Chapter 3: Deserted Island Exam (1) - A Unique Opportunity Arrives

[1st August, 9.19]

[Ayanokoji Pov]

I wonder...how long I can withstand my desire to eat ice cream. It's hard. Despite this being the first day, I already want to buy myself another special deluxe chocolate ice cream.

Yeah, that one before getting eaten by Horikita, who walked right next to me without care or the slightest feeling of guilt. Shouldn't she have at least the slightest feelings of guilt?

I mean, not only did she eat my ice cream, but when she woke up from her dumper sleeping on the bus, she seemed to think I had laid her head deliberately on my shoulders. And then...I felt once again the might of the almighty compass.

I turned to the side and looked at her as we were in the last row in the class, and no one was behind us with an expressionless look. I hoped she would understand what she did, but I guess that's more than too much to ask.

She looked back, with an eyebrow raised. "Ayanokoji-kun," she said. "I'd appreciate it if you stopped staring at me."

This was perhaps one of the singular cases where the individual called Horikita Suzune didn't use her compass to make me obedient. I honestly got surprised and raised an eyebrow of shock.

But a certain person could read my thoughts and took her compass out.

"You know Ayanokoji-kun, I still have my compass with me," she said, spinning that almighty compass around her right hand at a fast-paced speed, unable for my eye to follow.

"So be careful of what you're thinking," she exclaimed.

"You wouldn't want this compass to do this—'"

Of all of a sudden, the compass was now a few centimeters from my body away. I flinched in anxiety about being poked by the sharp end of the compass.

I already have too many bad experiences with this compass. I'd love to prevent any further instances where I'm being poked by the compass. After all, it's really painful.

With a deep sigh, I walked further. However, I had miscalculated that we weren't required to walk further anymore, as we had reached a suitable spot.

Luckily, I could stop before bumping into someone. It would have been awkward if that had happened. It really would.

It seems like we've reached the spot Ike was eager to show us. It was a flat land, with a biotope of trees nearby covering the shades of the sun. Additionally, there was a stream right here, which also might be drinkable.

Ike suddenly approached the stream and drank with both of his hands the water. "It's drinkable," Ike said.

"The stream has enough purity for us to drink it without boiling it in advance. It's safe." Ike assessed in a motivated tone, as the necessary tool for survival was already at our disposal.

Kurushima suddenly raised his hand to get everyone's attention.

"Everyone, can you listen to me?" Kurushima asked. "I think this spot is suitable for us. It has a geographical advantage, as Ike has just pointed out, we have a source of drinkable water nearby. We also have ample shade from the trees and enough space for all of us to set up our tents."

"Plus, the beach is just three stone's throws away, and we can enjoy a nice swim or maybe even do some fishing there."

"What about the food?" someone asked from the class.

"That's a good question. There's naturally the opportunity to spend a part of our 300 S-Points on food for all of us until the end of the exam. Although it may be expensive, the priority that everyone is safe and sheltered with food is our priority. Additionally, we could try to go fishing, as the beach isn't that far away from here to minimize the spending of class points. If we're lucky, we might as well do not need to spend any S-Points for food if we have collected more food than necessarily for our daily ration."

"However if not, we should buy for 10 S-Points the class unit of one ration of food and water for everyone. It can be adjusted, depending on the situation, and can naturally decrease our spending on S-Points. But that should be talked further about, when we found enough food for everyone."

"Kurushima-kun, those are good arguments, and I wholeheartedly agree. But I still don't see the use of buying an expensive toilet for twenty S-Points Especially when these twenty S-Points might be a deciding factor for us to advance up to Class B," Yukimura said, steering the topic in another direction.

"Ahem, could all the boys please come into a circle?" Kurushima asked as nobody from us was objecting.

Obviously, the girls had furrowed their eyebrows in surprise, as they felt like not being included.

But their female intuition went on, saying that Kurushima was trying to convince all the boys for their sake.

