29 Volume 14 - Chapter 8: True Colors Revealed

Intro

The dawn of the seventh day. So far, I had accumulated a grand total of 67 points.

Hypothetically speaking, if a four-man group forewent all participation in Tasks and just focused on getting all of their Arrival Bonuses, they'd have 92 points. From that perspective, my score might make it seem like I was in a tough spot, but… there was more to this exam than that. My overall rank had been steadily going up these last few days, and I was now at 51st place. This helped illustrate just how difficult it truly was to continuously traverse the island without missing any designated areas.

Chances were that around half of all groups had pushed forward full steam ahead for the first three or four days until they exhausted their initial supply of food and water. And then, when their progress stagnated by the fifth day, they probably began setting their sights on the harbor to try and get back on their feet.

However, it wouldn't be easy for a group to get back into perfect shape. The physical stress and fatigue that had been continuously building up wouldn't go away immediately. There was also no getting around the mental burden that came hand in hand with the prospect of traveling long distances.

Furthermore, since they'd have no choice but to try and curb the loss of points from missing designated areas, they'd probably have to take alternative measures such as sending one of their fellow group members out on their own to reach designated areas. Though, while this would let them avoid the penalty, they'd be forced to give up on any Early Bird Bonuses and they'd only receive a one-point Arrival Bonus as well.

In comparison, I had successfully managed to conserve my energy. I felt just about the same as I did back when the exam started.

I was ready to step it up a notch now that we were moving into the second half of the battle.

In the meantime, Kōenji had been steadily pushing forward, and it didn't seem like he would be slowing down anytime soon.

He was currently second place on the leaderboard, and only trailed behind the first place group, Nagumo's, by a slim eight-point margin.

When it came to the second-year groups in the top ten, Ryūen and Katsuragi's group had gone up a spot and were now sitting in ninth place.

Well, all that aside─── I finished washing my face in the river and turned around to look at the tent behind me.

Over the course of the last several days that we had been traveling together, Nanase had been a consistently early riser.

But today, even though it was already 6:50 AM, she still hadn't come out of her tent. I couldn't help but wonder if she had just overslept, or if there had been some sort of change in her health.

After all, the burden on her body must be substantial due to all the traveling and Tasks she had done every day.

After wiping off my face with a towel, I approached her tent and somewhat loudly rummaged through my bag as I brought out my tablet.

Having heard the noise that I was making, Nanase finally emerged from her tent.

"…Good morning to you, Ayanokōji-senpai."

"Yeah, good morning. Are you feeling alright?"

"Eh? Ah, yes. I'm feeling perfectly fine. Nothing wrong at all."

While I had expected her to show signs of fatigue, neither her words nor her movements gave off that impression at all.

She had apparently just not slept very well, as there were very slight bags visible under her eyes.

"I've been checking the rankings while I waited. There's a group of first-years that have been doing quite well for themselves so far."

Of the ten groups currently at the top of the leaderboard, there were six third-year groups and three second-year groups, but only one made up of first-years.

As it was now, the leaderboards were a perfect representation of the strength of the more senior, experienced students.

"The group that's doing well is Utomiya-kun and Yagami-kun's, correct?"

They had been in seventh place yesterday, and as of this morning, they had risen up to sixth.

The group consisted of three boys: Takahashi Osamu from Class 1-A, Yagami Takuya from Class 1-B, and Utomiya Riku from Class 1-C.

"After all, amongst all the first-year groups, well… Yes, they're definitely one of the best."

Despite her use of the phrase 'one of the best', her response had been fairly inarticulate.

"As a member of Class 1-D, it's honestly difficult for me to earnestly support them in their efforts."

"I see. That does make sense."

Given the situation, Class 1-D would probably rather see students from the other school years succeed than see Takahashi's group get into the top three.

"Nevertheless, our third-year senpais really are amazing, aren't they? Every class from Class 3-A to Class 3-D has someone currently in the top ten."

This was something I also found impressive.

As of this morning, the number of third-year groups in the top ten had increased to six, with Nagumo's group up in first place undoubtedly paving the way.

Not only had they taken part in more Tasks than any other group, they had the most first-place victories in those Tasks by an overwhelming margin.

It was as though he wanted to illustrate the tenacity of the third-years to the rest of us.

"That said, you're also amazing, Ayanokōji-senpai. Despite being all on your own, you've managed to earn quite a large number of points."

"While that may be true, it won't be easy for me to push into the top ranks from where I'm at now. At the end of the day, if you aren't part of the top three, you won't get the reward that matters most."

Avoiding expulsion and taking the reward given to the top 50% of groups simply wouldn't suffice.

That probably wouldn't even be enough to pay back the points that I borrowed from Horikita.

"Although you say it won't be easy, you don't seem to be very anxious about it, Senpai."

"I'm hoping for a miracle. People in other groups should start retiring soon enough."

"…That is true, I suppose."

As our conversation came to an end, we both looked up into the sky at just about the same time.

We had been blessed with near-perfect weather for the last six days, but starting today, it was looking like things were going to be very different.

Thick, grey clouds lined the sky and it looked like it would start pouring any minute. From what I saw in the weather forecast, it should start raining sometime this morning, meaning that we had two or three hours left at most.

I personally hadn't spent any of my provision points on rain gear. If my clothes and shoes were to get soaked, I'd have to spend extra energy dealing with the added weight and lower temperature. Additionally, the muddiness of the ground would limit our travel speed making our journey without the gear even more difficult

We couldn't check on the rankings of any group that wasn't part of the top or bottom ten.

As such, I wondered if Horikita, who was also traveling alone, would be okay. After all, we hadn't seen each other at all since our conversation at the start of the exam. If she were to get sick or injured, her fate would be sealed.

At any rate, I wanted to get the first designated area out the way before the weather took a turn for the worse.

Once we finished packing up our things, I looked to see which area had been designated first.

Fortunately, the first designation of the day was close to area C3.

It shouldn't take us long to get there from where we were now.

But, just as I was about to put away my tablet, a notification popped up on the screen.

If I wasn't mistaken, the school would send out global messages like this in order to contact us.

『Depending on the state of the weather, Basic Movement and Tasks may be put on pause until further notice. Please be sure to keep an eye on your tablets for future updates.』

Apparently, the weather was forcing the school to make a tough decision about the sustainability of the exam.

Losing out on the opportunity to earn points for an extended period of time could prove fatal for the lower ranked groups.

It didn't seem like the school would come to a decision until they absolutely had to, but this was a thought for another time.

"Alright, let's go."

After taking a couple of steps, I noticed Nanase wasn't following me. When I looked back, I saw that she was just absentmindedly standing there, seemingly unaware that I had even started walking.

"Nanase?"

Only after I called out her name did she realize she was being left behind.

"Sorry, I'm coming now!"

She apologized as she hurriedly ran to catch up to me.

If there was nothing wrong with her physically, then it was most likely a mental block that was causing her to act like this.

Either way, the one thing I could say for certain was that something about her had changed somehow since yesterday.

There hadn't been any noteworthy changes in the way we had been interacting…

Although, I didn't think that she'd had the opportunity to make contact with a third-party either…

1

After getting the ten-point Early Bird Bonus for our first area, we decided to wait for a suitable Task to pop up somewhere nearby. But, perhaps due to the poor weather, there were fewer Tasks showing up than yesterday and we couldn't find any to participate in.

In the end, we spent the next hour and a half leisurely killing time.

Then, once 9:00 AM came around, the second area of the day was announced. This time, our destination was the randomly-designated area E2.

For a random designation, this was honestly not that far away.

