiding something. Based on what Ayanokouji knew about Shiranami and her behavior, he found it odd and noticed that she wasn't with her usual group of friends.

"Chihiro-chan!" called out a female Class B student, approaching the duo. She stopped and stared at Shiranami and Ayanokouji.

"Oh sorry, Ayanokouji-kun. I gotta go. Catch you later." said Shiranami. She gave him a wave before leaving and he noticed that the female student that came to get Shiranami had a surprised but guarded look on her face.

Interesting.

After a few minutes, Horikita and Ichinose came back. They were chatting about something and Ayanokouji was a little surprised by Horikita's actions, but then he realized that Ichinose is basically is making all the conversation. It's still an improvement from the usual unsociable Horikita.

"That's it for now, Ichinose-san. Do you mind if we visit again?" asked Horikita. "We don't mind. You're welcome to come." said Ichinose.

"Thank you. We must on our way now."

Ichinose waved them goodbye as the duo reentered the woods and headed towards Class A camp, following Ichinose's previous instructions.

"Class B is really something else. In general, I think we're all on the same page, but they're further ahead. I can't deny it." said Horikita, breaking the silence. Her words sounded like a declaration of defeat. Ayanokouji agreed with Horikita's

assessment and there was a big difference between D and B, and not just in points.

"Well, I guess there's nothing we can do about it. Class B just has those special qualities that Class D lacks." replied Ayanokouji.

"That's their teamwork, right? Class B is the superior class because they're being led well, so when the time comes to make decisions, they don't fight or break apart."

Class D had selfish students like Koenji, who ran off on his own, and no one in our class had the power to step in. Meanwhile, Ichinose had brought Class B together, and there wasn't a hint of disorder. They had a real sense of unity, probably the biggest difference between Classes D and B right now. The longer this conflict continued, the starker that difference would become.

"Are we getting close? Didn't Ichinose said something about Class A being defensive?" asked Ayanokouji, as they saw the cave up ahead. They didn't see anyone nearby and wondered if Class A's camp is actually there or if anyone is over there. The duo approached the cave opening and it looked like it cut deep into the mountainside, like a demon's mouth. There were two temporary toilets and one shower room near the entrance.

"I can't really see the inside from here..." said Horikita, quietly. They were trying to confirm what was in the cave while keeping our distance and quiet to not alert anyone of their presence.

"Let's get closer." suggested Ayanokouji and the duo approached the entrance quietly. Ayanokouji could see several vinyl sheets joined together into one giant tarp, blocking the view and they couldn't see further in the cave. Suddenly, they heard some noise coming from the cave and it seemed that they're coming this way. Before the duo could hide or do anything, several students came from the other side of the tarp and they froze when they saw Ayanokouji and Horikita standing by the cave's entrance.

"Who are you guys? What class are you from?" demanded Totsuka.

"We came to snoop. You have a problem?" replied Horikita, in an imposing manner. "I mean, I would've thought that since you're in Class A you'd be clever, but..."

She looked at the vinyl covering the cave's entrance, and let out a rather forced sigh.

"Well, rather than clever, I'd say you're underhanded. What cowardly methods." said Horikita.

"What?" said Totsuka, glaring at Horikita with an irritated expression on his face. The 2 other students glared at her and one of them was a familiar female student that Ayanokouji has already ran into. It was Koharu, the blonde-haired Class A student that he ran into a couple of times already. She gave them a look of disgust.

"I'm Horikita, from Class D." said Horikita.

"Hah, it's obvious you're from Class D. You're a bunch of stupid failures, after all." replied Totsuka.

"Stupid, huh? In that case, there's no harm in us seeing what's inside, right? Or does that make you feel uncomfortable?"

"That's not it at all!"

"So it's not a problem if we look? You're in the way."

"W-wait! Hey! Wait, I said! Don't just do whatever you please!"

Totsuka moved in front of Horikita to block her, but Horikita's words cut him off.

"We're just going to look inside. That itself isn't a violation of the rules, right?"

"Stop screwing around. Class A occupies this spot. Class D doesn't have permission to use it!"

"Oh? So you occupy this place. I didn't know that. Is there a device inside?" "Y-yeah. So back off."

"Well, there definitely aren't any rules that say we can't go into the cave. It's certainly true that we cannot use the cave while it's being occupied, but that's not

the same as the right to monopolize it or anything. We should have the right to look inside, or at least to verify if there's equipment, right? If we couldn't do that, then people could just forcibly monopolize every spot. That's not what this test is about."

"Huh?!"

Her sharp argument skewered Totsuka without any trouble. Horikita's hair fluttered as she tried to peel off the veil that hid the cave entrance.

"What are you doing? I don't recall giving you permission to invite guests." called out a voice coming from behind Ayanokouji and Horikita. It came from a tall, imposing male student with a bald head. He crossed his arms and was flanked by 2 other Class A students.

"Katsuragi-san! These two came to snoop around our camp! They're a bunch of filthy losers!" said Totsuka.

"You're exaggerating. It's just vinyl. Show me around a little." said Horikita, who didn't seem scared in the slightest.

"Well then, it should be fine for you to look inside. However, prepare yourself. The moment you touch anything, I will notify the school and report your actions as obstruction toward another class. I can't guarantee what will happen to Class D as a result."

Katsuragi was probably bluffing. There was a very low chance that we'd be disqualified for touching vinyl. And yet, there seemed to be some genuine danger hidden in his words.

"You're forcefully monopolizing control of the spot. The rules don't protect such actions." said Horikita.

"You're right about that. I cannot argue the point. However, it's something of an unspoken rule. You in Class D have a spot by the river. Class B has a well. You live in and surround the occupied space, so it's halfway monopolized. Have you taken any forceful measures in dealing with

trespassers to your area?" asked Katsuragi. His calm words stopped Horikita in her tracks.

"One class occupies one spot. Then, they continue to protect that spot so they may obtain points until the end of the test. If you violate this unspoken rule, it creates chaos. Naturally, Class A will trespass upon Class D's base in retaliation. We should avoid trouble." continued Katsuragi.

It was possible to ignore what he said, but we couldn't. Like Katsuragi said, the other classes had all unconsciously occupied one area each. If we broke that rule, our troubles would grow. It will be best not to be under constant pressure from the other classes even if we have an alliance with Class D.

Horikita turned on her heel and walked away from the cave. Ayanokouji followed her.

"Well, fine. I look forward to seeing the results, and Class A's abilities." said Horikita.

"We are quite capable. We also expect things from you, Class D. By which I mean, your futile struggling." replied Katsuragi.

"Yahiko, don't respond to cheap provocation. Her goal was to force her way in and look around. If you thrust your righteous superiority in their face, the other side will back off." said Katsuragi.

"S-sorry." muttered Totsuka.

With that, the duo quickly retreated and made their way into the woods and headed back to Class D's camp. It was the halfway point to the beach, where Class C is supposedly staying at.

"It seems like we have to leave Class A alone. We definitely can't investigate them." said Horikita.

"I suppose. Are we going back to camp?" asked Ayanokouji. "Yes. We'll stop for supplies before heading to Class C's camp."

The duo arrived back at their camp within 15 minutes where they found the camp in a more productive state. Some of Ayanokouji's classmates were fishing at the river under Ike's guidance while others headed off into the woods together in search for firewood and food. Others were tending to the fire and boiling pots

of water. They found Hirata by himself and it seemed that he's keeping class together.

"Ayanokouji-kun! Horikita-san! How was it?" said Hirata, with a smile. Horikita gave a brief explanation and discovery about Class A's and B's camp. Then, she told Hirata about the various uses about the vinyl sheets and Hirata listened and nodded his head. Ayanokouji also told him about Class B's method of sprinkling water around the tents to cool down the temperature.

"That's a good idea. We can do that." said Hirata, agreeing to the idea.

"If you need help with making vinyl sheets or tarps, you should ask Inogashira. She knows how to knit and have some hands-on experience with that kind of stuff." said Ayanokouji.

"Okay. I'll try asking for her help when she gets back." "What about Ibuki-san?" asked Horikita.

"She's been helping out a little bit, but she insisted that she stays at the camp. She said something about Ryuuen-kun sending people looking for her." replied Hirata.

"Has there being anyone looking for her?" "No, but she seems on edge."

Ayanokouji took a sip of water from a container that Hirata offered to him. Hirata offered Horikita some and she hesitantly agreed. Ayanokouji could feel that Horikita was giving him a look and he wondered what she was looking at.

'Inogashira-san? If I remember correctly, she was the quiet and shy girl that likes knitting. How did Ayanokouji-kun know her? I don't think I've seen them talking before.' thought Horikita.

Hirata gave a progress report and the various tasks that the rest of the class was doing. He pointed out Ike's skill in fishing, the various berries that they found, and how much water they had managed to get. Horikita pointed out that Ichinose's class also found some more fruits and vegetables at her side of the island and fishing in the sea. Hirata thought about it and agreed that they could

send some people later to check it out. As they were talking, they heard Ike's angry booming voice throughout the campsite.

"What the hell, you guys?!" yelled Ike. The trio turned around and looked in his direction, and saw two male students wearing wide, smug grins. Ayanokouji noticed that Ibuki had a pained expression on her face for a moment, but then she quickly ducked behind the tent to hide herself.

"Wow, you Class D rejects are really living frugal, eh? I guess that's what I'd expect from a class of defectives." said Kondo. They were stuffing their faces with potato chips and drinking bottles of

soda.

"Looks like you're living the high life, Class C." said Hirata, with a pained expression.

"Those two are Ryuuen's underlings." said Ayanokouji, remembering what happened during Sudou's trial.

"What did you even eat for breakfast? Grass? Or maybe bugs? Here, you can have some snacks." said Komiya. They took a bag of potato chips and tossed it near Ike's feet as he drew nearer. It was obvious that they were trying to start something, but all it did was irritating the entire class.

"We have a message from Ryuuen-san. If you want to enjoy your summer vacation to the fullest, come to the beach right now. Don't hang back. If you're sick of living like idiots, then we're happy to share our luxuries." said Kondo. They didn't leave, but continued snacking and taunting everyone. Ike snapped at them, but they didn't seem to care. The provocation continued for at least a few more minutes, until Hirata went to confront them and Class C decided to call it quits. They headed back toward their campsite.

"I don't think they were looking for me." said Ibuki, emerging from the tents. "Yeah. Guess they wanted to harass us." replied Ayanokouji.

From their bizarre visit aside, Ayanokouji and Horikita realized that Ichinose's claim about Class C's crazy and excessive spending might be true. Ike scowled and tried to kick the bag of chips that they tossed, but Hondo stopped him and picked it up.

"They said something about sharing their luxuries. Any idea what they were talking about?" asked Ayanokouji.

"I wonder if things are heading toward that worst-case scenario I imagined..."said Ibuki, scowling. Then, she walked away and slumped her back on the nearest tree.

"Ayanokouji-kun... it's time for us to check out what on Earth Class C is doing." said Horikita.

"Yeah. I'm coming." replied Ayanokouji.

*Timeskip (20 minutes)*

After 20 minutes of retracing their steps back to the beach, the duo emerged from the trees and back into the sunny and hot sandy beach of the island where they could see the bright-blue ocean ahead of them. Ayanokouji could see the cruise ship still on the water where they last seen in and a few tents by the docks where the teachers and staff members set up a few tents and tables. To their right, they saw a large group of Class C students on that beach. Horikita and Ayanokouji could never have imagined the situation that they saw.

"No way... All this stuff... Is it even possible?" said Horikita. They saw installed temporary toilets and shower rooms. But they also had a tarp to protect against sunlight, a barbecue, chairs, and a parasol. They had snacks and drinks.

Everything required for a good, relaxing time was here. We smelled the smoke of cooking meat, and heard laughter. Jet skis whizzed past the shoreline.

Students were enjoying themselves in the ocean, screaming with joy. Based on a rough calculation, they'd likely spent 150 points or more.

"What in the world is Class C doing? Do they not plan to save points?" muttered Horikita. "Let's check things out. I wonder what Class C is thinking?"

They walked towards the Class C students and one of the male students noticed them, and called out to another male student nearby. Then, one of the boys rushed over to the duo.

"Um, Ryuuen-san has requested your presence." said the male student. Judging from the timidity of his voice, he was either frightened or naturally listless.

"He rules his classmates like a king. It's like a royal welcome. What should we do?" said Horikita.

"It's up to you, Horikita." replied Ayanokouji.

"Fine. I'm interested in learning his intentions. Let's go."

The duo accompanied the boy. As they approached the ocean, the delicious smell of cooked meat wafted by their noses.

"This is absolutely outrageous." said Horikita, as she looked around and seeing all of the luxuries that Class C has.

"I thought someone was sniffing around. It's you, huh? What business do you have with me?" said Ryuuen, lounging in his chair with his swimwear as he flashed his white teeth at the duo.

"You seem to be doing well for yourself. This looks like quite the extravagant party." said Horikita.

"Just as you see. We're enjoying our summer vacation."

Ryuuen spread his arms wide, proudly showing off the extravaganza.

"This is a test. Do you understand what that means? You don't seem to understand the rules..." said Horikita. Ryuuen didn't seem happy being told about his apparent ineptitude and he looked disappointed.

"I'm shocked. Does that mean you're offering help even to an enemy like me?" said Ryuuen.

"If the person on top is incompetent, those below him will suffer. This is pitiful." Ryuuen simply smiled, grabbing the bottle of water placed next to the radio.

"How many points did you use? To be able to enjoy this level of entertainment, I mean." said Horikita.

"Hmm. Well, I didn't make a precise calculation." said Ryuuen. "Tch. Already getting warm. Hey, Ishizaki. Bring me some cold water, right away."

Ryuuen poured out his remaining water on the sand, almost in provocation. Ishizaki, who'd been playing volleyball nearly, panicked and rushed to get Ryuuen another water. A mountain of cardboard boxes were piled up inside the tent, likely filled with food and water. Ishizaki peered

into a cooler beside the boxes.

"As you can see, we're enjoying our summer vacation. We're not your enemies. Do you understand?" said Ryuuen. Horikita, finding his behavior incomprehensible, pressed her fingers

against her forehead and wrinkled her brows as if she had a headache. "We're trying to warn you. You're an idiot." said Horikita.

"Which one of us is the idiot? Me? You?" replied Ryuuen, with a smirk. Ryuuen would accept no insults, and threw them back at Horikita.

"You want to try surviving on this deserted island in this shitty heat? Don't joke. Class D, the lowest of all, has to put up with starvation, heat, and futility just to save a measly 100 or 200 class points. It makes me laugh." said Ryuuen, taunting them further. Ishizaki ran over, dripping with sweat as he brought the water. He handed a cold bottle of water to Ryuuen. However, Ryuuen threw it back at Ishizaki.

"I said to bring me cold water. This water's warm." said Ryuuen. "I... B-but..." stammered Ishizaki.

"Hmm?"

Ryuuen's pupils were just like those of a snake. Ishizaki's body stiffened. He picked up the bottle and ran back toward the tent.