"Kurushima-kun?" Yukimura asked. "What's so important that all twenty of us should make a circle?"

Kurushima cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming to this circle, my fellow boys. I know this may seem odd, but I want to talk about something important that affects everyone here, especially the girls."

He took a deep breath before continuing. "As you all know, we are going to be on this island for seven days. During that time, some of our female classmates may experience menstruation. It's a natural process, but it can be uncomfortable and inconvenient for them."

Almost all of us boys looked a bit uncomfortable, but Kurushima continued. "I want to make sure that we all do our part to make this experience as easy as possible for them. This means being understanding and respectful of their needs and being willing to help out if necessary."

"Which is why I suggested the expensive toilet, instead of the cheap one. Yukimura-kun, I think that's more than enough of a reason why we should buy the expensive toilet, right?" Kurushima asked.

"Yes..." he muttered, as he most likely didn't think about the possibility that some girls might experience their menstruation.

"Then it's settled," Kurushima said as we walked to the girls again. "No worries, nobody objects to buying the toilet, right?" he asked with a smile.

While we had discussed the topic beforehand when Chabashira-sensei explained about the exam, we weren't able to come to an agreement. The boys felt discrimination as their opinions weren't regarded, while the girls felt injustice about not having a toilet.

Hirata also wasn't able to convince any of the boys, making it harder. Meanwhile, Kurushima was attentively listening to Chabashira-sensei's explanation and read the manual as the first one.

He was at that time in his thoughts and couldn't be interrupted, as he also looked at the other classes thinking about their possible strategy for the exam.

And at the confrontation of the topic about the toilet, he wanted us to not spend any time further arguing because we were the last class who was still on the beach.

Every other class could achieve an agreement, but we were still the only class that wasn't progressing. Even Class D came unanimously to an agreement.

And right now, he had erased every hint of the boys' discomfort of buying a toilet, as no one at this point was objecting anymore. What Hirata couldn't do was something that Kurushima did with a single argument.

He's certainly the right person to lead the class.

"Well then, I think we should decide now our leader for the exam, right?" Hirata expressed, joining the conversation with relief on his face.

"Yes, it would be beneficial to choose the leader as fast as possible," Kurushima added.

"Kurushima-kun, why don't you be our leader?" Mori asked, gaining the approval of almost everyone here.

"I don't think that's a good choice, Mori-san. I'm already the class representative, so it's better for someone else to take the lead in the exam," he said.

"It's not just me, but Hirata, Kushida-san, and Karuizawa-san too. All of us stand out the most in the class, which makes it a stupid decision to choose either of us four."

"I'm not that sure whether that is right, Kurushima-kun," Yukimura interrupted. "Already because you four stand out in comparison to the rest of us, it's better to choose one of you four. The other classes won't expect the offense to come from someone who's not a prominent figure in the class, and we'll have an advantage in that."

"I understand where you're coming from, Yukimura-kun," Kurushima responded. "But it's still a risky decision to choose any one of us four. We don't know what kind of situation we'll be in during the exam, and choosing one of us could either make or break our chances of success. Relying on reverse psychology is not immediately the best choice here."

"Yeah..." he muttered, realizing his vital mistake. "Then...whom would you recommend?" Yukimura asked.

"Hmm...I guess the best choice would be...Horikita-san," Kurushima said.

"While it might appear like an unconventional choice, Horikita-san is someone who doesn't stand out too much. Additionally, she's in terms of physical ability more than fit enough to claim our spots. Not to forget that she's also a capable and competent person as she was able to devise a plan for saving Sūdo-kun by fooling Class D with fake cameras. She certainly has what it takes for planning and executing our strategies for the exam."

"Me?!" she asked with an eyebrow furrowed in thought, not expecting that she would be chosen.

"I also think that's a good choice," Hirata said, alongside Kushida and Karuizawa.

"If you're in favor of Horikita-san being our leader, please raise your right hand," Kurushima proposed.

Since those four were in union together, no one deemed it necessary to object. Alongside me, everyone raised their hands.