I wanted to try and make it there if at all possible, but…

"We'll really have to think about how we're going to get there, won't we?"

"Yeah."

If we wanted to make it there as quickly as possible, taking a direct path over the mountains of D2 and D3 was probably the way to go.

If the conditions outside had been like they were yesterday, I probably would've chosen this route in a heartbeat.

However, the weather didn't seem like it was going to hold up for very much longer.

Once it starts raining, a usually well-traveled path would turn into a difficult one.

"How should we proceed?"

"Let's see… Well, I guess it's safest to take a detour."

If it ended up looking too dangerous when it starts to pour, we could always give up halfway.

"That's understandable. Depending on what the weather's like after this, we might not even be able to continue our journey."

Though she said she understood, she had an unsatisfied look on her face.

"But personally, I'd still like to go over the mountain."

"If it starts raining, it'd be hard to find a proper foothold on the mountain. It's too dangerous."

Even I couldn't say that I wasn't afraid of slipping and taking a bad fall.

"I believe that most of our rivals will choose to take a detour in anticipation of the weather. However, that's why it's a golden opportunity for you to pile up another first-place Early Bird Bonus, don't you think? Let's make a run for it before it starts raining."

Over the last several days we had been traveling together, she had never once opposed my decision on how to proceed.

That was the very least she could do to maintain common courtesy as someone who had asked to accompany me.

Of course, Nanase must have known that herself when she decided to say something.

I don't think she spoke up just because she wanted to change my mind either.

"What if I don't choose to go over the mountain?"

In order to find out for myself, I decided to toss her a question.

For a split second, she seemed hesitant about whether or not she should answer, but she ultimately fixed her eyes onto mine.

"…In that case, I will try to go over the mountain on my own."

"There's a limit to how impractical you can get. Hōsen and Amasawa might not even reach E2 in time to make a difference."

Even if Nanase were to reach the designated area before anyone else, there was no guarantee that she would get her hands on the Early Bird Bonus.

And even if she managed to make it over the mountain before the weather got bad, there wouldn't be any point to it if the other two members of her group didn't get there within a similar timeframe.

So, why was she so fixated on pointlessly ascending a mountain this time around?

While I didn't really have a problem with letting her go on her own, it would be dangerous for a girl to try and get over the mountain all by herself.

Although I didn't exactly feel responsible for her, I'd at least like to see her off when I felt better about her future safety.

Furthermore, I still hadn't figured out why she asked to travel with me in the first place.

If I chose to part ways with her here, I'd probably never figure out the answer.

"Alright. If you've already made up your mind then I'll go with you."

"Thank you very much, Senpai."

As I looked at her expression, I came to understand something.

That, she had been absolutely certain I would choose to follow her up the mountain.

"Since we've decided on a route we should hurry up and get going."

It would be pitiful if we only managed to earn one point after making such a big deal out of this.

We made our way east for a while, but not too long after, the path ahead began to incline upward, and the wind started to pick up speed.

The sky gradually turned into an even deeper, darker shade of grey. It seemed like the rain would start coming down any minute now.

I opened up my tablet to check our current location, and the GPS indicated that we were just about to reach the edge of area D3.

As much as I had hoped that we could hold out until we managed to reach the designated area─

I could hear Nanase begin to lose control of her breathing from behind me.

We hadn't done anything particularly strenuous yet today, so it seemed far too early for her to be already running out of breath.

Was it because of all the fatigue she had built up over the past few days?

If she wasn't feeling well, then the right choice would be to set up a tent to rest and wait for the weather to clear up. If she were to catch a cold, her poor condition would be reported back to the school due to her watch.

I decided to ever so slightly slow down my pace, only to the extent that she wouldn't notice. If she decided to give up and ask for a break, we'd stop then and there. That being said, she certainly wasn't the type to throw in the towel so easily. If it seemed like I needed to slow down even further, I'd have no choice but to force her to stop and figure out what to do from there.

Step by step, the two of us silently made our way up the slope of the mountain. The temperature had dropped sharply and the humidity kept on increasing by the second. We were both wearing standard, school-issue running shoes that weren't suitable for traversing terrain like this, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Sure enough, the more we walked, the more Nanase continued to slow down. The time had come for me to make a decision.

I stopped walking and turned around to face her.

"Senpai…! I can still─!"

"Give me your backpack."

"Eh?"

"You won't be able to keep up with me while lugging around that backpack with you."

"No way… How could possibly I have you carry around my things for me, Senpai!?"

"You can say that once you're capable of keeping up the pace. At this rate, I'll have to give up on the Early Bird Bonus. That being the case, you might as well give me your bag so we can get going already."

The need to maintain pretenses and the need to face reality were at odds with each other.

And now that I had broached the matter, she no longer had the right to refuse.

"But, my backpack is really quite heavy. I think it'll be tough carrying around, even if it's you, Senpai."

"I'll decide that for myself once you hand it over."

"…Alright, I understand."

Reluctantly conceding, Nanase took off her backpack and handed it over to me with a seemingly apologetic look on her face. Although its contents were different, its weight was surprisingly not all too different from my own.

Given that, I should be able to maintain my initial pace without any added difficulty.

Normally, it would be easiest to use your lower back muscles to help support the weight of a backpack, but given that I was already carrying one, that wasn't really an option here.

Instead, I chose to hold it in front of me and began moving forward once again.

"A-are you sure you can carry it?"

"You should get moving if you have the time to stand around and ask questions."

Taking my advice to heart, Nanase promptly zipped her lips and began to walk.

This time, she stuck close behind me, maintaining a consistent distance of around two meters as we pushed forward.

2

The sky grew dimmer and dimmer by the second as the overall visibility of our surroundings began to get much, much worse.

The wind was also getting stronger, and at times a particularly fierce gale would come and violently blow down the slope.

Despite all of this, the good news was that we were nearly finished with our journey to the top.

All we had to do now was follow a relatively smoother path heading down the other side.

Of course, we'd still have to make sure not to lose our footing somehow on our way back down, so we couldn't be too careful.

"I'll be fine now that we've come this far. My bag… I'll carry it again from here."

"Are you sure? I'd like to avoid wasting time later by having to go through the process of handing it over again."

"Yes, I'm sure. Thank you very much for helping me."

I looked to confirm once more just to be sure, but she seemed confident, so I returned her bag.

However, rather than sling it over her shoulder and wear it as she had earlier, she stood still and stared at it as she held it in her hands.

"So? Ready to go?"

I asked her this, but she didn't even try to respond. It didn't seem like the type of behavior you'd expect from someone who was in a hurry to get somewhere.

"Ayanokōji-senpai, I have something I'd like to ask you."

"It's seemed like you've been thinking about something ever since you first came out of your tent this morning."

No, to be precise, I'd say she's had this air of curiosity about her from the moment she first asked to accompany me.

"So… you noticed after all, huh?"

Nanase didn't seem very surprised by this as she just nodded along as she spoke.

"There's a reason why I've been sticking close to you these past few days, Ayanokōji-senpai."

She stood there unmoving as she began to elaborate.

It clearly went deeper than just being because we both had the same Table.

Apparently, she was finally ready to tell me the answer that I had been looking for.

"But before that, please allow me to apologize for something."

She turned her back on me as she went and placed her backpack down at the base of a large tree.

"I'm afraid you won't be reaching area E2 today, Senpai."

"That's a strange thing to say. Aren't we on our way there right now?"

"The reason I wanted to head up the mountain was to lure you here, Senpai."

In other words, Nanase's target destination hadn't been area E2, but rather where we were now – the northern part of D3.

"We're probably the only two people up here right now."