"This test is about perseverance, ingenuity, and cooperation. It would likely have been impossible for you from the start. You can't even establish a satisfactory plan." said Horikita.

"Cooperation? Don't make me laugh. People betray each other with ease. People lie. Relationships built on trust just aren't viable. You can only trust yourself. If you've finished your reconnaissance, leave. But if you wish, we'd welcome you here. You're free to enjoy yourself, whether it's to eat meat or play on jet skis. Or

perhaps you would prefer to have a different kind

of fun with me? I can prepare a tent for personal use." said Ryuuen, with a smirk. Horikita gave Ryuuen a disgusted glare and he merely laughed it off.

"That's not the kind of answer I'd expect to hear from someone who declared war on us." said Horikita.

"I absolutely loathe hard work. Patience? Saving? You must be joking." said Ryuuen.

Ishizaki returned once again, and handed over another bottle of water. Ryuuen opened the cap and chugged.

"This is the way I do things. No more, no less." said Ryuuen.

"Right. Well then, do as you please. It's convenient for us, anyway." replied Horikita.

"Working up a sweat in order to evaluate other classes is such a pain. There is one more

piece of business. You know Ibuki, of course?" "Yeah. She's a member of our class. What about her?" "Her face is swollen. Who did that to her?"

"Ah. She ran out of here rather suddenly. She went looking for help from another class in the end? Pathetic girl."

Ryuuen snorted in disgust, then laid back in his chair.

"There are helpless idiots in this world. A ruler doesn't need subordinates who disobey orders. We determined that I would use our class points to my liking. That's the fact of the matter. Besides, it's pointless to raise the banner of revolution against the ruling class." said Ryuuen.

"In other words, Ibuki-san clashed with you when you wanted to spend points." replied Horikita.

"Well, you could say that. That's why she got a light punishment."

He made a gesture like slapping someone's cheek and confirmed that Ryuuen had indeed hit her.

"Another boy defied me as well, so I had him driven out. I heard he didn't die, so he's probably off somewhere eating grass and insects to survive." said Ryuuen.

"You...used up all your points on the first day, didn't you?"

Even if you used all of the 300 points you were given, there wouldn't be any penalties. The effect was nonexistent.

"Yes, as you said. I used all of our points." said Ryuuen, nonchalantly.

His strategy was to be at zero points to negate negative elements. It was certainly unexpected, but it came at a high price. With no points, Class C would have the lowest rank. Even if they managed to guess every other class leader's identity, they could only achieve a maximum of 150 points.

"If Ibuki is with you, you're better off chasing her away. If you shower her with your awkward sympathies, you'll have one extra person to prepare water, food, and bedding for. Anyway, if you can't deal with it, she can return here. If she grovels on the ground, I'll forgive her. I've a tolerant

heart." said Ryuuen.

"What short-sighted thinking. You're happy right now using your points, but what are you planning to do after the party's over?" asked Horikita.

"Ha ha ha. What should I do, I wonder? Well, I suppose that plain, ordinary people can only engage in plain, ordinary thinking. You're desperate to protect the points you were given. Looking around for the leaders, desperately holding spots, working up a sweat running through the forest. Absolutely worthless." said Ryuuen, laughing with no sign of panic by the truth.

"Fine. Let's head back, Ayanokouji-kun. If we stay here any longer, I'm only going to start to feel ill."

"See you later, Suzune."

"I don't know where exactly you found that out, but do not call me by my first name so casually."

"Well, I rather like forceful women. I'll make you submit to me eventually. When that time comes, it will be the ultimate pleasure."

When he said that, Ryuuen touched his crotch under his bathing suit, clearly to provoke Horikita. Horikita glared at him and her eyes full of contempt before she turned her back and walked away. Ayanokouji did not move and looked around the Class C students in the background. He saw students swimming in the ocean, playing volleyball and beach flags on the shore, celebrating with barbecues along with the tent where they were stockpiling food.

"Ayanokouji-kun?" asked Horikita, stopping and turning around.

"Oh? You're that guy that hangs with Manabe and her crew." said Ryuuen, raising his eyebrows. Apparently, he did his research and found out about it. Horikita froze and frowned as she stared at Ayanokouji, unfamiliar with those names and why Ayanokouji is doing with a bunch of Class C students. Ishizaki, who was nearby, froze.

"I guess you can say that, but I just happen to be in the area." replied Ayanokouji.

"Ha! Having a secret orgy with them?! I don't mind if you're having a good time, but save some bitches for us."

"..."

Well, I'm not going to tell him that I've already more of his female classmates. If I did, I have a feeling that he's going to make this even worse.

"Who knows?" replied Ayanokouji, with a blank expression on his face. Ryuuen laughed in amusement and Ayanokouji wasn't sure if he's doing for his own amusement or if there's another reason.

"Horikita. I'm going to check it out. Go on without me." said Ayanokouji. Horikita had a surprised look on her face and protested.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be back." said Ayanokouji. Horikita wanted to go with him, but Ayanokouji subtly shook his head and Horikita hesitantly agreed and left. She gave Ayanokouji one last look before leaving.

"It looks you hurt Suzune, Ayanokouji. If you don't mind, I'll go for that plump ass of hers." said Ryuuen.

"Is your offer real?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Sure. Go ahead. Enjoy your harem life, Ayanokouji." said Ryuuen. He kicked back and ordered Ishizaki to bring up some food. Ayanokouji wandered down the beach and some of the Class C students looked over at Ayanokouji, confused on why a student from another class is doing here. As Ayanokouji walked, he saw someone familiar laying down on a chair by a parasol. Ayanokouji made his way to her.

"Hello, Yajima." said Ayanokouji.

"Ayanokouji-kun..." said Yajima, lazily as she was lounging around with a purple two piece swimsuit. There was a little table with a fruit smoothie on it along with some sliced watermelons.

"Having a good time?"

"Yeah. Best summer vacation ever." "Want some watermelon?"

"Okay. I'm not going to say no to free food." "Hahaha! Go right ahead."

"Itadakimasu."

Ayanokouji picked up a slice of watermelon and began eating. The sweet and refreshing taste of watermelon is perfect for a warm weather on the beach.

"You have the quite the crazy thing going on." said Ayanokouji, taking another bite of the watermelon.

"Yeah, but it's summertime. I'm not complaining about it and it will be a waste of energy to do it anyways." said Yajima.

"Have you been lounging around for all this time?"

"Yeah. Been doing it for about 2 days now."

"Maybe you should get up and walk around more. It's not really good for you to lay around."

"Maybe, but-"

"Yajima! Do you want to play beach flags with us?" asked another girl. The girl was wearing a halter top green red swimsuit and the girl has short fuchsia-purple hair in a low bun. She has dark cobalt-colored eyes and she seemed out of breath. The girl stopped and looked over at Ayanokouji win confusion as she didn't expect him to being over here.

"Not really. I'm fine with just chilling here." said Yajima, picking up her smoothie and taking a sip.

"C'mon! You gotta be in shape for the track team! Let's go! Me and you will be unstoppable." said the girl. "Wait... don't tell me that he's your servant and you're making him get you drinks and stuff like that."

The girl looked over at Ayanokouji, who's calmly eating his watermelon and watched the conversation unfold in front of him.

"Nah. We're just fellow acquaintances."

"Yajima, you're part of the track team?" asked Ayanokouji. He was in disbelief on how a lazy and laidback person such as Yajima is a part of the track team or in any clubs which requires time and commitment. Ayanokouji thought that she is also the type of person to do the bare minimum or rarely attend any club meetings.

"Believe it or not, she is. She's one the fastest runners in the club, but she doesn't actually do any practice." said the girl, glancing over at Yajima, who yawned and placed her smoothie back on the table. "By the way, I'm Kinoshita Minori.

I'm in the track club with her."

"Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. It's nice to meet you." said Ayanokouji. "Ayanokouji-kun... what are you doing here?"

"Ryuuen said I could stay for a bit and I ran into Yajima." "Ahh... So, you're his guest."

"I suppose I am."

"Anyways, I'm going to get Yajima up and ready. C'mon! You're coming with me!" said Kinoshita, grabbing Yajima's arm and forcing her to stand up.

Ayanokouji watched on as Yajima tried to swat Kinoshita's arm and tried to sit back down, but Kinoshita managed to pull her up to her feet.

"Ayanokouji-kun, help." said Yajima.

"I'm good. I think taking a few steps won't hurt you." said Ayanokouji.

"Listen to him. Ayanokouji-kun, do you want to come with us?" asked Kinoshita, pulling Yajima along.

"I'm good. There's someone I have to meet anyways." said Ayanokouji, noticing a familiar group of girls in the distance. They were staring at him and Ayanokouji figured it will be rude if he ignored them.

"See you around, Ayanokouji-kun." said Kinoshita.

"Later, Ayanokouji-kun." said Kinoshita, waving to him with her free hand before she grabbed Yajima with her two hands.

"You're really taking forever." said Kinoshita.

"I know! I know! Stop pulling me!" said Yajima. Ayanokouji watched as Kinoshita pulled Yajima for a few steps before letting go and the two girls heading across the beach and towards a group of students and an area where some flags are. Then, Ayanokouji turned around and headed further down the beach where he met a group of girls in swimsuit.

"Ayanokouji-kun!" called out Nanami, waving at him. "Ayanokouji..." said Manabe.

"Heyo!" said Yamashita.

Morofuji didn't say anything, but gave him a timid wave before looking away from Ayanokouji. It was different from her usual behavior of not greeting him and looking away.

"What are you doing here, Ayanokouji-kun?" asked Nanami.

"Ryuuen invited me and said I could stay here for a bit." said Ayanokouji.

"Ahh! Enjoying your harem life, aren't you my student?" asked Yamashita, in a teasing way.

"Of course. I can't resist the 4 cute girls in front of me." said Ayanokouji. He tried to mirror Yamashita's teasing remarks with his own, but failed miserably. Nanami blushed heavily and averted her eyes. Manabe's expression was a mixed expression of disbelief and annoyance when she heard it and rolled her eyes.

Morofuji squeaked and gave Ayanokouji a look of shock and horror before averting her eyes. Yamashita just chuckled and stared at Ayanokouji as if she's silently asking him if he's being serious.

"A-Ayanokouji-kun..." said Nanami.

"What the fuck?! Where is this coming from?!" asked Manabe and it seemed that she's in utter disbelief.

"A classic. A classic!" said Yamashita, smirking. "W-What do you mean, Saki?" asked Morofuji. "A dense protagonist."

"Oh... Didn't you call A-Ayanokouji-kun that?"

"Not that shit again." said Manabe, groaning. Ayanokouji looked more closely at the 4 girls and noticed that each one of them was wearing and swimsuit and it seemed that almost everyone in Class C is wearing a swimsuit. He remembered from the catalogue, under the recreation and entrainment section, you can buy swimsuits. Nanami is wearing a green bikini with frills, Manabe is wearing a light purple swimsuit, Yamashita has an orange tankini top bikini along with swim googles on top of her head, and Morofuji is waring a modest yellow flounced bikini top. Nanami was avoiding Ayanokouji's eyes and was scratching her arm nervously.

"By the way, how long are you staying here?" asked Yamashita.

"Not too long. I have to meet up with my class later." replied Ayanokouji. "Pretty crazy stuff going on."

"I know right! This feels like a real vacation." said Nanami. "It's all right, I guess." said Manabe.

"Ahh! Don't be like that Shiho! You were basically crying when you tried the jet skis." said Yamashita, poking at her arm.

"Hey! I did not!" snarled Manabe, swatting Yamashita's arm. Then, she glared at Ayanokouji and Ayanokouji raised his hands up, surrendering peacefully.

"I didn't hear anything." said Ayanokouji. "You better not." said Manabe.

"It seems like fun. Wait... did you guys install a rope swing?"

Ayanokouji pointed at a rope swing that was near a small cliff that leads into the ocean. It looked like people can swing off it and land into the water. The swing's position was perfect where it wasn't too high or low and the water seems really deep, so no one can get hurt when they swing off.

"Yeah, but that shit gets really boring if you keep doing it all over again. What a waste of points." said Manabe.

"Ayanokouji-kun. Do you want something to eat or drink?" asked Nanami. "Hmm... do you guys have ice cream?" asked Ayanokouji.

"We probably do. Let's have a look." "Should I really be coming with you?"

"Don't worry about it and you said that you're Ryuuen-kun's guest, so it should be fine."

Ayanokouji followed the 4 girls and they went towards the tent that Ayanokouji saw earlier and he was getting a lot of looks from the Class C students.

Ayanokouji couldn't tell if they were surprised or suspicious that someone from another class is casually in their camp or that he's hanging out with Manabe, Nanami, Yamashita, and Morofuji. As they entered the tent, he noticed that Ryuuen was not present and the chair that he was at earlier was empty. He also noticed that the radio was missing from the table. Nanami stopped in front of the cooler and opened it. She was digging around for a few moments before pulling out some ice cream.

"Vanilla or chocolate?" asked Nanami. "Vanilla." replied Ayanokouji.

"Okay. Do you guys want anything?" asked Nanami, directing the question to the the rest of the girls.

"Gimme some ramune." said Yamashita.

"I'm good. I'm getting some meat later." replied Manabe.

"I-I'll have some coconut water." replied Morofuji. Nanami reached into the cooler and pulled out the drinks that were requested and handed it over to the respective owners. The group left the camp and found a nice palm tree which provide some shade and the group chatted for a bit. One thing is surprising is that Morofuji talked a bit when Ayanokouji was talking to her which surprised the entire group and when Morofuji realized it and that it got everyone's attention, she shyly responded to Ayanokouji and gave basic and small responses. Apparently, Morofuji got a little nervous and was aware of what's happening and the fact that she unconsciously was used to Ayanokouji and was talking to him. Nanami was happy about Morofuji's change and Manabe begrudgingly agreed with her but told Morofuji to take it slowly. Then, she threatened Ayanokouji if he ever hurt Morofuji and Ayanokouji just nodded as he was used to Manabe's overprotectiveness. After a bit of chatting, Ayanokouji decided that it's time for him to go.

"It's time for me to go. Thanks for keeping me company." said Ayanokouji, getting up.

"Eh?! Already?" asked Nanami.

"Yeah. I have someone to meet. Goodbye, everyone."

"Bye, Ayanokouji-kun." said Nanami, Yamashita, and Morofuji.

"Later, Ayanokouji." said Manabe, giving him a nod. Ayanokouji was surprised that his relationship with Manabe is improving. It's not only Manabe, but Nanami, Morofuji, and Yamashita. The rest of the girls have Ayanokouji a wave as he made his way back into the woods where he ran into a familiar black- haired girl, waiting for him.

"I see you're having some fun with some Class C girls." said Horikita, who didn't look too pleased by what she saw Ayanokouji was doing.

"Okay, I admit that I might be doing that, but I was also gathering some intel." said Ayanokouji.

"Class C is irrelevant. Their self-destruction will help us." "Seems that way. They've used up all their points, anyway." "I can't wait to see what they'll do once trouble hits."

