57 Chapter 57 – Super wronged Ibuki

After returning with Shiina, it was almost lunchtime. Class C students quickly showed their skills, skewering various ingredients and grilling them on the barbecue, enjoying a beachside barbecue.

Unexpectedly, Ryuen was in charge of grilling skewers, while Ishizaki and Albert, the clumsy followers, simply reaped the benefits.

Kaneda, who also joined in, was occasionally helpful. Yukio didn't bother himself too much, choosing instead to wait for the food with Shiina.

Just then, Ibuki also came over. For some reason, although she had a cheerful expression when playing on the water jetpack earlier, she now seemed somewhat less joyful.

She deliberately patted Ishizaki on the shoulder: "Move over a bit, make space for me."

Ishizaki, as usual, made room, allowing Ibuki to sit on the other side of Yukio, making it seem as if Yukio was being fawned over from both sides.

Ryuen, seeing this, just smiled and didn't speak, looking like a barbecue shop owner enjoying the spectacle. Kaneda wanted to discuss serious matters with Yukio: "Yukio-san, about the agreement with Class A, we can sneak the supplies back to them in the middle of the night."

"But what about the leaders of the other two classes? How shall we investigate them? If we breach the agreement, we'll have to give Class A one million personal points each month."

Kaneda had been worried about this issue all morning, wanting to discuss a plan with Yukio.

But Yukio, busy as he was, either on the water jetpack or the jet ski, finally had a chance during lunch and Kaneda wanted to ask him about it.

"I know how to investigate the leaders of Class A and D, I can do it myself," Yukio reassured Kaneda, addressing his concerns: "The key issue is Class B."

"What?!" Kaneda, shocked and distracted, lost control and dropped his skewer onto the sand: "Class A? Do we have to guess about the leader of Class A too?!"

"Isn't that obvious?" Ryuen frowned, pushing Kaneda out of the barbecue queue: "In our contract with Class A, there's no rule against guessing each other's leader, and Class A is our opponent too."

"How can we not take action against them just because of a contract? Kaneda, you're still too naive."

Kaneda looked at Ryuen, then at Yukio, who seemed unfazed, and was so shocked he forgot to push his slipping glasses back up.

At that moment, he realized just how big the gap was between him and Yukio and Ryuen! He, who once prided himself on being a top student, had thought the difference wasn't big, only lacking in rule-breaking compared to these two class leaders.

But now he saw that he was far behind in strategizing and planning! Realizing this, his admiration was maxed out, and his speech became more respectful: "Then Yukio-san, Ryuen-san, how should we deal with Class B?"

"This is a problem," Yukio mused, looking around as if choosing something: "I plan to send someone undercover to Class B. As long as Class B still uses leader cards to refresh their base, there will definitely be a chance to see the leader of Class B."

Class A, inherently unstable, was easy to find flaws in, and Class D was even less of a concern, practically like a sieve in front of Yukio. With many vulnerabilities, Sakura and Karuizawa were his undercover agents in those classes, making it simple to know their leaders.

The only remaining challenge was Class B, the most difficult to investigate. Their unity meant no development of undercover agents and no internal flaws to exploit.

Therefore, to get information on the leader of Class B, one must personally observe. But it was clear that neither Yukio nor Ryuen were suitable for this task. Their presence would be too conspicuous and guarded against, leaving little chance for success.

Thinking this through, Yukio outlined the requirements for the person to be chosen: "So, if we are to pick someone, it should be a person Class B wouldn't be on guard against, preferably a girl."

"The excuse is easy to find. For instance, she could say I spent all the special exam points on vacation, and she, who want to save them for class points, would be unhappy. After some fuss, I kicked her out."

"With Ichinose's altruistic nature and the kindness of Class B students, seeing a student left alone outside, they would definitely try to help. Then, mixing into Class B's base and getting a chance to see the leader swiping the card would suffice."

"But it seems we don't have the right person. We have plenty of talented boys in our class, but the girls are lacking. Not to mention Manabe, and the others wouldn't work, they'd give it away immediately."

"Shiina is smart enough, but with her mild communication disorder, she can't be relied on either. So looking around…" Yukio's gaze finally rested on Ibuki.

"Huh?" Ibuki didn't expect that after all the selection, she would be the one chosen!

Somewhat incredulously pointing at herself, Ibuki hesitated: "Me, am I suitable? Yukio, just so you know, I don't like that Ichinose girl."

"Hm?" Yukio didn't understand. Had Ichinose offended Ibuki? That shouldn't be the case. With Ichinose's kind nature, who could she have offended? Curiously, he asked: "Did you have a conflict with her before?"

"No conflict," Ryuen interjected, almost done with the grilling. Ibuki, not standing on ceremony, took a skewer and bit into it, the whole skewer's food disappearing in one bite: "It's just, I simply dislike those kinds of people."

"I can't believe that there are such angelic types in the world, those so-called 'good people.' Who knows what dirty secrets are hidden under their seemingly radiant exterior."

"So, whether it's Ichinose or that 'little angel' from Class D, Kushida, I just find them annoying."

"Then, Ibuki, you find people like me and Ryuen, who have 'villain' written all over our faces, more to your liking?" Yukio found Ibuki's perspective interesting. He couldn't say the same for Ichinose, but Kushida truly had a facade, and he responded accordingly.

"What? Who said I like your looks!" Expecting Ibuki to vehemently deny, she instead averted her gaze with a hint of a young girl's shyness: "Just, just so-so."

Beneath her blue hair, her delicate ears seemed to redden, perhaps due to the heat of the skewers.

Shiina watched her with a hint of envy. She had read many books, but it seemed her way of speaking wasn't as interesting as Ibuki's. Thinking that being uninteresting in conversation might prevent her from having lively talks with Yukio, Shiina tugged at Yukio's sleeve: "Yukio-kun, why don't I go to Class B and have a look?"

"Can you handle it?" Yukio directly dismissed Shiina's offer: "On this uninhabited island, we'll probably stay for just today and tomorrow."

"Considering your frail health, staying here for seven days would surely be tough. It's better to let Ibuki go."

This was a rational analysis, but rational words are often emotionally interpreted differently.

Shiina's eyes brightened slightly. Was Yukio showing concern for her? She felt a little bit of happiness.

Thinking this, Shiina obediently nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll listen to you."

Ibuki, meanwhile, threw down the second skewer she was holding. What did this mean? Staying on the island for seven days would be tough, so Shiina shouldn't suffer, and she should suffer instead?

What the heck! Even though she's tough and capable, she's still a girl, okay? Who would want to be undercover on this forsaken place for seven days?! At the last celebration party when Shiina got drunk, she was carried off like a princess, but no one cared about her!

Usually, Ibuki would prioritize class interests, willing to work hard for anything beneficial to the class, so she seldom opposed Yukio's arrangements.

But today, things were a bit different. She had just been having fun with Yukio on the water jetpack, only to be pulled away by Shiina for jet skiing. She was already slightly upset, and now realizing Yukio was still so biased towards Shiina, she felt even more unhappy.

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, convinced that Yukio was unfairly favoring Shiina to the extreme! Biting her lip, a strong sense of injustice welled up inside her, and she unexpectedly felt like crying.

But crying was pointless, something Ibuki had understood since childhood. So, she clenched her fists and held her head high: "Fine, I'll go!"

(t/n: team Ibuki or team Shiina?)

***

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