"Yes indeed. I believe that to be the case as well."

With her backpack now out of the way, Nanase turned back to face me.

"Over the course of the last six days I've been with you, I've been able to witness all sorts of things, Ayanokōji-senpai. You've made a lot of friends at this school and built up a lot of trust for yourself. And, slowly but surely, you've demonstrated what you're truly capable of."

Thinking back on the first week of our time out here on the island, Nanase began to summarize her impressions.

"I'd also like to express my respect for the depth of the insight and physical prowess you've shown from time to time."

"I don't remember having done anything special though."

"If that's really the case, then that just makes you even more amazing, don't you think?"

Although she was throwing out praises left and right, her expression remained solemn.

"But, Ayanokōji-senpai, I don't think you're someone who belongs at this school."

At this point, the aura around her began to change into something far different from what I had grown accustomed to over the last several days.

"You don't? Care to explain the reason for that?"

To that, Nanase nodded as she slowly stood up and turned to look me in the eyes.

"It's because you're from the White Room."

After all this time, I finally heard the words 'The White Room' come from the mouth of another student.

There were very few people who knew about the existence of that place.

Under more normal circumstances, I'd be able to say without a shadow of a doubt that she was the enforcer that Tsukishiro had sent in.

"As you may have already guessed, I enrolled here in this school under Acting Director Tsukishiro's orders. And more precisely, those orders were to get you expelled."

The way that she was laying everything out in the open like this made it hard to imagine how she'd been dormant behind the scenes for so long, hiding her true intentions.

"You could've done this at any point over the last few days, so why here? Why now? You must have had some other reason than just wanting to avoid the eyes of others, right?"

"I'm going to knock you out here and injure you, setting off your Emergency Alert in the process. The teachers would then come running and force you to retire, thus resulting in your expulsion. Something like that."

"So, something similar to what happened to Komiya and Kinoshita. Were you the one behind what happened to them as well?"

"Well, hmm… What do you think, Senpai?"

"I don't really think you'd have been able to make it there and back in such a short timeframe, but if you were really from the White Room, I'm not so confident about that."

Either way, it didn't matter anymore at this point.

"What happens if I tell the faculty members who came rushing to the scene that you were the one who had attacked me?"

"I don't think you'd be able to explain your way out of it. If you want to know why, it's because the faculty member who comes here will undoubtedly be the Acting Director himself."

There wouldn't be any point in trying to defend myself. After all, no matter what evidence or proof I might have, Tsukishiro would still choose to side with Nanase in the end.

"I see. So basically, losing to you here would be no different from being kicked out of school."

I slowly began to take off my backpack.

And then, after setting it down beside a suitable tree, I turned to face Nanase once again.

"If Acting Director Tsukishiro sent you thinking you'd be able to take me down, then it looks like there'll be no getting around having to fight seriously. Although, having said that, raising my hand against a girl could easily turn into a major issue in it's own right."

This probably wouldn't just end as a harmless, childish scuffle.

However, if it got to the point where I were to strike back at her, then that would be more than enough to warrant a penalty.

There was no guarantee that Tsukishiro wouldn't choose to retire, or rather, expel, the both of us just for exchanging blows.

If we were evenly matched, it would be my loss.

"If you're looking for a way out of this, Senpai, then I believe your only option is abandoning your bag and running away."

"Perhaps."

"But, I'm afraid that would be futile as well."

Trying to continue the exam without a tablet, a tent, or any other provisions would be suicide.

For Nanase, this meant that no matter which choice I made, she was fully prepared to respond.

"So, what will you do?"

"Since it's come to this, there's really only one choice I can make."

I looked Nanase in the eye and steeled my resolve to fight.

"So you've chosen to fight. But, do you think you'll be saved by doing that? This might seem cowardly of me to say, but my loss is no different from your own loss, Ayanokōji-senpai."

"Maybe so."

As the conversation progressed forward, I created an opening, making myself seem vulnerable to any attack she might throw at me.

However, Nanase didn't engage immediately, clearly wary of the opening I was testing her with.

It didn't seem like she was the type to fight reckless battles. Rather, she took on a more orthodox approach where she looked to methodically force her opponent into the corner.

Making a conscious effort to avoid getting caught up in your opponent's pace had been the right choice for her to make.

"I'll be making my move, then."

On top of all of this, the fact that she had gone out of her way to warn me ahead of time was proof enough that she wasn't very fond of plotting from behind the scenes.

Of course, that could easily be nothing more than a feint as well.

Although the ground beneath us was relatively soft, it seemed like it would fulfill its role as the foundation for our fight quite well.

"Hyaaah!!!"

Kicking off against the soil, Nanase closed the distance between us in a single breath.

Would she look to strike with her arms or would she instead focus on using her legs?

Or perhaps she would make use of both?

Under more usual circumstances, I would start out by closely analyzing my opponent's fighting style like this.

After all, if I were to strike back carelessly, Nanase might end up getting seriously injured.

And, given what was said earlier, that would only serve to put me even more of a disadvantage.

With that being the case, my next thought was to try and look to restrain her by force instead, but I feared that it was all too likely she had taken that into consideration as well.

But even so─ it still wouldn't be a very wise choice either way.

Even though Nanase's words alone weren't very trustworthy, I had been sensing a presence following after us all throughout the entire day today.

There was definitely somebody, or somebodies, watching to see how things played out as they carefully maintained their distance.

Whoever they were, if they weren't reinforcements, then it was probably safe to assume that they had been tasked with recording conclusive evidence of what happened with a tablet or something.

Therefore, given the situation, the only real choice I could make here was…

After making a feint to her left, Nanase lunged straight at me with an outstretched arm.

She didn't come at me with a fist, but a gentle, open palm. She had chosen to engage me with a grappling technique.

Upon seeing this, I took action, and while my movements were delayed, I easily surpassed the speed of Nanase's incoming strike.

Cleanly avoiding her arm, I extended my own, the blow aimed straight for her face.

My fist, strongly clenched, stopped mere centimeters before making contact with Nanase's forehead.

"!"

Since her kinetic vision was far better than that of an ordinary person, the threat of the impact unconsciously caused her to stiffen up.

"That's the first."

If I hadn't chosen to stop my fist, the blow would've decisively settled the outcome of the fight.

Nanase's consciousness would've been blown away in an instant, leaving her to simply crumble on the spot.

"Nanase, are you tired? Or was that hesitation? You should be capable of much more than this."

Given everything she had shown me the past few days, she should at least be able to perform at a level above this.

In the end, her resolve to hunt me down and force me into a corner wasn't strong enough.

"Do you think you can beat me without even trying to fight back…? Is that what this is?"

I pulled back my fist without giving her an answer, and as I did, Nanase retreated, putting around two meters between us. This was temporary, however, as she then kicked off against the ground once again, coming at me slightly faster than last time. Her left hand was clenched into a fist and, given the way she had lowered her stance, she seemed to be looking to strike with an uppercut.

Dodging to the side just before she made contact, I sent my own fist exploding forward, aimed straight for her cheek.

Of course, just like last time, I stopped one or two centimeters before making contact.

"And that's the second. If I had gone through with it, I could've knocked you out two times now."

"But you didn't go through with it."

Her eyes were trained on my fist, frozen in the air in front of her, but she didn't seem scared in the slightest.

"That's true."

"Although you're free to make this show of dominance all you want, you don't stand a chance at winning if you don't actually fight back."

"I still wouldn't stand a chance even if I did, though?"

"Correct. So, what will you do?"

From the sound of it, Nanase hadn't been treating this seriously yet either.