"Unfortunately, Class C probably won't face any trouble during this test." "Why wouldn't they? How can they endure this test without any points?"

"That was Ryuuen's original goal. We were given 300 points as funds to enjoy our vacation for one week, which is not at all impossible. No matter how much we economize on our food, we have to give up on luxury items. The school made these rules accordingly."

"So, we should try to save where we can."

"Yeah. But Ryuuen's different. He can't see past the end of his nose, much less a week."

"He can't see past what now?"

"Suppose the test ended today. What then? Do you think this trip would transform into a perfect vacation?"

"That's... Well, okay. So what? If you have zero points—" "That's simple. He'd just do what Koenji did."

"Huh?"

"His physical condition was poor and he was mentally unstable. In that case, it's better to just retire. If everyone did that, they could return to the passenger boat and go about their lives. That's what they meant by fully enjoying their summer vacation: without hardship."

"So he really gave up on the test from the very beginning?"

This was just a theory. Perhaps Ryuuen simply hated troublesome things, or perhaps he wanted to avoid mental exhaustion and preserve his physical strength. Or perhaps he wanted to improve morale, but I don't think so. Based on the laid-back and relaxed attitudes from Yajima, Nanami, and the others, it seemed that they are simply relaxing and enjoying their summer vacation. Is this what Ryuuen wanted? No... I think there's more to it. Ryuuen has proven to be quite the antagonist and his plans is never straightforward and he always strike when you least expect it. I don't think the people on the beach knows what Ryuuen is planning and I noticed something very crucial. Something that might lead to a clue on what he's planning. I have to check it out later.

"The test is literally about freedom. Ryuuen's way of thinking is one way to approach it. It seems like Ibuki and another student rebelled, and because of that Class C will lose twenty points a day. Since he knew he'd be losing that many points every day no matter what, he came up with a drastic strategy." said Ayanokouji.

"We ought to think of a way to get points back without giving up. Ryuuen is most definitely wrong. I cannot possibly understand him." said Horikita.

Ryuuen's plan was bizarre and quite the opposite from what a logical person like Horikita would think of.

"A zero-point strategy, huh? I see. That's really interesting." said Ayanokouji, quietly to himself. The duo walked back towards their camp in silence as they were thinking about what they just saw from Class C.

*Timeskip (few days later)*

During the couple of days, Ayanokouji watched and observed the class as the class fell into a rhythm and schedule. Hirata and Kushida organized and assigned tasks. The class agreed to buy another temporary shower for another 20 points and 14 more points for additional silverware and tableware. Of course, there were some protests among the class, but ultimately it was worth the cost.

Ayanokouji kept his eyes on Horikita, Ibuki, and a few other students that are not from the Class D. His daily schedule was to scout Class A and C. He already noticed that Class C has left within 3 days and it seemed that everybody from Class C expect Ibuki and Kaneda has left. He and Horikita met with Class B within their scheduled time and traded information. Of course, Ayanokouji had some encounters with some of his soulmates in the camp and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Today is the last day until the end of the exam and it was Ayanokouji's turn again to sleep in the tent. He was sleeping peacefully before he heard a loud noise coming from outside the tent. It sounded like a commotion and a crowd of people by the boy's tent.

"Hey, boys. Can you all gather around?" called out a voice. Ayanokouji rose slowly and rubbed his eyes. It seemed that some of the boys were waking up as well and looking around drowsily and confused by this sudden commotion.

"What the hell? God, I'm so goddamn tired..." grumbled Sudou. "What's wrong?" asked Hirata, his voice outside of the tent.

"Ah, Hirata-kun. I'm sorry, but can you please wake all of the boys? It's serious," said Shinohara, sounding apologetic. One by one, the boys got out of the tent and Ayanokouji noticed that the girls glared at the boys and they seemed unusually scared.

"What's going on? Why did you wake us up so early?" asked Hirata.

"Sorry, Hirata-kun. This doesn't involve you, but...we've gathered everyone to confirm something." said Shinohara. "Well, this morning...Karuizawa-san's underwear went missing. Do

you know what this means?" "U-underwear?"

"Karuizawa-san is crying inside the tent right now. Kushida-san and others are comforting her right now, but..."

"Wait! Do you think that one of us did it?!" demanded Ike. That got the attention of some of the boys as they weren't expecting them to be accused of it. Some of them glared at the girls while others panicked.

"Come to think of it, Ike, you were pretty late getting back from the toilet yesterday. You took a really long time." said a boy.

"No, no, no! That was just, well...I was struggling because it was dark!" said Ike, waving his hands in denial.

"Is that so? You stole Karuizawa's underwear, didn't you?" "Y-you're wrong! I didn't do it!"

The boys started blaming one another for this particularly nasty crime and it seemed that everyone is on a verge of panic.

"Anyway. This is a huge problem, don't you agree? I'm not saying that one of you did it, but all of the girls were at the tents and a small number of boys sleeping outside, so one of you could've done it." said Shinohara, pointing it out.

"Y-Yeah! But... some of the girls might have left the tent to go to the bathroom, so they could've stole the underwear too!" said Ike, providing another counterpoint.

"Good point. That's why...Hirata-kun, can you find the culprit?"

"Well, there's no evidence that the boys stole it. Maybe Karuizawa lost it." said Hirata.

"Yeah, that's right! We have nothing to do with this!" shouted the boys, proclaiming their innocence.

"I don't want to think there's a criminal among us."

"I know that you're not the culprit, Hirata-kun. But for the time being, let's check the boys' luggage. We need to be sure."

"Huh? Don't give us that crap. We don't need to do that. Hirata, tell them no." said one the boys.

"For now, we'll try gathering the guys together and talking it out. Can you please give us a little time?" asked Hirata.

"If you say so, Hirata-kun. I understand. I'll try talking to Karuizawa-san. But if the culprit can't be found, we have some ideas." said Shinohara. Then, she went off to comfort her friend. With that, everyone scattered. Hirata quickly gathered all the boys in front of the tent.

"Let's just ignore what the girls said. I hate being treated like a suspect. I'll fight it!" said Ike. It was only natural that the boys would be unhappy about being unjustly accused. But, it was also natural that the girls will assumed that one of the boys stole Karuizawa's underwear. There are certainly some perverted boys in the class after all.

"Exactly. It's not like we stole Karuizawa's underwear or anything." said Yamauchi.

"I don't doubt you guys, but we won't solve the problem like this." said Hirata. "It might be better to just accept the baggage inspection with dignity and prove your innocence. As miserable as this might be, I think you guys will have to do it. Are you okay with that?"

"B-but..."

"Of course. I'll open up my luggage first."

In order to get everyone all to move, Hirata had no choice but to take action. Still, there probably wasn't even one person here who thought Hirata was the culprit. It will not make any sense for Hirata to be stealing his own girlfriend's underwear. However, if one person opened his luggage, then the rest of us couldn't help but follow. Inevitably, the students who wouldn't open their bags would be suspected. Hirata's bag naturally didn't have the underwear.

"Guess we don't have any choice..." said Ike. All the other boys began pulling bags out, one after another. Ayanokouji headed into the tent, following after Ike and Yamauchi to get their bags.

"Damn, I'm so pissed. Men are always being suspected of stuff. It's way too unreasonable." grumbled Yamauchi.

"Well, let's prove our innocence." said Ike, grabbing his bag, but suddenly froze. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing..."

Ike turned his back on Hirata and the others, checked the inside of his bag, and frantically closed it back up.

"Kanji?" asked Yamauchi, puzzled by his friend's actions. Ike's face was pale, his body stiff. He was completely paralyzed.

"Wait, don't tell me..." said Yamauchi.

"No! It's not what it is! You don't believe me?!" said Ike. The tone of his voice was one of panic and desperation.

"No, I'm not saying that. Show me what's in your bag." "Ah, wait!"

Yamauchi snatched Ike's bag to check inside. Inside of the bag was white underwear, definitely not a man's, balled up and hidden.

"Th-that's not mine! Someone put it in my bag or something, somehow!" said Ike.

"Come on, don't give me that excuse..." said Yamauchi, looking at Ike with pity.

"I'm telling you, I don't know how it got there! Why would there be underwear in my bag?!"

"This is shameful. Let's go explain things to Hirata and the others." "Huh?! But if I do that, they'll make me out to be the culprit!" "There was no culprit...right?"

Why was Yamauchi asking Ike? Ike had Karuizawa's underwear in his bag, making Ike the culprit, right? Putting aside when and how he stole the underwear, the thief likely wouldn't have hidden the stolen goods in his own bag.

It was obvious that in the case of an uproar, a search for the criminal would begin. If Ike was really guilty, he should've been panicking when he was told to open his luggage. But I hadn't seen the slightest hint of that. I concluded that someone other than Ike was the culprit, and that person had planted evidence to frame Ike. Unless Ike really was that stupid and simple.

"Ayanokouji, you believe me, right? That I didn't steal them?!" said Ike, looking for support.

"Well, if I think calmly, no solid evidence suggests you're the culprit, Ike." replied Ayanokouji.

"Ayanokouji!"

"It's unlikely that Ike is the culprit. If he were, this would be far too stupid of him."

"Well, that sounds right, but... Wait, what? You mean someone put the underwear in Kanji's bag?" said Yamauchi.

"We just have to figure out who!" "Hey, hurry up!" called one of the boys.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what am I gonna do? I'm in serious trouble!"

If the stolen item were found here, the girls would probably determine that Ike was the culprit.

"We have no choice but to hide them. Now." said Ayanokouji.

"Hide them? Where?! We can't hide them!" cried Ike, looking around.

It was certainly true that we currently lacked storage options. If the girls saw us hurry to the toilet or into the tents, they'd become suspicious and demand to search that area. Most importantly, we were spending too much time in here. It wouldn't be surprising if we were already under suspicion.

"We have no other choice. You have to put it in your pocket." said Ayanokouji, noticing the only option that they had.

"I-I can't do it! I-I'm already panicking!" said Ike. "I'll leave it to you, Ayanokouji!"

Ike removed quickly thrust the balled-up underwear into Ayanokouji's hands before making a run out of the tent. Yamauchi gave Ayanokouji a quick prayer before leaving. Ayanokouji sighed and stuffed in his back pockets before leaving quickly to avoid any suspicions on himself.

"Sorry, sorry. My bag got a little dirty, so I cleaned it off." said Ike, making an excuse for their absence before placing his bag on the floor. Yamauchi and Ayanokouji did the same and Hirata, who's in charge of inspection, began to inspect the bags. Out of respect for the boys, Hirata told the girls to go somewhere else during the inspection and Hirata began looking at the bags.

After about 10 minutes, Hirata called over the girls.

"We searched everyone's bags. None of us did it." said Hirata. "Really?" asked Shinohara.

"Yeah. There's no doubt. None of the boys are the culprit." "Then... who did it?"

"This is quite a waste of time. I have a proposal that can efficiently find the culprit. " said Horikita, breaking the silence. Everybody turned their heads to Horikita, who was by the edge of the crowd.

"If the boys didn't do anything, I suggest that we search the girls' bags." said Horikita. Horikita's suggestion caught everyone off guard especially the girls, who didn't suspect that one of their own will do something like this.

"Hey! Are you kidding me?!"

"There's no way! None of us would've done it!" "Yeah! It's gotta be one of the boys!"

Some of the girls fired back with their own opinions and remarks, but Horikita held firmed and crossed her arms. Meanwhile, the boys seemed to be revering Horikita as some sort of goddess.

"Yeah! Equal rights uhhh... equal fight?" "We live in a society!"

"Horikita-sama is here to save us!"

"Wait! Horikita-san, you think one of us will steal Karuizawa-san's underwear?" asked Shinohara, confused and taken aback by Horikita's proposal.

"I'm not implying anything, but it's fair we do the same thing to ourselves. After all, the boys proved their innocence." said Horikita.

"Wait! Ayanokouji-kun, Ike-kun, and Yamauchi-kun took their time at the tents and were the last ones with their bags. What if they did something?" asked Maezano, pointing it out. Ike had a look of panic, but Ayanokouji kept his calm demeanor.

"As Ike said before, Ike's bag is dirty and his clothes fell on the ground. We had to clean it up. You can the check the tent if you want." said Ayanokouji. Hirata hesistated, but Ayanokouji gestured for him to countinue and he did.

"Nothing is in the tent. The boys are not the culprit." said Hirata.

"Do you agree with my proposal?" asked Horikita. Some of the girls were adamantly against it while a few agreed to it, just to get this whole ordeal over. Surprisingly, Shinohara agreed to it, but she still gave certain perverted boys a suspicious glance.

"Everyone, please! I know that you don't want to do it. I won't force you to do it. But please, can you consider it?" said Hirata. He bowed his head and pleaded with the girls in the class. It worked to a certain degree and convinced most of Hirata's admirers, but some of the girls still refused to do it.

"I can do the search." said Kushida, emerging from one of the girls' tents.

"I'll go first." said Horikita, placing her bag. Horikita is doing what Hirata's doing and taking action first to force the more reluctant students to follow since they also don't want to be suspected. Hirata and the rest of the boys gave the girls some space as Kushida began going through all of the bags. Some of the girls were more hesitant and it seemed that when more and more girls agreed to it, the rest were peer pressured in complying. The boys were waiting patiently while the inspection is going on and they began talking amongst themselves on who is culprit and other couldn't believe that the girls were framing them with no evidence.

"Hey, Hirata. I need to talk you about something." said Ayanokouji, gesturing to him. Hirata nodded and the 2 boys went off into the woods and away from prying ears and eyes. Ayanokouji hesitantly pulled out Karuizawa's underwear from his back pocket and showed it to him. Hirata's eyes widened when he saw what Ayanokouji pulled out.

"Did you...take Karuizawa's underwear, Ayanokouji-kun?" said Hirata.

"No. I didn't." replied Ayanokouji. There was a brief moment of silence before Hirata spoke up.

"I believe you. You're not that kind of person. But why did you have them in your pocket?" asked Hirata.

Ayanokouji explained what happened in the tent and how he ended up with it. Hirata looked momentarily lost in thought.

"I see. So it definitely wasn't you. But I don't think Ike-kun or Yamauchi-kun did it, either. If they were the culprits, they probably wouldn't put the underwear in their own bags. They would have hidden it in another place." said Hirata. "If it's all right with you, may I hold onto the underwear?"

"Sure, but...is that really all right?" said Ayanokouji.

"In the worst-case scenario, if I'm made out to be the culprit, I would take the least amount of damage. I am her boyfriend, more or less."

After saying that, Hirata told Ayanokouji to stay here and went off and after a few minutes, he came back with one of the vinyl toilet bags and put the underwear inside. He also brought his luggage and stuffed the vinyl bag into it to hide the bag from the public eyes.

"But we did find out one piece of bad news here. If the underwear came out of Ike-kun's bag, then there's a high chance that the culprit is someone in our class." said Ayanokouji.

"Yeah..." replied Hirata, with a troubled expression on his face. "I believe you're not the culprit, Ayanokouji-kun. That's why I saved you."

"Thank you."