"Ah, Horikita-san, are we perhaps pressuring you?" Kushida asked in a worried tone.

"No, I was just startled, nothing more," the devil with the compass said. "Fine, I'll accept this task of being the leader," she announced.

"Then it's decided," Kushida expressed, clapping both of her hands with a smile.

As we have decided our leader now with a unanimous vote, Hirata stepped forward. "I'll talk to Sensei and officially name you as the leader."

Hirata immediately went over to Chabashira-sensei to pass on Horikita's name. Before long, he returned with a card and entrusted it to Horikita. Taking into consideration the possibility that we were being watched, we had everyone touch the device without it activating. This was to camouflage the leader, so a spy wouldn't know who he or she was

Kurushima still stood in the same position as ten minutes ago. It seemed like he was deep in his thoughts. Perhaps something was troubling him? I should better ask.

"Kurushima, uh, is everything alright?"

Once again, I failed at the task of communicating. It's harder than I could ever imagine.

One of the hardest tasks I have faced until now.

"Ah, yes," he said. "I was just absent in my thoughts," he exclaimed.

"I see," I responded, walking to Horikita Suzune, who seemed to call for me with her eyes.

--

[Kurushima Pov] 

I should search within one of the days for possible poisonous ingredients, such as berries, if the school has them here, of course. 

Since it's a survival exam, they should be here, probably. Until now, I just have a couple of components in the school, but they could work well, with the venomous poison and, in case, also with poisonous berries.

For them, it'd be at least enough...

Anyhow, I won't act hastily now. I'm not in an adamant need of finding ingredients right now, but if I do, I'll have to know of the precise location, beforehand. 

This exam offers another new possibility....

We're in a deserted island for seven days, where I'm more than confident to find many ingredients.

From a young age, I already memorized the whole encyclopedia of plants, so I'm fully aware of which plants, berries might be poisonous and which aren't.

The problem is, how would I get them out without anybody noticing? 

That's a good question.

Once the exam ends, every item which we have from the exam must be returned, without an exception.

But that doesn't apply on the items you coincidentally have on your jersey, for example. Here are a hundred-sixty students, and only four teachers.

I could hide them inside my jersey pockets, at the very least...

They're not in the position to control us, and they would also never do.

After all, why should they think that someone would try to take poisonous plants or berries with them.

But since I'm in a room with Ayanokoji and Koenji, they might recognize that I took berries or small poisonous plants with me. 

Both of them are quite perceptive, after all.

Which also means if I plan to do this in advance, I need to be sooner in the room than Ayanokoji and Koenji.

Well, in actuality, only Ayanokoji, since Koenji would only come to the room when it's sleeping time. The rest of the day, he would enjoy his time on the front deck, either admiring himself or looking at certain girls whom he finds attractive.

In other words, it's just fooling Ayanokoji. 

I have in my luggage four different water bottles in the room, so I should choose between three different categories of berries or plants that I want to take, while the other one is for...

Well, the venomous snake poison, that I can extract. 

Haha... how should I do that, now? Retiring by being bitten, that is. After all, once you get bitten, you're forcefully retired from the exam. 

Chairman Sakayanagi... 

For the well-being of your daughter, you're going to tell me everything that I want to know.

If not, well, you'll see the results.

"Are there any volunteers left?" Hirata asked, disrupting me off my thoughts.

I saw Sakura raising her arm suddenly. "Then that makes it four groups with three people each," he exclaimed.

Once everyone left, I saw Hirata approaching me. "Kurushima-kun, is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's nothing. I was just thinking about the potential strategies the other classes might use given of their personalities," I replied.

But that was a complete lie, since I was thinking of something else. 

"Ah, I see. Any ideas how they might approach things?" Hirata asked curiously, wanting to hear my opinion.