She was watching me closely, examining my movements. Pushing forward on the offensive as she thought about how to dodge whatever I threw at her next.

"I'm not sure yet."

"It would be great if you could figure that out while you're still able to stand around and talk."

At that, she suddenly sprang into action and grabbed hold of my right arm with a level of dexterity and strength that seemed to indicate that she was finally treating this seriously. It looked like she was planning to yank me straight down to the ground, so I steeled myself, counteracting her force with my own.

There are many forms of martial arts that allow one to gain the upper hand against raw strength through the trained application of technique and skill, regardless of their gender or physique.

However, that's only the case when you were facing an opponent whose strength paled in comparison to your skill.

"What the─!?"

Seeing that she was caught off guard by the rigidity of my body, I took advantage of the opening to attack.

I went for an uppercut the moment she stopped trying to pull down on my arm. My left fist tore through the air, only stopping when it was less than a centimeter away from smashing into her lower jaw. The force of the swing had been so great that her long hair was sent dancing even though there hadn't been an impact.

"!!!"

She stared down at my fist, her eyes wide, before eventually turning to me.

"I'll say this just in case you haven't noticed, but this makes three times now."

For the first time, her eyes began to waver as she matched my gaze.

"It seems your strength is just as the rumors say, Ayanokōji-senpai…"

I couldn't afford to fight back seriously right now. Breaking Nanase's fighting spirit without actually hurting her was the only means I had at my disposal.

I had to make her realize that I was an opponent she'd never be able to win against.

"I know what you're trying to do here, Senpai…"

Apparently, Nanase was aware of this as well.

"It's true that it's improbable that I'll be able to win against you if we keep going on like this. I'll admit to that."

Had I broken her fighting spirit already…? No, that simply wasn't possible.

Her eyes were filled with a clear mixture of hatred and fervor as she looked at me.

"'I'… may not be able to beat you."

Nanase had been at my mercy throughout the course of our fight so far. But now, as she spoke, the slight traces of uncertainty in her expression, in the way she carried herself, began to disappear. Or, rather, it was like she had never once harbored uncertainty in the first place.

It was as if she was trying to bring together all of her thoughts, feelings, and emotions and consolidate them to reach a state of inner unity.

After a brief period of silence, Nanase wordlessly kicked off against the ground once again, lurching forward at a high speed.

I didn't have the time to calmly analyze the situation anymore and was instead forced to focus my full attention on taking emergency evasive action. Her movements were now twice as fast as they were only moments earlier. I distanced myself far enough away to avoid her strike, and then took a few additional steps away from her on top of that.

She glared straight at me with a look so sharp it felt like it could kill a man.

It was such a dramatic change that it was hard to believe she was still the same person. If I had taken that last attack of hers directly, I would've suffered a substantial amount of damage. If I slipped up even once, she may very well end up taking the upper hand after all.

The feeling she gave off was painfully different than anything I had seen from her before.

"Therefore…『I』will. Right here, right now."

The change from 'Watashi' to『Boku』.

There was no way that this simple change in the first-person pronoun she chose to use was enough to change her movements.

But, even so, there was no denying that this last attack of hers was on a completely different level than the first three she had opened up with.

"Who are you?"

Given the circumstances, I couldn't help but ask her this question.

"『I』came back from 'that place' in order to put a stop to you."

'That place'? For a moment, I thought she might be referring to the White Room, but that didn't seem to be the case.

"From that dark… gloomy place…『I』have come back."

Even though I didn't understand what in the world she was talking about, I couldn't afford to be negligent.

This new Nanase who referred to herself with『Boku』had shifted her fighting style from one that focused primarily on jiu-jitsu to karate. She came at me repeatedly with swift, lethal thrusts and jabs that, if landed properly, would probably be powerful enough to knock out an adult man.

After I got into the rhythm of parrying and dodging her repeated attacks, I began to contemplate the mystery behind why she had changed her first-person pronoun.

"Do you really think that you can keep dodging forever!?"

In Nanase's mind, she had probably convinced herself that if she just kept attacking, ten, twenty times over, one would eventually have to hit the mark. For that very reason, she had done away with all hesitation and pushed forward with her relentless barrage.

If someone else were to bear witness to what was happening, they probably would've thought something similar.

They'd think that there's no way I'd be able to avoid everything she threw at me and eventually reach the conclusion that I'd have to strike back at some point to try and defend myself.

"Ha, Haaa!!!"

Nanase's breathing began getting heavier and heavier as she continued with her onslaught.

Naturally, there was no way she would be able to keep up with her rapid barrage of attacks forever.

Still, if I never ended up fighting back, she'd be able to recover her strength at any time.

"Whew… Haaa…!"

Just as anticipated, Nanase soon ran out of breath and distanced herself to try and get it back under control.

"Absolutely…『I'll』absolutely defeat you… Absolutely… defeat… you…"

She was chanting these select few words like a Buddhist monk would a mantra, all while looking at me as if I were a murderer.

"『I』came back…『I』came back in order to bring you down…"

"You came back? What are you talking about?"

I hadn't been able to understand what Nanase was going on about for quite a while now.

"It makes sense that you don't understand. After all, you and『I』have never met in-person before."

If that was really true, then this excessive hatred she had for me didn't really make any sense.

I could imagine that the White Room student might bear a grudge against me even though I had never met them before.

However, was Nanase really from the White Room?

The tone of her voice was ever so slightly different than usual.

While she still looked like a girl on the outside, it seemed as though her personality had become that of a man.

"If you aren't going to fight back, then that's your decision.『I'll』just have to do this over and over until you're down on the ground─"

It had been less than twenty seconds since she stopped attacking, but it seemed like it had been just long enough for her to recover her energy.

"Hyaaah!!!"

Her feelings of hatred for me seemed to be spurring her forward more and more, seeing as she came at me with the fastest jab I had seen from her today.

Her slender, white hand came hurtling straight toward my face and her fist just barely grazed past the tips of my bangs.

She seemed like the usual Nanase on the outside, but perhaps she had become someone else on the inside?

As I asked myself this, another thought came to mind.

Namely, the notion of split personalities, or what was officially known as dissociative identity disorder.

Put in layman's terms, it's a mental disorder where two or more distinct personalities reside within a single individual.

If Nanase had dissociative identity disorder, everything would make a lot more sense.

There was more to this disorder than just a simple change in personality. From what I've been told, there have been rare cases where one of the personalities had a chronic illness, but the illness disappeared whenever the patient switched over to another personality.

Under that same logic, it was more than possible that this separate『Boku』personality residing within Nanase possessed physical abilities even greater than the original.

And, if this personality was that of a man, then she might even be able to demonstrate strength effectively identical to that.

"You don't seem like Nanase anymore."

Upon hearing me say this, Nanase momentarily stopped with her onslaught, a visibly irritated expression on her face.

"You still don't get it, do you?"

She glared at me with her arm thrusted out in front of her; Her fists were shaking with rage just as much as the sound of her voice.

"『I'm』not Nanase. The one standing here before you right now is… Matsuo Eiichiro."

"Matsuo Eiichiro?"

I had definitely heard the surname 'Matsuo' before, and it hadn't even been that long since the last time I heard it either. The name had come out of 'that man's' mouth back when he paid a visit to Advanced Nurturing High School. Given all of that, I had a fairly good idea of where this was headed.

"The son of a man who was killed by your father."

Seeing that I still didn't seem to understand where she was going with this, she spoke up once again, having completely lost her patience.

"This body has been borrowed.『I'm』right here, right now, all for the sake of bringing you down."

"Borrowed? What a funny joke."