"But that's not all I want to say. I want you to help me find the real culprit, Ayanokouji-kun."

"You want me to find the culprit?"

"I think people, both guys and girls, will be uneasy until the thief's found. To be honest, it would probably be best if I found the culprit, but it looks like it'll be difficult to get everyone together..."

"I don't think it'll be easy to find someone who would hide things in Ike's bag. But, I'll do what I can. Just don't expect too much of me."

"Thank you! Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun! If you do happen to find the culprit, I want you to tell me first. I definitely do not want you to tell anyone else... If that information becomes public knowledge, our class will suffer a huge blow. I want to avoid that. That's why I want to find a peaceful method of settling things with the culprit. If it's coming from me, I think that we'll be

able to resolve the issue through talking."

"So, in other words, you're going to hide the truth?"

"Hide it? That's a poor choice of words, but there's nothing I can do about it if people take it that way. Even if one of the guys turns out to the be the culprit, I think it's better that the truth be concealed."

"I understand. I'll report to you first. Is that good?" "Thank you. Well then, I'll be getting back to work."

There was one contradiction in Hirata's story. Right after he said he believed in me, he immediately said the truth ought to be concealed even if the culprit was one of the guys. In other words, even if someone had the underwear, we'd hide it from the girls. Hirata didn't have complete trust in me. He probably assumed there was a high chance I was the culprit. That was only natural, of course.

From an outsider's perspective, I was the one holding the underwear, and I'd offered up Ike's name as the culprit. Hirata assigned me, a potential suspect, the role of detective to offer me a lifeline. At the same time, he'd issued a warning not to commit the offense a second time. Thinking this way, I was able to get a grasp on the story. I was certain that he just wanted to cover up the truth. Why would Hirata go so far in covering the truth? Is it really for the class's sake or something else? A normal person would not cover for someone stealing a girl's underwear.

"Let's head back to the others. We don't want gone for too long." said Hirata. Ayanokouji agreed and the two boys made their way back to the camp and waited with the other boys until the inspection is complete. After a few more minutes, Horikita and the rest of the girls met up with the other boys, who were waiting anxiously.

"There's no underwear in the girls' luggage." said Kushida. This left the class dumbfounded and confused as both boys and girls don't have the underwear. Karuizawa also made her appearance and it seemed all of Class D was present.

"Alright. We need to discuss our next move." said Hirata.

"We can't trust the guys. It's absolutely impossible for us to stay in the same place as them!" said Karuizawa, trembling with anger and her eyes are puffy and red.

"But there would be problems if the guys and girls lived apart, don't you think? The test is almost over. Because we're all friends, we need to believe in and cooperate with one another."

"You might be right. But we can't stand being in the same place as underwear thieves!"

Karuizawa shook her head, dismissing the notion as impossible. If the victim said so, Hirata couldn't really force her. She grabbed a stick and drew a line in the dirt.

"We think the culprit is a boy, so we're drawing a dividing line between boys and girls. Boys are absolutely prohibited from entering our side." said Karuizawa.

"What the hell? You're just arbitrarily treating us like criminals. Didn't we let

you check our bags?" said Yukimura.

"It might not have been hidden in a bag, though. Anyway, don't enter the girls' territory until the culprit has been found. Go over there." said Maezano.

With that, she demanded that the boys move their tent. As expected, the guys were not convinced. Booing commenced as the boys shook their heads in disbelief and couldn't believe that it was happening.

"If you doubt us, then move your own tent. We're not moving ours, and we're not helping you, either." said Ike.

"Ah, I see. Yeah, you only pretended to help out while you fished through our luggage." said Maezano.

"Oh, and you aren't allowed to use the shower anymore. We're not joking. We're not about to let a perverted thief use it." said another girl.

"Hey! We spent points on those as a class, so we have our rights too!" said Miyamoto.

"Yeah! It's not fair that you guys have two showers and we get nothing!" said Hondo.

"That's what you get from being underwear thieves!" said Maezano.

"The fuck?! Screw this! You're not getting any of the fishes that we get. Get your own fish!" said Ike.

Our class unity had completely broken down as the boys and girls glared at each other. It seemed that the class was divided and argument began breaking out.

Ayanokouji watched on and saw Shinohara, who was staring at the chaos unfolding in front of her. Ayanokouji thought that Shinohara would be the first one to be against the boys, but surpsingly she didn't lash out and keep quiet for most of the time.

'There must be a pervert among the boys. I'm not sure who's the culprit, but I think I can rule out some people. There are 3 categories that I put the boys: perverts, safe, and most definitely safe. There are 2 boys out of everyone that I would put in most definitely safe, Hirata-kun and Ayanokouji-kun. Boys like

Yukimura-kun and Miyake-kun are probably in the safe. But boy like Ike-kun, Yamauchi-kun, and Sudou-kun are the worst and perverts. I wonder if they actually stole Karuizawa-san's underwear. I'm not sure... if it's not in their bags, then where is it? At any rate, I think separating the boys and girls is probably the best idea until we find the culprit, but taking away shower privileges seems too far to me. I don't want the whole camp to stink for the last day of the exam because of it.' thought Shinohara.

"Hey, Hirata-kun. Can you help us, for Karuizawa-san's sake?" said Shinohara. "Okay. I'll help. It might take some time, though. Is that okay?" said Hirata. "Thank you, Hirata-kun. Aren't you glad, Karuizawa-san?"

"Yeah, Hirata-kun is the only one we can trust." said Karuizawa, looking happy and a bit bashful, blushed.

"Heh. Hirata might even be the culprit." said Ike.

"Huh? Hirata-kun is not the culprit. What a stupid thing to say. Why don't you go jump off a cliff?" said Karuizawa.

"What?! Don't give me that crap, Karuizawa. Just because he's your boyfriend doesn't mean he's not the culprit!"

Naturally, more and more complaints came from the guys, but their words fell on deaf ears. Everyone except for Hirata was a suspect, so there wasn't anything to be done about it.

"Wait a minute. I'd like to raise an objection—especially against you,

Karuizawa-san." said Horikita spoke up, calmly and firmly opposing Karuizawa.

"What is it, Horikita-san? Are you not satisfied with what we're saying?" said Karuizawa.

"I don't particularly mind dividing up the living areas for men and women. As long as the culprit hasn't been found, it is certainly a good idea to keep our distance from the men, considering the likelihood that the culprit is among them.

"However, I don't trust Hirata-kun. I cannot dismiss the possibility that he might be the underwear thief. Also, I'm unconvinced that he

should be excluded from the ban on men." said Horikita. Some of the boys verbally agreed with Horikita.

"Hirata-kun would never do such a thing. Can't you at least understand that?"

"That's just your personal belief, isn't it? Don't force your way of thinking on me."

Karuizawa stepped closer to Horikita, looking like she didn't approve of Horikita's attitude.

"Hirata-kun is definitely not the culprit. You don't even have friends, let alone a boyfriend. You probably wouldn't understand." said Karuizawa.

"Don't make me repeat myself. Nothing you can say will convince me." said Horikita, in a detached tone.

"Well, let me ask you something. Would you say there are no other guys as trustworthy as Hirata-kun? Or are there?"

"I won't speak impulsively. Simply put, I would be fine if you increased the number by one more guy. If you did, they'd be effective in watching each other's backs."

"This isn't a joke. My underwear was stolen, right? I've been humiliated! Don't you understand? I don't know what we'll do when the culprit is found."

"Might this be happening due to your naïve handling of crisis management? Maybe there is an ulterior motive for stealing the underwear that we don't yet understand."

"What the heck do you mean, crisis management?! We searched everyone's bags. What's naïve about that?!"

"I don't care that your underwear was stolen. That kind of thing happens every day, and there's nothing you can really do about it. It's likely someone here bears a grudge against you. Honestly, I would do the same."

"Listen here, you!"

Karuizawa looked like she was on the verge of losing her temper, until Hirata jumped out beside her in a dashing manner.

"Karuizawa-san, it would be great if we could have another guy here help me out. Is that okay?" asked Hirata. adopting the role of mediator once again.

"B-but...how can I trust anyone other than you, Hirata-kun?" said Karuizawa. "Who? Is there someone other than Hirata-kun?" asked Maezano.

"Ayanokouji-kun." said Horikita. Everyone turned and looked at Ayanokouji, who stood there and stared at them blankly. He couldn't believe that his name was called.

"Him?! I don't know... Maybe he's a secret pervert." asked Karuizawa, raising her eyebrows.

"I mean... I think he's fine." said Shinohara. Azuma, Mori, Mii-chan, Ichihashi, Onodera, and Kushida voiced their agreement and Karuizawa seems surprised that Ayanokouji got some supporters and people backing him up. He noticed that Inogashira shyly voiced her opinion, but it seemed that nobody noticed. A few girls that he knew such as Sonoda, Ishikura, Hasebe, and Azuma's friends seemed to have agreed with them and most of the people backing Ayanokouji up are his soulmates or people that have encountered Ayanokouji. Karuizawa frowned and looked around as around half of the girls seemed to have vouched for Ayanokouji.

Okay... That's a lot of girls. I'm not going to tell everyone that I'm not a pervert and I'm already used to be around girls, but that's a little unwarranted. Nishino is right. I do feel like a Hirata 2.0, but it's about half of the class, not exactly the same level of influence as Hirata.

"What?! You guys... him?" said Karuizawa, studying Ayanokouji. Karuizawa was not expecting so many girls to back Ayanokouji up and expect more support for her.

"Um... I don't think that A-Ayanokouji-kun would do such a thing..." said Sakura, shyly. It seemed that Sakura wanted to back him up, but lacked the courage to do it right away and took a bit until she can muster up those words. Sakura was behind the crowd with her back arched and fidgeting bashfully.

"Huh? What do you mean? Why would you say that?" said Karuizawa, seemingly upset about Sakura speaking out. The sheepish, nervous Sakura was an easy target for such a popular girl. Sakura was definitely easier to confront than Horikita or the crowd of girls that voiced their support for Ayanokouji. In an instant, Karuizawa changed her target, lashing out at Sakura with her words as if sinking her teeth into prey.

"Huh? Why? How do you know that? How do you know Ayanokouji-kun isn't the culprit?" asked Karuizawa.

"Well...that's because...he isn't that kind of person." said Sakura, feeling backed into a corner, and barely managed to squeak out her fearful answer.

"Huh? I don't understand what you mean. That's not an answer." Karuizawa folded her arms and laughed mockingly at Sakura.

"Oh? Could it be that Sakura-san likes someone plain like Ayanokouji-kun?" said Karuizawa.

"Y-you're wrong!" stammered Sakura, stumbling back in a panic, her face completely red.

"Whoa! That's such an obvious reaction. It's like what an elementary-schooler would do!"

Some of the other girls joined Karuizawa in laughing out loud. Others gave Sakura a sympathetic look and most of the girls that were supporting Ayanokouji looked at Karuizawa with a mixed expression of shock and horror especially Shinohara, who witnessed Karuizawa's wrath again. Inogashira winced as she knew of the pain that she felt the last time Karuizawa talked to her. It was pretty bad to be made fun of about your crush on a boy in front of the entire class and especially in front of the person that you like.

"That's...! W-well... Ah!" said Sakura, having a hard time to respond to her words.

"Heh, isn't that a good thing, though? You like him, and no one else does, right? Hey, will you confess to him here? I'll even help you out!" said Karuizawa.

"Ah!"

Sakura, unable to bear this attention any longer, ran off into the forest. Kushida chased after her, wisely judging it dangerous for someone to go into the woods alone.

"What was that about? I was just teasing her. Jeez, that's why she can't make any friends." said Karuizawa. She looked around and it seemed that nobody wanted to reprimand her for her actions. The reactions were looking away or nodding their head in agreement. Of course, nobody wanted to mess with Karuizawa, the girl with the highest hierarchy in the class, but Ayanokouji was sure that most people were uncomfortable by this.

"Is it okay for us to continue the discussion now? This farce is a waste of time." said Horikita.

"Hey, Horikita-san. The way you talk is hurtful and annoying." said Karuizawa, losing interest in Sakura after she'd run away, made Horikita her target once again. "Okay, Horikita-san. Why are you so cold to me? Did something happen?"

"Something? What 'something'?"

"Well, isn't Hirata-kun so cool? He's smart, too, and he's even kind to a girl like you. Any normal girl would fall for him."

Giggling, Karuizawa tugged on Hirata's arm and pulled him close, as if to boast.

The definition of normal does not apply to Horikita. She is far from a normal girl. Although, it's not a bad thing.

"I do not care about all of this useless talk, Karuizawa-san. We need to ask if Hirata-kun can trust Ayanokouji-kun. It would only be awkward and uncomfortable if you endorsed someone meaningless to Hirata-kun. The truth is, there is not one thing that I trust about him, but I

have no intention of inserting my own personal feelings into the matter. By process of elimination, I've concluded that he is the most trustworthy boy in the class. Or is another boy in our class preferable? If there is, I'd like for you to tell me." said Horikita, getting straight to the point and she sighed as if she's done with Karuizawa's behavior. After Horikita finished, Karuizawa glanced over at

the boys as if to evaluate them, and sighed.

"Well, I suppose that out of all the guys here, he seems the most harmless and a bunch of girls seemed to trust him." said Karuizawa.

"Well, isn't that good? I have my doubts, but if Hirata-kun is comfortable with this, it'll do." said Horikita.

"I understand what everyone wants to say here, but I disagree with suspecting a classmate without evidence. There shouldn't be anyone in our class who'd do such an awful thing." said Hirata, unable to stay silent about the class's worsening situation.

"You're way too kind, Hirata-kun. So you're saying someone else stole it?" asked Karuizawa.

"I don't know, but I don't want to doubt my classmates."

"Hey. What if it was that girl, Ibuki?" muttered a boy, shooting a look over at Ibuki, who sat at the far edge of the camp. Instantly, everyone's doubts were aimed at Ibuki. The collective had

found new prey.

"Ibuki-chan is from Class C, right? It wouldn't be strange if she were working to sabotage Class D. She could be using tricks to make us doubt each other." said Yukimura.

"Knock it off, you guys. The boys are without a doubt the prime suspects." said Maezano. "Until the culprit is found, we definitely can't trust the boys. Right, Karuizawa-san?"

"Naturally. One of the boys definitely did it." said Karuizawa, agreeing with the notion.

And so it was decided that the guys and girls would live separately and Ayanokouji and Hirata went over to move the girls' tents further away from the guys. As the duo were pounding the stakes into the ground and securing the tents, Hirata spoke up.

"I'm sorry. I've put you in a tough spot again." said Hirata. The other guys were

outside, either playing around or fishing, but that didn't

"Ah, it's okay. You don't have to apologize, Hirata. If anything, I'd feel bad to leave it all to you." said Ayanokouji.

"Oh, it's not all bad. I do it freely."

"This question might come off as weird, but why do you work so hard?"

"Work so hard? I don't intend to work all that hard. I just do what needs to be done."

"I think this special test isn't actually some kind of battle, but more an important opportunity for us all to become closer. That's why I want to cherish this moment. I'm glad to work hard for that."