"Not completely. But I'm sure that Class A, especially Katsuragi-kun, wants to use this exam to take advantage over the Sakayanagi fraction, as the perfect opportunity was presented to himself. I guess they're after gaining as many spots as possible, and it would be reasonable to suspect a leader who's physically fit. But that's naturally dependent on where their camp spot is. If they have five or ten spots nearby, they might use someone who isn't physically fit and someone who doesn't stand out in comparison to the athletic people in their class."

"Also, it's most likely that one of the leaders is from the Katsuragi fraction. So we have more than twenty candidates ready. Dependent on their camp spot and their geographical advantage, it might reduce the candidates up to ten. Considering Katsuragi-kun's personality, he won't guess the leaders of the other classes if he doesn't have definitive proof whether they are the leaders or not. After all, he won't let this one-time opportunity slip away from his fingers. So, I would say after my current knowledge that Class A is staying on the defensive position during this exam."

I could suddenly see Hirata looking at me in full-fledged awe. "Kurushima-kun, you never cease to amaze me with your analytical skills," he said with a smile. "It's almost like you can read people's minds."

"It's not that I can read minds, Hirata," I chuckled. "It's just that I observe and analyze people's behaviors and personalities. It's a skill that I've honed over the years."

From the sidelines, I saw Yukimura-kun and Horikita-san jaws opened, looking at me in shock.

"You analyzed all this only based on Katsuragi-san's personality?" Yukimura asked, looking at me in horror.

"I'm just glad that you're in our class," he chuckled.

"Unbelievable..." Horikita muttered in depravity.

"Kurushima-kun, what's with Class B?" Yukimura asked me eagerly, wanting to hear my analysis about Class B.

I could also see other people from the class approaching our direction, as they just like the two of them most likely heard the conversation.

"Class B, huh? They're certainly a bit trickier to analyze than Class A," I muttered.

"Based on the factors that this exam might be the deciding factor whether we advance up to Class B or they're able to protect their current class position, I can say for sure that Ichinose and Kanzaki are taking a passive-defensive strategy and won't risk the factor of guessing the leaders of the classes. Since if they happen to guess one of the leaders wrong, all their collected Bonus Points will be negated. It'd naturally be something else if they saw how one person from the other classes claimed a spot right in front of their eyes, though."

"Aside from that, they're most likely trying to search for a camp with a geographical advantage where many animals or fishes are habituating so that they can control their Class Points expenditure for food. As for the occupying of spots, I'm not sure whether they're primarily focused on that aspect. It all again depends on the geographical position of their camp."

"If their camp isn't far away they might take this opportunity, if it's not they most likely wouldn't take the risk as the endangerment of the three classes remains about seeing their leader claim the spot. If I were to know their location and the spots nearby, I could say more. But that's the limitations of what I can conclude about Class B."

"I see," Yukimura muttered in a depriving tone. 

But it wasn't because of the analysis, but due to the fact I made this analysis look like it was too easy for me to do.

Well, it was, though.

I also heard many compliments from my classmates about my analysis, but it wasn't that great of a deal.

Horikita, who still looked stunned, began to speak up. "And what is with Class D?"

"Well, that's a whole different story," I replied, looking at Horikita.

"To be honest, I also can't predict the possible approach of his strategy. Unlike the other two classes, Ryūen's strategy can't be estimated by applying logical reasoning. Without additional information's I cannot say anything more," I responded.

To be honest, I'm unsure what strategy Ryūen is thinking currently. He could be sabotaging the other classes or doing something entirely else. I do, however, have a certain idea of what he might do.

"I see," she muttered, realizing the endangerment of Ryūen in this exam.

Currently, I'm just contemplating whether I should create another hindrance for Ayanokoji...

Well...

Perhaps I might do this...

Let's see...

---

A/N: The Island Exam will be quite different, unlike that of many other fanfics. I think you'll enjoy it, since it'll be quite unique.

Anyways, I would rather stop now talking before spoiling future events or giving some possible hints.

Like usual, how did you find the chapter?

Please do tell me your opinion and leave a comment and vote there. 

It would be highly appreciated.