It simply wasn't possible for someone to take on the personality of another real human being.

"If you think『I'm』joking, then please, be my guest."

Nanase kicked off against the ground once more, her arms trembling violently.

The traditional, orthodox attack style that she had used so far gradually began to change to something much more rough and unrestrained.

"『I'm』here…『I』came all the way here just to see you fall!"

And it wasn't just her attack style, her movements in general had changed from being decisive and controlled to wild and violent.

Her goal was to try and overwhelm me with speed and strength, although her movements became somewhat less efficient as a tradeoff.

That being said, regardless of whether they were refined or not, it probably wouldn't make much of a difference as long as she managed to land a hit on me.

"『I'll』make sure you suffer retribution!"

Even though she had turned up the intensity, I wasn't going to let myself get hit so easily. And after everything that had happened, Nanase should be more than aware of that as well.

Although she was pretending to be calm and composed, she was the one whose back was really up against the wall here, not me.

No matter how many short breaks she may take to recover her stamina, it was clear from the way her shoulders were heaving up and down that she was reaching her limit.

However, it would be meaningless to try and wait for that limit to catch up to her. There was no way that I could see her choosing to back down any time soon. In fact, she'd probably choose to keep challenging me until the bitter end. I really had no other choice but to break her fighting spirit.

"This is the first time『I've』encountered an opponent capable of dodging so many attacks like this. …But, there's no way you can keep it up forever. If it's『me』… If『I'm』the one you're up against… Then『I』can definitely defeat you!『I』know it!"

Even though I was slowly chipping away at her will to go on, she still bore fangs at me as she tried what she could to bite back.

"I think I understand what you've been trying to say."

While I didn't know the exact details of the situation, there was at least one thing that I had ascertained throughout all of this.

After a few moments of mulling it over internally, I finished sorting out my thoughts and began to speak.

"Nanase, you don't have multiple personalities, nor did someone else's personality take over you."

"Like I said, if you think『I'm』joking, then please, be my guest. But there's no getting around the fact that『I'm』the one right here in front of you."

She raised her voice in denial as she stamped her feet into the ground.

But, that and that alone was proof enough it didn't exist.

"No, it's unfortunate, but I just don't believe you. If this alternate personality of yours hadn't been someone who actually existed elsewhere, then I suppose that I might've been able to believe you. However, you're saying that 'Matsuo Eiichiro', a person who exists here in real life, has gone and borrowed your body. And sorry, but that's just far too unrealistic."

"If… If that's the case, then how do you explain『my』presence here!?"

There was no need to think very hard about the answer to that. It truly wasn't very complicated.

"You just took the liberty to dream up another personality inside of yourself. The reason you deliberately chose to change from using 'Watashi' to『Boku』was to remind yourself of that."

Nanase was, fundamentally, a nonviolent person.

She didn't like the thought of using violence and force to make her opponents submit to her.

Even so, since she had to fight, she had no choice but to conjure up a personality to do the fighting for her.

Or, put more simply, she had no choice but to 'act out' this personality.

"More than anything else, this force, this power is proof that『I'm』real!"

With that, her fist came flying at me, no doubt faster and stronger than any punches she had thrown before the change.

"You're not showing me anything more than the strength you've always had in you, Nanase."

Nanase's face paled, seemingly shaken that I had managed to hit at the very core of the matter.

"Y-you're wrong!『I』…『I'm』Matsuo!"

"If you really are this 'Matsuo' person, then there's no need for you to be so upset by this."

As Matsuo, she could simply turn up her nose and laugh at my blatantly misguided reasoning.

"There was something out of sorts about the way you were talking when you changed your first-person pronoun. It's nothing more than a form of self-deception."

She was just using the pronoun『Boku』as a trigger of sorts to make herself into a more aggressive person.

"No!!!"

"You want to believe that Matsuo's personality resides within you… No, I'll bet that deep down, even you don't believe that."

She was desperately trying to embrace the guise of self-deception, but couldn't.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!"

Unable to listen to my words for even a second longer, Nanase cried out and threw herself at me.

The speed and sharpness she had displayed earlier was now nowhere to be seen. It had gotten to the point where I'd probably be able to avoid her with my eyes shut.

"It's time to give up Nanase. You can't beat me."

"Yes『I』can!『I』have to!"

She extended her left arm and grabbed hold of the collar of my jersey.

And then, having decided that this was the chance she had been waiting for, she raised her right fist and swung at me in a wide, dramatic arch.

I was an easy target, wide open. And usually, there was probably no way that someone would be able to dodge from my position.

But, despite my movements being limited by her stranglehold on my collar, I deftly avoided the punch as it came barreling straight at my face.

"Tsk!"

Another punch was sent flying toward me immediately afterward, yet I dodged it just the same as the first.

"Why!? Why can't『I』land a hit!?!? Why is this happening!?!?"

A third, fourth, and fifth punch came flying, but try as she might, every attempt ended up with the same result.

Fed up with the fact that her punches weren't landing, she forcefully reached out to try and grab me by the hair.

She probably thought that, if she could prevent me from moving my head, she'd finally be able to hit me.

I seized her by the wrist just as it came close enough.

"L-let go!"

"Even if I let go, nothing would change."

"Let go of『me』!!!"

She forcefully tore her hand away before repeating the entire meaningless cycle all over again.

Her fist came flying at me, only to once again punch through the open air. At this point, I'd already lost track of how many times we had gone through this.

"Haa! Haa! Haaaa…!"

She had finally reached her limit, both physically and mentally.

"Why… Why…『I'm』so close and yet… Only a little more, and yet!"

Nanase's resolve to continue throwing herself at me had already disappeared.

Trembling at the knees, she tried what she could to spurn her legs forward, but her body refused to fight.

"From the very beginning, you were wrong to tell yourself that you'd eventually land a hit as long as you kept trying. At your level, even if you kept this up until the day you died, you'd never be able to hit me. Not even once."

Of course, this was just a bluff.

Nobody could avoid being hit forever, not even me.

Nanase, however, had just been forced to come to terms with her failure to land even a single hit on me, so my words probably resonated with her.

"If you really want me expelled, your best bet is to start playing the victim now. If you make your clothes seem disorderly, that alone would probably be enough to drive me into a corner."

Even though it seemed like I was helping the enemy here, I knew Nanase wouldn't choose to do that.

After all, I didn't think she really, truly wanted to get me expelled at all.

"『I』…『I』!!!"

She cried out as her knees finally gave in and collapsed to the ground.

No matter how much one may lay bare their fighting spirit, if, deep down, they had already given up, then doing so was merely an empty, meaningless gesture.

3

The sound of the harsh wind resounded throughout the forest as I struggled to follow the tracks of two specific people.

Just how hard did I have to work to make it to area D3 this morning…?

It should only be a little longer… Or at least, that's what I kept telling myself as I pushed forward, my legs trembling with every step I took.

If they were to find out that I was following after them, then everything I've gone through, all my efforts so far, would be meaningless.

Normally, when tailing after someone, it was necessary to keep them in your sights at all times so as not to lose track of them.

That, of course, meant that the other party would be able to see you as well. There were certain inevitable risks that came along with doing something like this.

But, no matter who the other party may be, there was absolutely no way they'd catch onto what I was doing.

After all, even I wasn't able to see Ayanokōji, my target, from where I was right now.

The key to this was a walkie-talkie hidden in the pocket of my jersey.

Thanks to this walkie-talkie, I had been able to keep in touch with a certain someone who was helping me constantly pinpoint Ayanokōji's exact location.

Ever since the sixth day, the entire student body had been given permission to use their points on the 'GPS Search' feature on our tablets.