"All right, we have about half left. Let's hurry up and get this done."

The duo quickly hammered up the final stakes and secured the tent before they went over to the temporary showers. They quickly set up the wheels and began wheeling the shower towards the boy's side of the camp. The class have decided to split the showers: one for each gender and move the bathroom to a neutral area of the camp. Due to the lack of trust, each side separated their luggage and had a guard schedule on the luggage throughout the entire day. Hirata and Ayanokouji placed the showers on a shaded area of the boy's side of the camp before moving the toilet to the neutral area. They quickly grabbed some water and sat down together in a shaded area. Working under the blazing sun was quite harsh and they were naturally sweating from all of their work. They were catching their breath and wasn't talking. Then, Ayanokouji heard Hirata being called and was dragged away by Karuizawa and some girls. Ayanokouji sighed and got up and went to meet a certain person.

"Do you have a minute?" asked Ibuki, when Ayanokouji approached her. "What you were just talking about sounded really serious. The underwear incident, I mean. I mean, Class D isn't a monolith."

"Well, I guess. Our various troubles are never-ending." said Ayanokouji. "Whatever the reason, stealing a girl's underwear is unforgivable."

"Do you doubt me, by any chance? Are you the culprit?" "No, I'm not."

"Okay, that's good. Well, it's not like I had any evidence or anything. It looks like some of the girls trust you and that boy Hirata. I think the chance of you being a villain is low."

"Do you have any idea who the culprit is?"

"If a boy isn't the culprit, then they'll suspect me, the stranger, next. I'm absolutely certain some people have already said something about me. After all, I could've just made it look like the guys stole the underwear. Right?"

Ibuki laughed self-deprecatingly and probably was fully aware she was already a suspect.

"I think I trust you, at the very least. I doubt you're the culprit." said Ayanokouji. Ibuki looked a bit surprised and looked at Ayanokouji as if she wanted to verify what he said was true. When their eyes met, she looked away. Ayanokouji was surprised that his soulmates power did not activate since it was a perfect scenario for it to work.

"Thank you. I didn't think you would say something like that." said Ibuki.

"I just gave you an honest answer." replied Ayanokouji, staring into her eyes before looking away. Ayanokouji had just confirmed something that was in his mind.

*Timeskip (2 hours later)*

The camp is in a different state than what it was a few days ago. The boys and girls were separated and there was this quiet and eerie silence and it felt like there's a cold war between the genders. Each side talked to their own members and didn't talk to anyone of the opposite gender unless it's necessary. It seemed that Karuizawa was rounding more support from the girls and each side thinking that the other side was at fault and guilty. Ayanokouji noticed that Hirata was moving some few items into the girls' tent and assumed that's why he was called away. Ayanokouji approached Horikita, who was standing by the shade and she looks quite tired and in bad condition.

"Horikita. What is Hirata bring to the girls' tent?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Karuizawa-san and the others convinced Hirata to buy some few things for them only. They bought a floor mat, several pillows inflated with air, and a battery-powered cordless fan for both tents." said Horikita.

"How many points?"

"A total of twelve points. Karuizawa-san and the others asked for these. I only found out after they'd already ordered everything. It's difficult to do anything when the rules say anyone may buy an item and spend points."

"That's more spending. We will need to check on our points total later."

"Karuizawa-san reported this to Hirata-kun, so he definitely knew about it. But you didn't know, nor did he inform anyone else. I think he absolutely should have shared this information."

"I understand what you mean, but there's nothing I can really say about it. We can't get spent points back, and there aren't many days left before the test ends. Karuizawa and the others probably won't spend any more points."

"If things stay as they are and nothing happens, people will probably stay quiet. But things could get bad if the case of the stolen underwear isn't resolved. If the culprit is nearby, he or she might be trying to hinder us. That's why I want to find the culprit as soon as possible."

"So, you want me to work with you?"

"Yes. Now that there's a divide between us and the boys, there are many things I can't do by myself."

"Yeah, but if we're working together, don't you think it's about time you confessed?"

"Confessed? Confessed what?"

"Your health has gone rapidly downhill since the test started. It's gotten worse, didn't it?"

"Not really any more than usual." "Liar."

Ayanokouji reached towards Horikita, who slapped his hand away. Ayanokouji sighed and lunged at Horikita with incredible speed. Horikita tried to block and escape, but Ayanokouji pinned her arms to the tree and leaned closer to Horikita's face. Horikita closed her eyes and awaited her fate, but she felt their foreheads touching each other. She opened her eyes and saw Ayanokouji using his forehead to measure her temperature and her face grown red as she was really close to Ayanokouji and could see his attractive facial features. After a few moments, Ayanokouji pulled away from Horikita.

"38.6 C." said Ayanokouji.

"When...did you notice?" asked Horikita.

"On the deck of the ship, when I asked you what you'd been doing." "Yeah, and I told you I'd been reading in my room."

"You were really sick then, so you were actually sleeping, right?" "And on what evidence do you base that conclusion?"

"When you joined us on deck, your bangs were all disheveled. Proof you'd been lying on your side. Also, it was incredibly hot on the boat, but you seemed like you were cold. Even now, you're wearing long sleeves, and you're zipped all the way up. Even an elementary school student could figure it out."

"If you could apply that sharp wit toward reaching Class A, you'd get a little more recognition."

"I definitely don't plan to do that and don't want the attention. Anyway, do you intend to hide your condition?"

"I just need to hang in there for another few days. If I give up now, it'll hurt the class and all I have endured would be pointless."

"I suppose you have a point, but at least let Hirata or someone besides me

know."

"No. I can handle this myself."

"If that's what you think is best, then I won't stop you."

"Ayanokouji-kun! Horikita-san!" called out Kushida, approaching and waving at them. Horikita sighed as she hoped to get some alone time with Ayanokouji.

"Do you want to search for food with me?" asked Kushida. "What about the rest of your friends?" asked Ayanokouji.

"There are busy with other tasks and Mii-chan is having her time of the month and she feels awful when it happens, so she's resting."

"I see. I have nothing better to do, so I'll join."

"As do I." said Horikita, quickly. As soon as she heard that Ayanokouji was going with Kushida, she immedtiely changed her mind. Kushida smiled at Horikita and thanked her, but internally she's cursing at Horikita and her interference with her alone time with Ayanokouji. Kushida widened her eyes and called out to someone.

"Sakura-san! Do you want to come with us to look for food?" called out Kushida. Sakura was nearby and seemed to be sitting by the shade and she seemed scared and Ayanokouji noticed that she has avoided coming back to camp for a bit. It was probably because she felt embrassed by what Karuizawa said a few hours ago.

"U-Uhhh... I-I don't think..." said Sakura.

"Karuizawa is in camp. I don't think you'll be going back to camp anytime sooner." said Ayanokouji.

"I-I'll go!"

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" called out Yamauchi, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was like he was waiting for his moment to appear.

"Thank you, Yamauchi-kun!" said Kushida.

The group made their way toward the woods and as they passed a tree, Ayanokouji called out to a certain person who was still resting by the tree.

"Hey, Ibuki. Why don't you come with us, too?" called out Ayanokouji.

"Me?" asked Ibuki. She paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking about it.

"Okay. I owe Class D a debt of gratitude... Sure, I'll help." said Ibuki, getting up and slung her bag over her shoulder.

"Hey, that's great, that's great! You know, this kinda feels like a harem or something!" cried Yamauchi, happily. The group walked into the forest and headed off in a direction.

"The forest is kinda eerie... Or maybe I should say that it's scary, plus hot and humid." said Kushida. The sky was cloudy, and the forest was completely different from yesterday. Visibility was especially poor. Yamauchi, with great sweat stains under his armpits, dejectedly flapped his gym clothes to fan himself.

"Aren't you hot, Sakura?" asked Yamauchi. It was clear that Yamauchi had been scheming for a way to talk to Sakura. But his eyes were focused on her breasts, and it was easy to see that he simply wanted to look at her boobs.

"Eh? O-oh, it's okay. I'm fine." said Sakura, leaning forward, as if to indirectly avoid Yamauchi's gaze.

"Karuizawa was so mean, wasn't she? And even though you were being so kind by sticking up for Ayanokouji, Sakura."

"Ah, oh..."

"Yamauchi. It'd be good if you paid attention to the treetops. They might have fruit. Also, we're pretty tall, so we need to be careful around here." said Ayanokouji, changing the topic and to prevent Yamauchi for gazing lustfully at Sakura.

"Y-yeah. Of course." said Yamauchi, looking away.

"Rain clouds are approaching from the southwest. The storm will be here even sooner than we imagined." said Horikita, looking up at sky with a frown.

"Damn! That means everyone has to sleep in the tent together." said Yamauchi. Ayanokouji found that troubling as they could barely fit everyone inside of the 2 tents. The group looked for food while walking quietly. After a bit, they barely found anything and Ayanokouji concluded that they have gotten most of the food around this area and need to go out further to find more food.

"Let's search in pairs. Don't make any moves alone. Be especially careful. Let's go, Ayanokouji-kun." said Horikita. Ayanokouji nodded and they started walking together ahead of the others.

"Ah... Ah..." said Sakura.

"Come search with us, Sakura!" yelled Yamauchi, interrupting Sakura's cries. He flashed Ayanokouji a thumbs-up gesture and was taking advantage of this opportunity.

"I'm looking forward to working with you, Ibuki-san!" said Kushida, the last one remaining, paired up with Ibuki. Horikita and Ayanokouji were leading the way with Kushida and Ibuki behind them and Yamauchi and Sakura in the very back. They gave some distance and was looking at the trees as they walked. By dividing into pairs, they could all comb through the area effectively together and could spot anything that the last pair missed.

"Horikita, how are you going to handle the key card issue?" asked Ayanokouji.

"I always have it on me." said Horikita, pulling out the key card from her coat pocket.

"Can I see it for a second?" "Huh? Here?"

"It's actually convenient to do it here. It'd be too suspicious at base camp." "Maybe, but what do you plan to do after I show you?"

"To be honest, I'd been keeping quiet. I was with Sakura and Inogashira earlier

so they can back me up, but on the first day we saw students who had something like a key card."

Ayanokouji told Horikita about seeing Katsuragi in front of the cave, and his card.

"If you have proof, that would be a huge achievement." said Horikita, turned her back on Ibuki and stealthily took out the card. Ayanokouji accepted it, and checked the front and back. The

reverse side sported a typical magnetic strip. Just as Chabashira-sensei had said, on the front side was the name "Horikita Suzune", proof that she was the leader. Ayanokouji noticed that he couldn't peel the name off and substitute it with another.

"Well? Is this the same card that Katsuragi-kun had?" asked Horikita.

"No. I wonder, though. I thought I'd know by looking, but...it seems like it's a different color than I remember." said Ayanokouji.

"The keycards might have a different color scheme based on the class."

"Yeah, but we don't have enough evidence to make a solid judgment. If we make a mistake, we won't recover from it."

When Ayanokouji tried to return the card to Horikita, he accidentally dropped it. The card hit the ground. Horikita quickly snatched it up. She slid the card back in her jacket, but they'd attracted attention.

"What's wrong?" asked Kushida, looking worried. Ibuki also turned her attention towards the duo.

"Oh, it's nothing. There was a bug that surprised me. Sorry, sorry." said Ayanokouji. While Ayanokouji apologized, Horikita shot him a terrifying glare.

"Did she dump you?" asked Yamauchi, with a grin. He approached Ayanokouji and the two boys slowed down and was the last pair. Sakura looked over at Ayanokouji before following closely behind Kushida and Ibuki.

"Look, Yamauchi. I need to ask you something." said Ayanokouji.

"What is it? You know my love consultation fee is high, right?" asked Yamauchi.

"The ground in this area is all muddy because of the rain, right? I want you to take this mud and smear it on Horikita's hair. Can you do that for me?"

"Huh? B-but if I do something like that, I'll be killed! No way! Listen here, dude. No matter how angry you say you are at Horikita, trying to get revenge on her is uncool!"

"If you do this, I'm prepared to offer you Sakura's e-mail address." "Whaa?!"

"Well?"

"S-Sakura's e-mail address? Man! I-I guess I have to do this now, huh? You're absolutely going to do it? If you're lying, I won't agree."

Sorry Sakura, but this is necessary.

After Ayanokouji nodded, Yamauchi gathered up a lot of mud and approached Horikita from behind. Horikita was ill and wasn't aware of her surroundings which worked out for Yamauchi's favor. Kushida and Ibuki noticed Yamauchi's strange behavior and watched him with quizzical expressions. Then, Yamauchi covered Horikita's beautiful black hair with mud. Then he patted and smeared it on her with both hands.

"Ha ha ha ha! You're all covered in mud, Horikita! Hilarious!" said Yamauchi, laughing and pointed at Horikita, like a little kid. Horikita, almost as if she weren't able to grasp the situation, didn't move for a little while. Then she stood up, grabbed Yamauchi's pointing arm, and acted

without saying a word.

"Huh?" yelped Yamauchi as Horikita threw him onto the ground. Yamauchi cried out in pain and rolled on the ground as Horikita marched away and seemed to be heading back towards the direction of the base camp.

"Yamauchi-kun?! Are you okay?" asked Kushida, with a concerned expression on her face. In reality, she was secretly happy and it took a lot out of her to not

laugh out loud.

"He deserved it." said Ibuki, following Horikita. Sakura had a horrified expression before following Ibuki and Horikita. Kushida held out her hand for Yamauchi, who graciously accepted her hand with a lot of glee on his face, which confused Kushida.

"I-I'm okay, Kushida-chan." said Yamauchi.

"You shouldn't have done that, Yamauchi-kun." said Kushida. "Just a little fun. Didn't expect Horikita to do that."

Kushida frowned and walked off in the direction where the rest of the group headed to. She did that because she couldn't hold back her smile and had to look away. The image of a muddy Horikita was amusing and hilarious for Kushida, who hated her guts. Yamauchi turned towards Ayanokouji.

"It's your turn now." said Yamauchi.

"I'll send it to you when we're done with this exam." replied Ayanokouji. "You better... I didn't get thrown on the ground for nothing."

"I always keep my word. Let's go."

*Timeskip (25 minutes later)*

The group returned to the base camp with nothing to show for their efforts. Although the sun hadn't come out due to the clouds, it was even hotter here than inside the midsummer forest.

"You'd better wash up right away, Horikita-san. You're really muddy..." said Kushida.

"Yeah... This situation is rather painful." replied Horikita, her hair and clothes completely covered with mud, couldn't help but be feel uncomfortable in this state.

"I'm going to hold a grudge against you for the rest of my life. You'd best

prepare yourself." said Horikita, glaring at Yamauchi, who cowered behind Ayanokouji's back as he trembled in fear.

"S-See you later!" shouted Yamauchi, as he made a run for it. He tripped, but quickly scrambled to his feet before disappearing.

"Oh no, looks like it's impossible to use the shower room..." grumbled Ibuki, pointing at the shower stall in the girl's side of the camp. The girls who'd returned from exploring were gathered in front of the shower, waiting in line. Unfortunately, it was Karuizawa and her group. If Horikita got in line now, she would have a pretty long time to wait.