As such, it was possible for my accomplice and me to get a rough idea of Ayanokōji's location.

Even if worse came to worst, I'd gladly exhaust my own supply of points in order to track him down.

No matter the method, there was something I absolutely had to get my hands on:

Decisive, conclusive evidence.

One way or another, I needed to get my hands on enough definitive proof to get Ayanokōji expelled.

I didn't have any other options anymore. Horikita's expulsion wasn't what I should've been prioritizing all this time.

I felt truly ashamed that, despite having always been vaguely aware of his true potential, I had always chosen to look the other way.

In retrospect, I should've been more suspicious back when Ryūen stopped searching for 'X' in Class D.

Ayanokōji had been involved in everything that had happened back then. Even after having my eyes opened to the truth, there was still a part of me that found it hard to believe. After all, he never seemed like anything more than your average, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill high school boy.

My walkie-talkie sounded off from within my pocket. I was wearing a wireless earpiece, so I could listen in without having to stop.

[Please hold on for a moment, Kushida-senpai. It seems the two of them have stopped not too far ahead of your current location.]

"Haa, haa… really? They're finally taking a break…?"

Following the instructions I had received, I gratefully eased to a stop. With this, I could finally rest for a moment.

[I know you must be tired, but please hang in there for just a little longer. The moment of truth should come along soon enough, and when it does, there won't be anything left standing in your way.]

My accomplice shouldn't have been able to hear what I said since I hadn't been holding down the transmission button, but from what it sounded like, they had a perfect understanding of my current situation.

"I get it, I get it…"

At this point, I was just flat-out irritated. It felt like a carrot was dangling just before my eyes, ever so slightly out of reach.

I'd been out here risking my ass all on my own since the moment the sun came up, and there was still a ton of other stuff I had to get done after this too…

My well-earned break only lasted for five short minutes, interrupted by further instructions coming through over the walkie-talkie.

[There's no sign of movement. It appears that they've stopped altogether. Do your best to conceal your presence and slowly make your way northwest. Also, don't forget to take a recording with your tablet.]

My accomplices' polite, dumbed-down way of explaining things pissed me off, but at this point, I honestly just wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

Suppressing the urge to run, I took my tablet out of my backpack and began heading northwest. Not too long afterward, I caught sight of two people off in the distance ahead of me.

I watched as Nanase, frozen in place, suddenly looked over her shoulder and said something to Ayanokōji.

Given that neither of them seemed to be wearing a backpack, I wondered if they really were taking a break after all.

I launched the camera app on my tablet and switched it over to recording mode.

And then, I slowly inched as close as possible without revealing myself, carefully hiding among the trees, but no matter how hard I concentrated, the wind was so frustratingly loud that I couldn't properly make out what they were saying.

A surge of impatience coursed through my veins.

My blood was boiling over with the gnawing desire to see them start hitting each other already.

I might've been able to get a better idea of what their situation was like if I could just hear what they were talking about, but it was too dangerous.

If I tried getting any closer than this, I'd run the risk of getting spotted by Nanase now that she had her head turned.

For the time being, I needed to rein in my emotions. It'd be a little dicey, but my only choice at this point was to calm down and work my way around in search of a better, safer angle.

I held my breath as I quietly began to move.

After distancing myself from them a bit, my plan was to skirt around the perimeter and───

"W─!?!"

Even though I should've been completely alone, a hand suddenly came out of nowhere and grabbed my shoulder.

And just as I was about to raise my voice in shock, another hand immediately reached to cover up my mouth.

Faced with such an unexpected turn of events, I quickly began to panic.

As I did, a pair of glossy, alluring lips crept close to my ear.

"Shh~ I get you're surprised but you've like, gotta be quiet, Kushida-senpai. It'd be waaay bad if Ayanokōji-senpai and Nanase-chan caught onto you, yeah?"

From those sultry lips came a knowing voice that seemed as if it could pierce straight through my very soul.

It was none other than Amasawa Ichika from Class 1-A, a girl who I had never had a formal conversation with before. In fact, you could even say that this was effectively our first time meeting each other.

And yet, Amasawa clearly knew me, given that she knew my name.

After being effectively dragged away from where Ayanokōji and Nanase were, Amasawa finally let go of me.

"Uhm… Why are you here, Amasawa-san?"

I managed to somewhat regain my composure as I addressed her, eager to get her to fuck off.

If the fight were to break out while I was wasting time with her, then everything would be ruined.

I could feel my blood pressure rising, but even so, I couldn't afford to lose my cool here.

"I just happened to be passing through when I saw you acting all sneaky-sneaky, Senpai."

"I wasn't 'acting sneaky'. I was just… well, taking a walk on my own, that's all."

I knew that this was a poor excuse. After all, I was acting independently, separated from my group.

Anyone with eyes could see that this was a strange situation.

Moreover, Amasawa herself had already said that it would be bad if Ayanokōji and Nanase caught on to what I was doing.

As such, it'd make sense that she somehow knew about what I was really up to.

Though, from what I'd been told, a select portion of the first-years already knew about me anyway.

"Hmmm… That so?"

Amasawa approached me with a somewhat suspicious look in her eyes.

Come to think of it, how'd this Amasawa chick manage to get all the way out here without so much as a tablet or even a backpa───

SMACK!!!

A dry, out-of-place sound echoed throughout the forest. It, of course, was no doubt drowned out by the overbearing sound of the wind.

Just as I began to wonder where the sound had come from, I felt a sharp, stinging pain well up in my right cheek and covered it up with my hand.

"W-what!?"

"You came poking your nose around in the mountains all on your own, so like, what are you really trynna get at, Senpai?"

"W-what do you mean? What are you talking about Amasawa-san!?"

"Oh? I'm real excited to see how long you can keep hiding behind that mask of yours~."

She drew closer once again as I feigned a sense of terror and fear over the fact that she had suddenly slapped me across the face.

"S-stop!"

"No way I'm gonna stop now, silly~"

Saying that, she raised an open palm up in the air.

I immediately tried to cower back and protect myself, but she forced her way past nonetheless.

SMACK!!!

This time, she hit my other cheek and she hit hard.

Despite my best attempt to block it, I simply couldn't keep up with her overwhelming speed.

"D-do you even understand what you're doing!? You can't do this!"

"I know it may not seem like it, but I'm being pretty gentle with you. It totally shouldn't hurt that bad."

"Why though!? None of this makes any sense!"

"So you don't get it, huh~? Well alrighty then. I wonder if you'll start connecting the dots if I start smacking you with my fist instead~?"

"What?"

My brain was still in the middle of processing her words when my vision suddenly began to warp and distort.

I only registered the sound of something being struck a little afterward, and before I knew it, I was already on the ground looking up at the cloudy, overcast sky.

Did… Did I get punched just now…?

I felt an increasingly warm sensation on the side of my face, as if blood was slowly pooling up underneath the skin.

My cheek began to burn and swell, aching with pain.

"…wha, ah… Ah!!"

"I'll betcha that one hurt a lil' didn't it? Gotta say, you don't usually get to experience getting beaten up like this, do ya?"

I couldn't make sense of it. This chick had come flying out of nowhere and started picking a fight with me, but why???

And the fact that she was being so excessively violent made it all make even less sense.

"So, how about I go for your other cheek next?"

With that, Amasawa started approaching me all over again.

Right now, the only thing I knew for sure was that this wasn't just some sick joke of hers.

I wanted to avoid being beaten senseless any more than I already had, no matter the cost.

I did my best to ward off Amasawa's outstretched hand, pushing her arm away.

"Ah, uh, I-I'm sorry for pushing you, but you just hit me so suddenly…"

"Still acting like a goody two shoes are you? You see, I know you real, reeeal well Kushida-senpai. You're a nasty, vile woman who's totally caught up in that cute lil' face of yours. You feast off other people's deepest darkest secrets, and if you ever get into trouble, you'll gladly self-destruct just to drag everyone else down along with you. A real piece of work through and through, ain'tcha?"

"I don't really understand what you're talking about Amasawa-san… B-but, violence isn't… allowed, right?"

"Then why don'tcha go and cry to school about it? You might even be able to get me expelled. But just know that if you do that I'll have to leave behind a parting gift, okay? Just for you, I'll expose a~l~l of the dark, dirty middle school secrets you've been trying so hard to keep hidden and take away your status."

"How…?"

Amasawa's sudden appearance without so much as a bottle of water in hand wasn't just some mere coincidence. No… Something was very wrong here.

"How do I know your secret? From the look on your face, it seems you're thinking I heard it from Ayanokōji-senpai?"

She looked at me with eyes that seemed to see through everything.

"But, that would be in~correct. Nothing in this world gets past me. I'm a special existence, after all."

"Nothing in this world…"

"How about I give you an example? Ah, what about that time you tried to cozy up to Student Council President Nagumo, but got turned away at the door? Well, honestly, even if that ended up working out for you, I doubt he'd be willing to support your cause now that Horikita-senpai's joined the student council."

"How… How do you even know about tha─!"

"Oh dear oh dear, how indeed~?"

Amasawa smiled down at me as if I was just some toy for her to play with, and just like that, I had reached the very limit of my patience.

"Who… Who fucking told you!?!?"

"Ooo, you've finally shown your true colors! That said, you really need to shush, yeah? I get that the island is real huge so it may seem like there's no one around right now, but there's no telling when someone else might show up."

Amasawa crouched down and playfully tapped me on the nose, giving me a gentle, patronizing warning.

That rotten, smug, condescending attitude of hers pissed me off to no end.

"Stop it, you shitty bitch!"

In a fit of uncontrollable rage, a voice burst forth from the bottom of my heart.

If you had only ever seen the outward mask of the girl named 'Kushida Kikyō', then my words just now would probably seem surprising.

But Amasawa didn't seem surprised at all. Rather, she let out a giddy laugh.

"Ahahahaha! Mmm, now this suits you much, much better Kushida-senpai~!"

Sure enough, this chick knew all about me, about the things I'd done.

In fact, she seemed to know far, far more than the likes of Ayanokōji and Horikita…

"What… What the hell are you!?"

"I'm not sure how to respond to a question like that. I'm just… well, I'm just here to save Ayanokōji-senpai."

"Save? Huh?"

"Don't try and hide it, Kushida-senpai. I can see through your every move. You were planning on finding some dirt on Ayanokōji-senpai with that tablet you dropped over there to try and get him expelled, right?"

"I don't understand what you mean. Find dirt on him with my tablet? Huh?"

Shit. This chick had already seen through everything… Some small part of me knew that it was pointless to try and resist any longer, but even so, I felt that I had no choice but to continue to do so, denying the truth until the bitter end.

"You've been in a class together with him for over a year already, and yet you still don't understand anything, do ya Senpai? There's like, no way Ayanokōji-senpai would feel threatened by such a shallow display of thinking."

Amasawa turned her gaze toward where Ayanokōji and Nanase should be.

"Aaah, I really wanted to sit back and watch from a front-row seat. I'm sure he'll defeat Nanase-chan without even hurting her. I reeeally wanted to see it~."

After mumbling a few words to herself, she turned back to face me again.

"I don't know who put you up to this, but you're really letting yourself get used, huh Kushida-senpai? No matter what things are like over there with Nanase-chan, I'm fairly certain that Ayanokōji-senpai's already noticed what you've been up to. There's no way he wouldn't, given like, how much of a silly amateur you are."

"B-but I've put plenty of distance between us…!"

"Eh? Plenty of distance, hmmm? Did I just hear you admit that you've been stalking him?"

"W-well… I-I just thought those two being together was kinda weird is all…"

"So you followed them out of curiosity? Headed up this rough mountain trail all on your own?"

I felt like I should stop making excuses and answer her honestly, but my habitual impulse to try and escape won out in the end. I had no choice but to recognize Amasawa as a formidable enemy.

"It's got nothing to do with you."

"Yes yes, I had a hunch you'd still be uncooperative. But, the thing is, it actually has quite a lot to do with me. After all, Ayanokōji-senpai is a very special person to me."

"Huh? What the heck…? Do you like him?"

"I'd rather you not come to such a vulgar conclusion~. It's not that I 'like' him romantically or anything, it's more that I 'love' him…? No, I suppose it's much, much more than that… A feeling that goes far beyond the likes of love."

"What?"

"I said what I said. Anyway, I've gone outta my way to tell you a lot, so how about you head down the mountain and go back to your group like a good girl. The weather's gonna turn bad any time now. This'll prolly be your last chance to turn back."

"…Don't fuck with me!"

I took a clump of wet soil in hand and threw it at Amasawa as a means of rejection.

"I'm going to get dirt on Ayanokōji and get him kicked outta here, no matter what it takes…!"

"Even if you get him expelled, that's not going to solve anything. You do know that right?"

I had come all this way, desperate to see my ambitions fulfilled.

For all that, there was no way I'd back down to an underclassman like her and leave empty-handed.

"I'll say it again. Ayanokōji-senpai is a very special person to me. I'll never allow him to get expelled by an outsider like you."

Amasawa reached out and mercilessly grabbed hold of my bangs, wrenching up my head to draw my eyes level with her own.

"Ah!!! Let go of me!"

"Now why would I do that~?"

Amasawa's colorful eyes seemed like hollow, empty voids; The eyes of a person who had lost touch with reality.

My body began to tremble as my instincts told me to escape, pleading for me to run away.

"You freak! You're not normal…!"

"How curious~! To think you'd start shaking in fear of a girl younger than you. But, well, I think it's best you cherish that wonderful feeling, Kushida-senpai~."

Amasawa spoke highly of me in a strange, almost insulting way.

She continued on, clearly uninterested in hearing what I had to say in response to this.

"You think you're cuter than everyone, smarter than everyone, better than everyone… In short, you're just hopelessly in love with yourself, aren't you Kushida-senpai? Your mouth waters at the thought of asserting your dominance, always eager to take hold of other people's secrets. Nonetheless, you hate the thought of losing that control you crave, forever unable to forgive those that know your secrets. Personally, I don't mind this messed-up personality of yours."

I held back the urge to talk back and instead looked to process the situation.

Clearly, this chick… this bitch already knew everything there was to know about me.

For the time being, I had to cast aside questions like 'how' and 'why'.

With that in mind, I calmed my racing heart and stood up.

"Earlier… What exactly were you trying to say?"

I sorted out the rest of my thoughts, finally regaining my composure.

The more I let my emotions get the better of me, the more I'd get caught up in her pace.

"You know, it's really quite amazing you made it this far on your own. Sure you've got your tablet and someone helping you, but like, that doesn't change the fact that you walked here with your own two legs. You must've had quite a hard time lying to your fellow group members too. After all, breaking away from your group comes with quite a bit of risk, now doesn't it? You toe the line of expulsion more and more by cutting back on the points you earn─"

Once again, Amasawa knocked me off my feet and proceeded to look down on me from above.