"What about the river? That'd be easy and fast, right?" suggested Ayanokouji. It was perfect chance for that since the boys were separated from the girls and each side had their own parts of the river and allowed to get past a certain point. Only Ayanokouji and Hirata were given special permission. Horikita could shower and wash off the mud without anyone peeping at the girls.

"Right. Looks like I don't have any other choice." said Horikita.

"I think I'm going to go for a swim. Ibuki-san, do you want to go for a swim with me? I got pretty sweaty. If we get permission, is it okay for someone from Class C to use the river?" said Kushida. Using another class's spot is not allowed, but if you were granted permission, it wouldn't be a problem.

"I'll pass. I don't really like swimming, so I'll just wait to use the shower room." said Ibuki.

"W-well, I will, too..." said Sakura, following Ibuki's lead, refused to go swimming. Horikita and Kushida went off towards the tent to get their change of clothes. Meanwhile, Ayanokouji headed off to the boy's side of tent and was waiting for the next phase of his plan.

*Timeskip (15 minutes later)*

Ayanokouji was at the neutral area of the campsite when he saw Horikita with her eyes downcast, as if something was wrong. Then she slowly looked up and scanned the area around the river area. When Horikita's eyes met his, her pupils trembled, like she was frightened. Then, Horikita approached Ayanokouji with heavy, plodding steps.

"Ayanokouji-kun. Could you please come here for a moment?" asked Horikita. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Follow me. We can't talk here."

With that, Horikita walked toward the forest and Ayanokouji followed.

"What's wrong? Are you planning to search for more food?" asked Ayanokouji. Horikita walked without answering him. She stopped once they have gotten far enough away that they couldn't see the camp anymore. Horikita turned around and looked ready to speak, but then hesitated as though having second thoughts.

"This happened because of my carelessness. I am aware that I made a mistake. It's really bad..." said Horikita.

"A mistake?" asked Ayanokouji. "It was stolen."

"W-wait, your underwear was stolen, too?"

"No. This is much, much worse. The...key card. A complete blunder on my part."

Horikita looked completely disgusted with herself, a look Ayanokouji had never seen her make before.

"I wanted to talk to you because I trust you. I absolutely couldn't consult with someone who might be the culprit. This is so humiliating. I want to die... Such a failure." said Horikita, scowling at herself.

"No, the one who stole it is to blame. Right?" said Ayanokouji.

"Even so, this is an issue of responsibility. It has nothing to do with me being sick or covered in mud."

Horikita hung her head and they both knew that if this got out, it could cause us massive damage on the class.

"I wasn't supposed to let go of the card for a single second. But I..." said

Horikita.

"Don't blame yourself. I doubt this'll be any consolation, but I think you did your absolute best." replied Ayanokouji. Horikita showed no sign that she had heard Ayanokouji and merely bit her lower lip, as if overwhelmed with regret.

"It's probably better if we don't make this information public. We should get to the truth first."

"Yes. I think so, too."

"I suspect two people. Either Karuizawa-san, or Ibuki-san."

"Unfortunately, the chances of that are low. Karuizawa was in front of the shower the whole time."

"You're sure about that?"

"Yeah. Same goes for her flunkies, too."

"If that's the case, it's highly likely Ibuki-san is the culprit. It's possible she came to know about the card this morning, and the timing is just far too good. But, wouldn't stealing it be an extremely dangerous gamble? Since the leader's name is engraved on the card itself, just looking at it would be enough. Maybe she carried out the crime so she'd get a penalty."

Horikita looked at Ayanokouji, her eyes full of anxiety, as if searching for an answer from him. Ayanokouji placed his hand on Horikita's shoulder and the duo stared into each other's eyes. Horikita stopped shaking and her eyes seemed to be less anxious, but it was still there.

"If we examine the timing and talk with Ibuki, we can understand what happened. If we suspect Ibuki, we shouldn't take our eyes off of her. Her escape would probably be the worst-case scenario, right?" said Ayanokouji.

"Yeah. Let's go back." said Horikita, agreeing with it. The duo quickly made their way back towards the camp. After a few minutes, the duo arrived back to the camp and Ayanokouji quickly excused himself and told Horikita that he had some matters to attend to. He told her that he will be back within a few minutes. Ayanokouji went to the boy's side of the camp and picked up a few supplies and

walked to the neutral area of the camp to grab some water to drink before heading into the girl's side of the camp. He found Horikita by a tree and observing Ibuki, who was leaning against her usual tree.

"Anything?" asked Ayanokouji.

"No... That's strange. I went back to the tent to check Karuizawa-san's bag before finding Ibuki-san and found nothing." said Horikita.

"Hmm... I think that-"

"Hey! What's that smoke? What in the world happened?" cried Ike. His voice was quite loud and could be heard throughout the entire camp which got everyone's attention. The duo quickly made their way towards Ike's voice and found him near the neutral area.

"This is serious. There's a fire! Fire! Something is burning behind the toilet!" cried Ike. All of the girls who'd been lined up in front of the shower room were gone now. They must have left as soon as they heard the uproar.

"I didn't see Ibuki-san during that brief moment when I was at the girl's tent. The fire might have been her handiwork." said Horikita.

"She noticed the fire, and now she's just walking around." said Ayanokouji. He saw Hirata and

some of the others. Ibuki was also there. Horikita looked ready to call out to Ibuki, but hesitated when she saw her. Ibuki's expression was just so genuine. She couldn't hide her confusion about the fire.

"Does this mean she didn't do it?" asked Horikita, overwhelmed by doubt. If the keycard had indeed been stolen, Ibuki must've done it. If a fire had started, then Ibuki must've caused

it. Even so, Ibuki remained at the scene, and appeared surprised by the fire. When Ayanokouji examined more closely, the source looked like a bundle of paper. Some of it was still legible, but most of it had turned into soot.

"Did the manual get burned?" asked Horikita.

"Yeah. It looks like it. Who would do this?" said Ayanokouji.

"It's just one thing after another..."

"I'm responsible for this. The manual was in my bag. We piled the bags up in front of the tent and I didn't think that someone would steal anything in the daytime. But first, we need to extinguish this fire properly..."

Hirata headed to the river to douse the fire. While he drew water in our plastic bottles, he muttered to himself, his expression dark.

"Why? Who could do something like this? Why can't we all just get along?" muttered Hirata. Hirata spontaneously crushed the plastic bottle with all his might. The shift in his personality was terrifying.

"I don't think you need to take so much on yourself." said Ayanokouji. "Thank you."

"We need...to discuss this incident properly."

"Right. Most of Class D witnessed the fire. I'm sure they'll want to know the truth."

Depressed, Hirata took the water he'd scooped up and returned to the campsite and Ayanokouji followed him.

"Hey, who did this? Is there a traitor in our class?" asked Karuizawa. When the duo returned, they found her leading the confrontation between the guys and girls, who glared at one another.

"Why do you suspect us? Isn't this a completely separate issue from the underwear incident?" asked Ike.

"I don't know about that. Isn't it possible you burned something to mislead us?" said Karuizawa.

"Stop jerking us around. As if we'd do something like this!"

"Wait a minute, everyone. Please, calm down. Let's talk about this." cried Hirata. He gave Ayanokouji the water and he took his place, extinguishing the remnants of the fire. Hirata immediately went to the center of the circle and tried to play

mediator. Due to the residual stress and distrust from the underwear theft incident, both sides were heated up and showed no signs

of settling down. It seemed like quite a few people in Class D wanted to start hunting the culprit right here. Ayanokouji shook the empty plastic bottles twice, then three times. A few water

droplets plopped onto the smoldering remains of the fire and Ayanokouji looked up as he felt droplets of water coming down from the sky. Raindrops dripped onto my cheeks. The clouds were even darker than they'd been before, proof that heavy rain was about to start. The guys and girls were locked in a tense confrontation. They stood, glaring at each other.

"This is pointless. Seriously, this is the worst. We have underwear thieves and now arsonists in our class. This really is the worst." said Maezano.

"We keep telling you it wasn't us! How long are you going to keep suspecting us?!" demanded Hondo. Hirata should've stepped in and stopped this, but for some reason he just stood there in a daze.

"Hey Kanji, I can't see Ibuki anywhere." asked Yamauchi, noticing that Ibuki was gone. Ayanokouji noticed that one of the bags was also gone.

"Perhaps the person who started the fire..." muttered Yukimura.

"It's rather suspicious. If a fire broke out then, that would mean..." said Hondo.

The guys directed their suspicions at Ibuki, and even the girls began to voice their doubts. However, before the class could reach a resolution, the rain started to fall, and fall hard.

"Oh no, this isn't good. Let's discuss this later. It'll be awful if we all get soaked." said Ike. The boys began to panic and shove food and luggage inside of their tents.

"Hirata, tell us what to do!" called Ike, but Hirata just stood in the same place. Hirata continued staring off into nothingness and didn't budge an inch.

Meanwhile, the sound of rain kept growing louder and louder. Ayanokouji approached Hirata, but there wasn't any sign that he noticed him.

"Why...why is this happening? It's just like back then..." muttered Hirata in a low voice. Ayanokouji couldn't understand what it meant, but it certainly wasn't

trivial. This wasn't like the calm and composed Hirata that Ayanokouji knew. "Why was I doing this? Why was I doing all this until now?" asked Hirata.

"Hey, Hirata! What are you doing?!" shouted Ike. It wasn't clear if Hirata heard him at all. Ayanokouji gently placed his hand on Hirata's shoulder. He looked surprised, but slowly turned around.

"Ike's calling for you." said Ayanokouji.

"Huh?" replied Hirata. Hirata's face was drained of life and was pale. The second time Ike

called, Hirata slowly started to regain his sanity. He finally noticed that it had begun raining.

"Rain..." said Hirata. It seemed that he's finally getting back to his senses.

"It'd be good for you to help Ike and the others. We have to keep our stuff dry." said Ayanokouji.

"Y-yeah. We need to take care of everything quickly." "Ayanokouji. Is Hirata okay?" asked Sudou.

"Looks like he's in shock. I suppose it's probably because of all these things going wrong one after the other."

"For the time being, let's take care of the luggage." said Hirata, seemingly snapped out of it. The boys agreed and the class began to put their luggage and belongings into the tent. Thankfully everything got secured pretty fast.

"Okay. All of the preparations are made." said Ayanokouji, as he walked off into the forest on a path. A path towards the beach. He already knew and wasn't surprised that Ibuki disappeared, but Horikita had vanished as well.

All according to my plan...

*Timeskip (30 minutes later)*

Ayanokouji was walking down the path as rain poured down on him. He didn't

tell anyone where he went and simply disappeared. He noticed a familiar figure by a large tree and approached it. He found a muddy Horikita, collapsed and unconscious. A single keycard lay on the ground near her hand. On her injured body were traces of excavated soil. After examining the situation, Ayanokouji confirmed that there was more people other than Ibuki had discovered Horikita's position as leader. After picking up the keycard, Ayanokouji lifted Horikita into his arms.

So Ibuki won the fight... Horikita is way too weak to engage in a full-scale fight. I wonder who would have won if Horikita was in perfect condition.

"Ngh..." groaned Horikita. Her eyes fluttered slowly open. "Are you awake?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Ayano...kouji-kun? Agh... My head...hurts..." "You have a high fever. Don't push yourself." "I see... I-Ibuki-san... But, why are you here?" "I think you know what happened."

"I knew it...Ibuki-san stole my card... I can't be dumber than Sudou-kun and the others."

Horikita chastised herself and closed her eyes, as if lamenting a situation in which she was powerless.

"This isn't a test where you can just hide for twenty-four hours a day, right? No matter what you do, you can be open to attack." said Ayanokouji.

"I could've avoided this if I knew how to rely on more people and my classmates..." replied Horikita.

To seriously protect the leader's identity, it was necessary to depend on allies that you trusted from the bottom of your heart. If you did that, you could protect the card twenty-four hours a day. However, Horikita hadn't made a single friend and didn't tell anyone about her sickness. She told me eventually, but at that point, it was too late. She was basically trying her best to do the entire exam by

herself and weakened state. Horikita could've got some allies from the some of my soulmates in our class since they already met and interacted multiple times, but she was foolish enough to not seek for help and tried to do it on her own.

She kept muttering, "I'm so pathetic" to herself quietly over and over, but Ayanokouji didn't say anything.

"When I was losing consciousness, I felt like I could hear Ryuuen's voice... It's strange, I thought he'd already retired..." said Horikita.

"You were losing consciousness. Maybe you had a dream?" said Ayanokouji. "If it was a dream, it was a nightmare..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing to me?"

"There's no one I can apologize to except for you..."

"If you think things are bad, then make some reliable friends. Start there first." "That's difficult advice... No one would want to be with me."

"That's true. You're harsh and over-critical. Your blunt and cold attitude pushes people away from you."

"It's unpleasant to be made fun of, though..."

"No, no, that's not it. It's just that you've started to sound like you need allies. Horikita, let me tell you something."

"What?"

"You already have some allies. Kushida, Hirata, and probably more people than you expected."

Ayanokouji listed out his soulmates that are in Class D since they have already interacted with Horikita.

"Horikita. You already know and interacted with various members of the class.

You even seemed to be in good terms with some of them. You never made the effort to befriend them and make them into allies. That's the problem. You put so much effort in your academics and grades, but you failed to put any effort in making friends and allies. People that can help you during your times of need.

You will need them to reach Class A otherwise you will remain in Class D with no changes." said Ayanokouji.

Horikita closed her eyes as she digested what Ayanokouji said.

"And... you have me, Horikita." said Ayanokouji. Horikita's eyes flew right open and she widened her eyes as she locked eyes with Ayanokouji. She was slightly blushing, but the duo held each other gaze for a bit before looking away.

Horikita's eyes were glassy and shocked as if she's trying to fight to stay awake and having a revelation at the same time.

"I should have understood this a long time ago..." said Horikita.

"You can't live alone in the world. School and society are composed of a great many people." said Ayanokouji. "Don't talk. You're sick."

Ayanokouji tried to convince her to be quiet, but Horikita didn't stop. For Horikita, there had never been any choice but to rely on herself. She could have chosen no other option.

"I'm going to try to get up to Class A using my own abilities. I'll definitely recover from this failure... I'm prepared to be hated by everyone else. This was all my mistake" said Horikita, weakly grabbing Ayanokouji's sleeve.

"You can't bear every responsibility. You're not that strong, unfortunately." said Ayanokouji.

"So you're telling me to give up? I have a dream to reach Class A, a dream for my brother to acknowledge me."

"No one said you have to give up."

"If you can't fight by yourself, it's better to fight with a partner. I'll lend you a hand."

"Why? You're not the kind of person who would say such things..."

"Well, why then? I wonder. Maybe you're someone special, Horikita." "Don't call me that... Call... me... Suzune."

Shortly afterward, her energy was spent, and Horikita lost consciousness again. Ayanokouji made his way towards the beach and hoped that he know the way since he wandered off the path to find Horikita. The footprints left behind in the mud and dirt was quite easy to follow. Ayanokouji stopped at a steep, sheer slope and realized that he was walking in the wrong direction. Before he could decide what to do, the soil underneath him collapsed, and Ayanokouji lost his balance. Ayanokouji curled up into a ball so he could protect Horikita as they went tumbling down the slope. For several seconds, it was like flying before they hit solid ground. Ayanokouji checked Horikita and it seemed that she's not injured and he looked up the slope.

It looks like there's no way for me to climb this slope while carrying Horikita. Time to find another way.

With a sigh, Ayanokouji ventured into the pitch-dark forest with a single flashlight and Horikita on his back. The rain poured down on them, mercilessly robbing Ayanokouji of his physical strength and causing to be drenched which made his body more cold. Ayanokouji could feel the heat radiating from Horikita wasn't normal and suspected that if she were exposed to the rain for any longer, it would become dangerous. There are in a forest and there were no caves or man-made shelters. Fortunately, the trees were lush and overgrown, and their branches might

keep our bodies somewhat dry, but some rain got through and their bodies became wetter. As Ayanokouji continued to navigate through the forest, he heard Horikita groaning and it seems that she regain her consciousness.

"Are you awake, Horikita?" asked Ayanokouji. "Barely. Where are you taking me?" asked Horikita.

"You might think this will sound harsh, but you should retire. Your body is probably at its limit."

"I can't do that. We can't afford to lose thirty points because of me... Not just that... The keycard was stolen from me, too. You understand what that means?"

"Class D will lose another fifty points."

"Just leave me here and head back. If you do, I'll be the only one absent from roll call."

"What are you planning to do?"

"By tomorrow morning, I'll...try to return by myself, somehow. If I can deal with my poor health during roll call, then I'll do something about retirement."

"That way, we would be left with a five-point loss, but... Things aren't that easy. You're feeling really weak now, and our teacher isn't kind enough to let you act your way past her. It will be

impossible for you to get back to camp on your own."

"Still, there's nothing else I can do... This is so Class D will have some points left. Please go."

Although Horikita was weak, Ayanokouji felt her indomitable will behind her words. Horikita could bear whatever burden she placed on herself, but couldn't seem to bear involving others.

"Well then, I'll leave. But if things continue like this, our classmates will blame you." said Ayanokouji.

"Yes. That's the correct decision. Everything was my responsibility." replied Horikita. She was ashamed of herself for being weak. Trembling, she forced herself to endure the cold. This

was the kind of hardship that solitary people faced. The weather was still stormy, with no signs that the rains and winds would stop and Ayanokouji knew that leaving Horikita alone in this condition is probably a bad idea.

"Horikita. Do you really think that not retiring is the right decision?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Of course I do. Retiring isn't an option for me." said Horikita. "Then... will you trust me? I want you to retire."

Horikita fell into silence as she was contemplating Ayanokouji's words and she

pressed her body against Ayanokouji's body and he could feel her face buried into his back.

"F-Fine... I trust you. P-Please..." said Horikita.

"Leave it to me. Now get some sleep. I'll see you soon." replied Ayanokouji. Horikita didn't replied and Ayanokouji could hear her soft breathing and assumed that she lost consciousness again. Ayanokouji sighed and pushed his way through the branches and headed off in a direction. After a few more minutes of walking, he exited the forest and arrived at the beach. The ship was floating in the water, and the lights were on. The teachers' tents had been taken down to avoid being blown away by the wind. Ayanokouji went up the ramp to the pier and reached the ship's deck. One of the teachers noticed and raced up to him.

"You're prohibited from entering here. You'll be disqualified." said the teacher.

"This is an emergency. She's got a high fever and has lost consciousness. Please let her rest right away." said Ayanokouji. Once I explained the situation, the teacher skipped the instructions and

brought out a stretcher. Ayanokouji laid Horikita down. "Is she okay with retiring?" asked the teacher.

"Without question. However, allow me to confirm one thing." said Ayanokouji, pulling out Horikita's keycard.

*Timeskip (next day, 9 AM)*

Ayanokouji returned back to the camp late last night and his absence was noticed. Some of his soulmates had already went off in the woods to search him which encouraged others to join them. It seemed the everybody was on edge since Ayanokouji and Horikita were both missing and Ayanokouji got some scolding and a few hugs from his soulmates when Ayanokouji returned back to the camp. Ayanokouji pulled Hirata aside and told him what happened to Horikita and he told Hirata to keep in a secret until the end of the exam to not panic the others. Then, Ayanokouji took a shower before returning back to the boys' tent. It was a cold and restless night as the storm seemed to be getting worse and it was quite cramped in the tents as every boy was sleeping in one of the 2 tents they had.

The three classes excluding Class C was standing on the beach, where they first started the exam, waiting for the teachers to tally the result. Before waiting, they were giving a clipboard where they were supposed to write down their guess for the class leaders and they were allowed to leave it blank if they want. Hirata was in charge of writing it down and nodded to Ayanokouji as he remembered what Ayanokouji told him last night. Before they can hand it over to the teacher, someone gasped and everyone turned towards the forest where a lone figure emerged.

Why is he...? So Ryuuen-kun didn't retire?" muttered Hirata. Ryuuen looked like he had been sleeping outdoors for a bit, but he had a smirk on his face. His torso had gotten dirty, and his trousers and jersey were covered in filth. It was an unimaginable state for him, since he had groaned about how much he loathed hard work. He stood at the empty spot where Class C was supposed to be and Sakagami-sensei handed him a clipboard where he began writing. Then, he handed the clipboard back to his teacher and noticed the stares that he got.

"Oh, hey there, sycophants. What happened to Suzune?" said Ryuuen. After Sudou heard the name "Suzune" cross Ryuuen's lips, the veins in his head bulged, and he shot Ryuuen a glare.

"I know you've been chasing Suzune's ass. We were together before, you know." said Ryuuen, taunting Sudou further.

"You motherfucker!" snarled Sudou.

"Calm down, Sudou-kun." said Hirata. Sudou clicked his tongue and kicked at the sand. Ryuuen looked away, as if he was bored already.

"I thought you retired, Ryuuen-kun." said Hirata.

"Who are you? More importantly, where's Suzune? I've dreamed of squeezing her bottom." said Ryuuen. That was the second time he'd said "Suzune." Coupled with his coarse language, it was too much. Sudou approached Ryuuen, grabbing him by the collar.

"What are you doing?" said Ryuuen, sounding annoyed and showed no signs of agitation. He met Sudou's intense glare with ease.

"The next time you say something stupid, I'll kill you." growled Sudou.

"Huh? What's with you? Getting all excited by yourself, huh?"

Fists were about to fly, so Hirata jumped in and pulled Sudou away from Ryuuen.

"Horikita-san retired yesterday. She's not here." said Hirata.

"Retired? Suzune? She doesn't seem like that kind of girl." said Ryuuen. "That's-"

Suddenly, the click of a megaphone being turned on was being heard throughout the beach and Mashima-sensei appeared on the beach. The first-year students hurriedly stop talking and stood at attention.

"Over this past week, we, your teachers, have closely watched your efforts in this special test. There were some students who took on the challenge honestly, head-on. There were some who devised schemes to tackle the test. Many things have happened, but overall, the test results were splendid. Good work." said Mashima-sensei. "Well then, to get straight to the point. I would like to announce the results of the special test. We will not accept any questions regarding the results, no exceptions. We would like you to accept the results you have been given, analyze them, and use them to help you for the next test. It is what it is."

"That's what we should be saying to you Class C people. You used up all of your points, right? Don't make us laugh." said Sudou, poking fun at Class C's reckless behavior.

"We have 81 points remaining. I think we'll be quite fine." said Hirata.

"Ha. I'm jealous of the nerve of you small fry. How you can be satisfied with that amount of points..." said Ryuuen, who didn't seemed to care.

"It doesn't really matter whatever you say; Class C is still going to stay at zero points." said Sudou.

"Heh heh heh. Don't be hasty. It's certainly true we used up 300 points. However, have you forgotten the additional rules of this test?"

"So you're going to expose a class leader?"

"That's right. I wrote it on the paper, didn't I? The name of Class D's leader... Also, those guys in A and B wrote the same thing, too. Do you know what this means?"

"Hold on a minute. What are you talking about, huh?! I-If you're telling the truth, then..." said Sudou.

"Now, we will announce the rankings. The lowest class is Class C, with zero points." said Mashima-sensei.

"Bwah ha ha ha! Hey, check it out! You guys have zero points after all!" laughed Sudou. When Sudou heard the results, he clutched his stomach in mocking laughter.

"Zero?" muttered Ryuuen. Ryuuen didn't seem to understand the situation.

Mashima-sensei

continued the announcements matter-of-factly.

"In third place is Class A, with 120 points. Coming in second place is Class B, with 140 points."

A commotion broke out. No one had expected the rankings or the point totals. "And then, Class D..."

For an instant, Mashima-sensei's movements stiffened. However, he soon resumed speaking.

"...has come in first with 202 points. This concludes the announcement." said Mashima-sensei. All of the students in Class D were probably more confused than anyone else. Even Hirata, who was the only one in the know, was still almost unable to believe it. He wore an exuberant smile. However, it was chaos for the other classes who were in shock by this sudden turn of events.

"What's the meaning of this, Katsuragi?!" demanded a student from Class A. Ayanokouji saw Class A students circled around Katsuragi.

"Something is strange... What does this mean?" muttered Katsuragi, confused by

this sudden turn of events.

"Yahoo! We did it! In your face!" shouted Sudou. As Sudou shouted for joy, all of the Class D students gathered together.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?! Hey, hey!" asked Ike, filled with both excitement and confusion, asked Hirata for an explanation.

"I'll explain everything. Well, Ryuuen-kun, if you'll excuse us." said Hirata. With those final words, Hirata walked toward the boat alongside Ike and Sudou. Sudou raised his middle finger while sticking out his tongue. Ryuuen could do nothing but watch in silence. The exam was over, and the first-year students scattered. The ship was going to depart in two hours, and although the students were free to play in the sea or go onto the ship. Ayanokouji decided to go on board the ship. He had enough of the island after living there for about a week.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen. How was your week on the deserted island?" asked Koenji, on the ship's deck with a drink in hand, greeted Class D.

"You jerk, Koenji! We lost thirty points because of you. You know what I'm talking about, don't you?" said Ike.

"Calm down, little boy Ike. I was in poor health, and was resting. I had no other choice."

His skin looked smooth and glossy, so it was obvious that he had spent the week tanning. Also, his evidently perfect health made him sound not the least bit credible. While the guys joined forces to yell at Koenji as one, Horikita appeared. She was still pale and not in good health yet. The students noticed her presence, and naturally gathered around her.

"S-Suzune. Are you feeling better now?" asked Sudou, tripping over his words a bit, but he approached Horikita and called her by her first name.

"I'm not too bad. I can't say that I'm back to full health. More than anything else, retiring was a big mistake on my part." said Horikita. "By the way, Sudou-kun. Don't just go around calling me by my first name without permission.

Understand?" "Y-y-yeah."

"But...what happened? Why was Class D ranked first?"

"Th-that's right. What happened, Hirata?! I don't get it at all!" asked Karuizawa.

"Well, Karuizawa-san, I think you should talk to Horikita-san first, don't you agree? Horikita-san, do you have a minute?" said Hirata. Karuizawa nodded and was by Hirata's side.

"Yes. There's something that we're supposed to talk about. Right?" "I'm sorry." said Karuizawa, somewhat bluntly, but with sincerity.

"Ibuki-san stole my underwear. Ayanokouji-kun told us everything." said Kushida.

"Huh?" said Horikita, confused by this sudden turn of events. Horikita expected to be reprimended for her failure as a leader and retiring early, but got an apology instead.

"Horikita-san, when you noticed that Ibuki-san was the culprit, she tried to run because you questioned her, right? That's why you ended up collapsing and getting sick..." said Karuizawa. Horikita suddenly turned toward Ayanokouji, shocked by Karuizawa's words and she tried to say something, but Karuizawa continued.

"I heard about it from Hirata-kun first. He said that you found out the leaders of Class A and C. That's why we had so many points. So, I'm...sorry for everything I said." said Karuizawa. The other girls began thanking and complimenting Horikita as some of the boys began to clap and cheer.

"Wait a minute. I... You said I found out the leaders' identities? But I retired." said Horikita.

"There's no need for you to be humble, Horikita-san. We won because your answers were absolutely correct."

"Wait. Ayanokouji-kun, what did you-"

Horikita looked around for Ayanokouji, who disappeared quickly as Horikita became surrounded by joyful and happy classmates.

"Horikita-san, you were so incredibly awesome! You're seriously a genius, you know that?!"

"When I heard that you'd retired I wondered what was going to happen, but everything turned out okay!"

"W-wait a second!" said Horikita, looking around for Ayanokouji. She was bombarded with questions from boys and girls alike. Ayanokouji clasped his hands and prayed for her safety while he made his retreat. Ayanokouji looked up to the upper deck and saw a familiar person that gestured at him to come and meet her. Ayanokouji sighed and made his way to the upper decks where he found Chabashira-sensei alone and it seems that there's no one on this level yet.

"May I have a word with you?" said Chabashira-sensei.

"I don't really feel sociable. Is it okay if I refuse, Chabashira-sensei?" replied Ayanokouji.

"That's rude. We're alone, so it's safe."

"Is it safe to say that for the time being, you're satisfied?"

"Yes. First, I'd like to say that you did wonderfully. I'm honestly impressed."

"Well, tell me something. Is it really true? Did he demand I be expelled from school? Do you have any basis for saying that the story is true?"

"I know quite a lot about you. Might not that be the reason, more than anything else? Other teachers don't know about your true abilities. But I have no doubts."

I certainly had my doubts. It was true that I stood out because of the entrance examination, but it shouldn't have been something all the teachers had inside knowledge of. But still, the sequence of events was rather odd. Chabashira- sensei had said that man had contacted the school directly. As expected, this person was hiding something.

"I'm sure that you've heard of this rather famous myth, the wings of Icarus." said Chabashira-sensei.

"Why do you bring that up?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Icarus flew out of the tower where he was imprisoned in order to gain his freedom. However, that wasn't achieved through one person's abilities alone. It was because his father, Daedalus, had constructed wings and instructed him to fly. He didn't fly because of his own intentions. Don't you think that sounds exactly like your current predicament?"

"I can't understand."

"That man—no, your father—said this: 'Sooner or later, Kiyotaka will gladly chase the means of his expulsion from school.' You're welcoming your end, much like how Icarus fell into the sea and died after his wings were burned, because he'd flown too close to the sun."

"Interesting. That's one way to see it." "So, what do you plan to do?"

"You should know, Sensei. Icarus won't heed Daedalus' warnings. Even though his wings burned, Icarus flew as high as he could in search of his freedom."

With those words, Ayanokouji left Chabashira-sensei who chuckled slightly and leaned against the ship's railing and look off into the sea. Ayanokouji made his way towards the lower deck and his phone began buzzing repeatedly as multiple messages were being sent at once. Ayanokouji picked it up and found out that it was Horikita, who was sending him messages and demanding him to respond right away. Ayanokouji responded and Horikita told him to come to one of the lounges for talk. Ayanokouji obliged and made his towards the meeting location. After a few minutes of walking, Ayanokouji entered the lounge and found Horikita sitting at one of the tables, who looked quite angry and radiating a silent pressure.

"What do these test results mean? What in the world happened?" asked Horikita. "You look like you don't have any idea at all." replied Ayanokouji.

"I just can't imagine it. I don't understand it at all. I have a mountain of questions."

"I'll tell you everything. However, my one condition is that you stay quiet on this matter. I won't compromise on this."

"I agree to your terms."

"What would you like to ask?"

"What were you doing during the test? Tell me."

"When the special test was announced, I didn't focus on anything except for the additional rules. I roughly understood how to manage the 300 points, but you couldn't manipulate them as an individual."

"But the additional rules were really difficult to understand. If you did things normally, you wouldn't have been able to identify the leaders. Right?"

"Yeah. First of all, I volunteered to join the search for the base camp. Able to move freely, I planned to search out spot locations ahead of everyone."

"You make it sound simple, but no one should have known the spot locations."

"That's not true. You didn't understand because you were ill and holed up inside the ship, but the school already gave us hints about the locations when we were sailing around the island."

Katsuragi had also noticed this when the ship circled the island at an unusually fast speed. The ship had been traveling nearly three times faster than a usual cruise ship. Besides, if it were just for sightseeing, it wasn't normal to use a strange expression like "significant scenery."

"Then, I reached the cave. I thought it was the most important base." said Ayanokouji.

"The cave was the most important base? Don't you think that the river and the well would have been more convenient, though?" asked Horikita.

"The spot itself wasn't what was important. Its location was."

There were no spots close to the river or the well. However, there were two spots near the cave: the hut and the tower. It was the perfect place to exercise control. Those were the places that I found when I was secretly scouting around the cave. I've noticed that Class A students were positioned everywhere around that area and was playing quite defensively. I wasn't hard to find a opportunity to sneak in

and check it out when the guards had a change-over.

"But what advantage is there in going into the cave if you don't have a keycard?" asked Horikita.

"Well, I'd intended to explore various things, but in the end I discovered the leader's identity." said Ayanokouji.

"Well, I suppose that Katsuragi-kun was careless."

"No, that wasn't it. There was that guy, Totsuka, remember? The one following Katsuragi

around? He was the leader. I saw Katsuragi and Totsuka at the cave, but I didn't see the moment they occupied it. After the two of them walked away, I checked if the cave was occupied or not. When I saw them, Katsuragi had been standing near the entrance with the card in his hand. Totsuka came out of the cave, and they left together."

"Wouldn't you have mistaken Katsuragi-kun as the leader?"

"Do you think that the leader would have shown off the card so carelessly in front of people?"

"But why? Why bother deliberately holding onto the card, then?"

"Because he didn't have any other choice. As far as I can tell, Katsuragi is a calm and collected man, excessively cautious. There's no way he didn't understand the high risk of occupying a spot immediately after finding it. In other words, the person who occupied it was enticed by short-sighted greed."

"That's...why there was another person."

"Yes. When Katsuragi found the cave, he didn't intend to occupy it. Nevertheless, he was holding the space down, probably because Totsuka had been careless. Even though he thought no one would be watching them, he'd probably wanted insurance. By holding onto the card and displaying it, even in the unlikely event that a witness was present, he could mislead them into thinking that he was the leader."

"So, aside from their base, Class A held down at least two spots, but we didn't

confirm how many they were occupying by the end of the test. If I correctly guessed the identity of their leader, though, I could invalidate all of their points."

"After I'd narrowed it down to Totsuka, putting effort into anything else would've been a waste of time."

"I'm still not convinced. If he figured out the spot's location at such an early stage, and if he were acting alongside a lot of other people, shouldn't he have avoided trouble? Even if he just had someone standing watch by the cave, it should have been sufficient claim of ownership. Why would they occupy it?"

"Their class appears perfect at first glance, but it actually has a huge schism in it. In other words, there was a reason why Katsuragi couldn't rely on other people. That's why I excluded Class A at that stage and turned my attention toward Class

C. Katsuragi was easy to understand, but with Ryuuen, there were many unknown variables. To tell you the truth, he was gathering more information than I was. He'd found out the identities of all of the leaders."

"W-wait, he found out the identities of all of the leaders... So not only Class D, but also the leaders for Classes B and A? But that's strange. We were far from being penalized; we ended up getting first place by a wide margin. How do you intend to explain that?"

"This is a little difficult to explain, but the reason I made you retire is the answer."

"Wait, the answer is you made me retire? What in the world did you do?" "Oh, that reminds me. I didn't return it to the school yet."

Ayanokouji took a single card out of his pocket and handed it over to Horikita.

"This is a keycard. Why do you... What happened?!" said Horikita, staring at the keycard. She was astonished when she saw the letters engraved on the card. The name read "Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"What do you think would happen if the leader retired because of poor health?" asked Ayanokouji.

"That's... The leader would be absent. So the rights of exclusive possession

would disappear..."

"Wrong. In the manual, it says, 'It is impossible to change the leader without suitable justification.' Don't you think a leader's poor health is suitable enough justification?"

"So then, you made me...?"

"That's why even though Class C knew you were the leader, we avoided penalties."

"But wait. Ibuki-san stole my card, but what if I'd protected it really thoroughly? Wait...Did you drop the card on purpose back then? Well, I suppose that Yamauchi-kun's actions might have provided Ibuki-san the opportunity to hatch a plan to steal the keycard..."

"Unless I knew what Ibuki-san was aiming for right at the start, I couldn't have done anything..."

"Right. Ibuki had been picked up by Class D purely by chance. I'd been almost convinced until I heard about the guy named Kaneda in Class B. He'd been sent as a spy by Ryuuen. I wasn't so good-natured as to believe that two people just happened to be saved by two separate classes completely by chance. Besides,

Ibuki has a habit of looking people in the eye when she's lying."

"Wait, when she lied she would look the person in the eye? Isn't it usually the opposite?"

"Generally speaking, you avoid eye contact if you have a guilty conscience. However, it was the opposite for her. I think that she made eye contact to make the person think that the lie was the truth. She probably didn't even notice it herself."

Even when we were talking about the underwear theft, she looked me straight in the eye. This confirms that she stole Karuizawa's underwear and planted it in Ike's bag. It meant that she's sabotaging the class.

"Her goal was probably to find the keycard, but she might have intended to disrupt Class D at the same time." said Ayanokouji.

"But I have to wonder why Ibuki-san specifically stole my keycard. All she needed was to check my name." said Horikita.

"That was likely Ibuki's intention from the start. However, she ran into unexpected trouble."

"Ibuki had a digital camera in her bag to take a picture of the keycard." "To take a picture...with the camera? Why would she go so far?"

"If she had a picture, then the leader's identity would have been clear for anyone to see, right? If she had convincing evidence, she would have profited."

"I don't quite understand... Did Ryuuen-kun not trust Ibuki-san?"

"That wasn't it. If the discussion only stayed within Class C, then there shouldn't have been any need for her to take a picture with the camera or steal the card."

"In other words, that meant there had been people involved who didn't trust Ibuki's words alone; they'd wanted reliable evidence. From here on out, I don't have any evidence of what I'm saying. Think of it as my intuition, which I derived from the test results. At the end of the test, Class A had 270 points. In other words, they hadn't used a single point during the test. Classes A and C were connected, working together behind the scenes. Class C sacrificed their own points and bought whatever Class A needed. Also, by taking all of C's tools, Class A was able to spend the week without using any points."

"So, Ibuki-san had obtained evidence and given it to someone in Class A."

"By the way, I became aware of Class C's leader after all of the students retired. It was certain that the leader would have remained on the island, right?"

"Even so, we weren't supposed to know who was left."

"No, I was almost one hundred percent sure that Ryuuen was still on the island." "How?"

"I figured it out when I saw Ibuki hiding a wireless transceiver in the ground. Ibuki had used it to stay in contact with Ryuuen. Retired students shouldn't have

been able to use a transceiver. In other words, someone was left on the island for her to communicate with. Ryuuen casually set the transceiver on top of a table while enjoying his vacation. No one else was controlling it, just him. His mistake was that he didn't trust anyone."

"My god... I don't even have the words. You used Ryuuen's invination to investigate your lead."

"Correct. Ryuuen was selling the Class B's and D's leader to class A and Katsuragi, who was cautious, asked for photographic evidence of the keycard to prove its legitimacy. That's why Ibuki had a transceiver and camera with her to communicate and get evidence on who's the leader which I destroyed."

"That means Ibuki-san would have to steal the key card itself." "Correct. I set the fire to give Ibuki the chance to slip away." "And then... I see what happened now."

If I were to summarize this test, I'd say that Class A's first mistake carried through to the end. They didn't function well due to an internal rift. Class B went through the test with a thoroughly defense-oriented strategy, which did neither harm nor good. Their only mistake was that, because there were so many good- natured people in Class B, they'd permitted Kaneda to

stay, and they'd believed him. I don't know how Kaneda got the evidence, but he'd obtained

something, and probably told Ryuuen. I believe the class leader was Shiranami. Based on her strange behavior, I suspected that she's hiding something and she seemed more on guard and nervous than usual. I also noticed that she was also constantly surrounded by more people than usual. I know that Class B is quite friendly, but it seemed a little off. They seemed more protective as if they are guarding something. If you looked at the fact that Class A didn't get any points, you might think it was because they hadn't obtained any physical evidence. Then there was Class C. We were able to avoid damage because I'd been appointed as the leader. In addition to sending people off as spies to find out the identities of the other leaders, Class C had

profited from some kind of negotiations with Class A. Ryuuen might be our number one enemy.

"I don't like this. You completely used me, like a pawn." said Horikita.

"I suppose you can see it like that, but I did promise you that I will help and I did." said Ayanokouji.

"I suppose you did, but the way you did it... I don't like the way you did, but I like the result."

"That's the only thing that's important, right?"

"I suppose, but this victory is still my loss. I have much to learn." "And I'll watch and see your growth, Suzune."

"Ayanokouji-kun, why are you calling me by my first name? I don't recall giving you permission."

"You did. When I was carrying to back to the ship, you told me to call you, Suzune."

"W-What?! Forget about that. I only said it during a time when I was quite ill and not in the right state of mind. Of course, I didn't mean for you to call me by my first name and said it out of-"

Horikita quickly shut her mouth and stopped talking, but Ayanokouji could tell that she was going to say something that she didn't want Ayanokouji to hear based on how flustered her face was.

"Okay. I'll stick with Horikita." said Ayanokouji.

"T-That'll do. If I given you permission to use my first name, you would've acted buddy-buddy with me and-" said Horikita. As Horikita was putting on her tsundere act and was explaining herself with a flustered expression, Ayanokouji was having an internal monologue.

I have never thought of you as my friend. I've never cared about you as a classmate. In this world, winning is everything. Your methods don't matter. I don't care what I have to sacrifice. As long as I have my victory in the end, I'll be fine.

You, Hirata—no, all other people are nothing more than tools. I was complicit in what drove you to this. So, don't blame yourself, Horikita. You were useful to

me.

As Ayanokouji was having his monologue, he heard someone cleared their throats and Ayanokouji snapped out of it and turned towards the noise. It was a girl with long purple hair in a long side ponytail on the right side wit bangs. She had purple eyes and she had a bored expression on her face.

"You. Come with me." said the girl, nodding at Ayanokouji. Ayanokouji looked at her and he realized that she was the girl that was with Tamiya and Nishikawa before, the one that was waiting for them and always had a bored expression on her face. Horikita was confused and shocked by this sudden appearance of this girl and looked over at Ayanokouji.

"Okay. Where are we going?" asked Ayanokouji.

"Somewhere. Just come." replied the girl. Horikita looked ready to protest and stop the girl, but Ayanokouji signaled to her that he'll go check it out. Horikita hesitated, but nodded her head. Ayanokouji followed the girl out of the longue and the duo made their way around the ship and into one of the lower floors where they entered a quiet library. Ayanokouji looked around and noticed that no one was here and they went towards the corner of the library where Ayanokouji spotted someone familiar. Someone that he hadn't seen in years.

Sitting on one of the comfy armchairs was a petite pale girl with short lilac- colored hair with sparkling and bright violet eyes. She had a black beret and a long, thin cane on her lap. She was also wearing white pair of stockings with garter belts. The girl was quite cute, easily one of the cutest girls that Ayanokouji have ever met. If Ichinose and Horikita was beautiful, this girl was the definition of cute. She had this dreamlike quality that made people want to instinctively protect her, but Ayanokouji knew that wasn't the case based on his experiences with her. She appeared weak, but had a strong will and an equally smug smile to match.

"Thank you, Masumi-san." said the girl. The girl nodded and left without saying a word or looking back. Ayanokouji sighed and sat down across from the girl.

"Why the long sigh, Ayanokouji-kun?" asked the girl. "It's been a long day, Sakayanagi." replied Ayanokouji.

"It's been a while, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to meet you

immediately. I had some pressing issues to deal with." "Of course. How long has it been?"

"6 years and 69 days, actually." "You've been counting?"

"Of course. If something involves you, I'm quite interested." "Of course you are."

"Now Ayanokouji-kun... allow me to congratulate you on your win on this special exam. Fufufu."

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Soulmates

1) Horikita Suzune

2) Kushida Kikyou

3) Mii-chan

4) Tachibana Akane

5) Azuma Sana

6) Shinohara Satsuki

7) Onodera Kayano

8) Mori Nene

9) Hoshinomiya Chie

10) Ichihashi Ruri

11) Andou Sayo

12) Shiranami Chihiro

13) Yabu Nanami

14) Sakura Airi

15) Inogashira Kokoro

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Author's Note:

What's up, everyone?! It's been a while. Sorry, I've been updating the reaction for about a month before getting back to here. This chapter is extremely long (30k words). It was going to be 2 more chapters of the island exam, but I find it too boring and wanted to speed it along. I've made some notable changes.

First, I've made Shinohara less of a bitch during the underwear scene. She still wanted to separate the boys because she wanted to help her friend, but she's not really pushing really hard against the boys.

Second, I've changed Ayanokouji's tool monologue to match the scene of the anime. I thought it was funny to have Ayanokouji do it while Horikita is acting a little tsun tsun.

Third, I also wanted Sakayanagi, my favorite smug loli, to join the fray and to have more of a backstory and connection to Ayanokouji. So stay tuned for that!

Finally, I'm done with this island exam and I get to move onto some few things that I actually wanted to change. Be on the look out for Class C girls- they may have some fateful encounter with our boy. I would like to request some help from all of you, my readers: please send me the names of any female side characters from Ayanokouji's year. I got about 20-25 more female side characters, but I think I'm running out of names. Thanks.

Until next time, my dear readers.

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