"However, cute lil' Kushida-senpai wouldn't overlook something so simple, now would she? Even if your actions put your group's position at risk and you sank to the bottom of the leaderboards, I assume you've at least saved up the private points needed to ensure your own survival, yes?"

Needless to say, her assumption hit right on the money.

I was only acting so recklessly because I had secured the two million points necessary to stay out of danger.

1.3 million of which had come from my own pocket, with 'that guy' having supplied me the rest.

"I'll never lose… No matter what, I'll never give up until the very end…"

"Well then~, just how do you plan on doing that~? Seems to me like you're putty in my hands right now, Senpai."

What Amasawa was saying was true, but…

"─So what? Sure you've been able to mess with me, but when exactly did I lose?"

The flames of determination burning within me would never be extinguished because of something so trivial.

Instead of feeling shaken, I gradually began to regain a hold over my emotions.

There was no need to panic. This just meant that I'd have to get rid of Amasawa as well. I'd get rid of anyone and everyone that got in my way.

But, that wasn't the only thing.

"Oh…? This is far more than I imagined. You sure are one nasty bitch, Kushida-senpai, but there's still one thing I admire about you. Your strength, strength in a mental sense that is, is quite praiseworthy. Rather than fear, it's more like you're overflowing with hatred. And it's not just directed at me, but at anyone who finds out the truth about your past."

Without so much as brushing the dirt and mud off my jersey, I stood back up again, just as I would no matter how many times it would take.

If I had to, I'd even knock Amasawa off her feet right here, right now.

"Don't bother. You wouldn't stand a chance against me even if I had my hands tied. Toodles~, Kushida-senpai~"

She spoke as if she knew exactly what I was planning and proceeded to turn her back to me, giving me a perfect opportunity to throw myself at her.

There was nothing going through my mind other than the tantalizing thought of pushing her over and pinning her down against the ground.

However, she had apparently predicted that I'd do this as she effortlessly sidestepped my strike just in the nick of time.

Not even a second later, my legs were swept out from under me as I found myself crashing down yet again. This had happened so many times now that I had lost count.

"G-gah…! Shit!"

"We don't get along very well, do we Senpai? I know you treat other people's secrets like weapons to get what you want, but I don't have any you can use against me. Even if you try to threaten me with violence, I'm stronger than most boys are. I'm also not particularly close with anyone, so taking a hostage won't work either. If I had to come up with something, I suppose Ayanokōji-senpai could be considered somewhat of a weakness, but… for someone like you, beating him would be just about as difficult as beating me. Are we on the same page?"

She prattled on and on with the same kind of condescendingly casual tone that a shitty teacher would use.

"Well, how about you, like, give up now? I've still gotta go see Ayanokōji-senpai."

"…What are you gonna do? Tell him I've been stalking him?"

"No no, I already told you there's no point in doing that, silly. He already knows. But, who knows, maybe things'll play out exactly how you want them to, Kushida-senpai. Maybe this little spat with Nanase will end up with Ayanokōji-senpai getting kicked out of school. Sounds like your dream come true."

"…After Ayankōji's out of here, it'll be your turn… I'll crush you for sure."

"Aww, Kushida-senpai~. That's cute, but the outcome of our match was decided before it even began. I get that having those who know your secret expelled is your only way of protecting yourself, but that really only works with gentlemen like Ayanokōji-senpai who don't go around telling everybody the truth. If it were me, I'd do everything in my power to make sure your secret gets out before leaving the school, you do know that right?"

"Hah…! Don't make me laugh. It's true a shitty brat like you'd probably go and run their mouth about it, but it's not like anyone would believe you. Most would probably pass it off as nonsense from someone who's about to be expelled."

"Well, sure? I doubt that very many would believe everything I say. However, it'd still manage to put a crack in the superficially flawless persona of 'Kushida Kikyō' you've created for yourself. Isn't that more than enough?"

Having apparently said all that she felt necessary, Amasawa disappeared into the forest, headed toward where Ayanokōji and Nanase were.

It wouldn't be impossible for me to chase after her, but if I did… there wasn't a doubt in my mind that she'd respond mercilessly.

She'd probably choose to spread the secrets I hold without the slightest hesitation.

And that would spell my complete and utter defeat.

I sat in the forest alone, paralyzed, staring up at the sky.

Ever so faintly, raindrops began to fall through the gaps of the dense foliage above.

They landed on my cheeks and proceeded to trickle down the back of my neck.

"I… What am I even doing…?"

I voiced my spiritless words to myself. Everything felt hollow. So much so that I couldn't even find it in me to feel angry.

First Ayanokōji and now Amasawa… people threatening to disturb my calm, peaceful life kept showing up one after the other.

No… It wasn't just those two.

They weren't the only reasons why I had been forced to grovel with my knees down in the mud here today.

I began to recall where all of this had started… The reason why it had ended up like this in the first place.

4

On the fifth day of my time on the uninhabited island, I encountered a lone first-year student.

Simply running into another student wasn't a particularly unusual occurrence. If one had been left to travel as they pleased throughout such a vast, spacious island, it's only natural that they'd eventually cross paths with someone, be they a classmate or not. But such instances were, for the most part, merely coincidences.

However, as far as this specific encounter was concerned, things were a little different. I had been contacted via a walkie-talkie I had secretly been entrusted with, and deliberately made arrangements to meet with this student ahead of time.

After all, given the circumstances, I had no other choice but to meet up in person. I was greeted with a smiling face when we finally saw one another, a smile that I responded to with my own as I drew closer.

And then, after confirming that there was nobody else in the surrounding area, I broke the ice.

"I received your report over the walkie-talkie this morning. You're going to explain what happened, right?"

After a brief pause with no response, I decided to tack on the first-year student's name as well.

"Yagami-kun."

The de-facto leader of Class 1-B: Yagami Takuya.

"Thank you very much for coming all the way out here on such short notice."

"You can drop the formalities. I'm asking you to explain yourself."

In response to my urgency, Yagami averted his gaze as if troubled by something.

Shortly thereafter, he turned back and locked eyes with me once again.

"Things have their way of taking a turn for the unexpected from time to time, Kushida-senpai."

The way he spoke as though this was someone else's problem absolutely infuriated me.

It didn't seem like this was going to get anywhere with me continuing to hide behind my mask.

"What do you mean 'unexpected'? It's your fault that those first-years found out about my past, right?"

Back when Yagami contacted me this morning, he told me that a group of first-year students, Takahashi Osamu from Class 1-A, Tsubaki Sakurako and Utomiya Riku from Class 1-C, and Hōsen Kazuomi from Class 1-D, had pressured him into confessing about me. Allegedly, the four of them had been suspicious of our relationship from fairly early on and it had apparently been impossible for Yagami to talk his way out of it.

This was by no means a problem that could just be swept under the rug with the type of half-assed response he was giving me.

"Please allow me to apologize for that."

"Seriously? Even if you apologize, it's not like it's gonna change anything."

There were now four more people who knew my secret.

At this point, there was nothing I could do about it on my own anymore.

"Tsubaki-san and the others had been more informed than I anticipated. It was a surprise for me too."

"A surprise? How stupid."

"Please calm down Kushida-senpai. Tsubaki-san and the other first-years aren't what's important right now."

"What?"

"Their objective is purely to get Ayanokōji-senpai expelled from the school. I don't think they're very interested in what your past is like, Kushida-senpai."

It didn't matter if they were interested in it or not.

I simply couldn't stand the thought of living in the same general space as someone who had their hands on my sensitive information.

Just why couldn't anyone else understand that?

"Besides, those four are all first-year students. They basically have nothing to do with a second-year like you, Kushida-senpai."

"Hah! Don't make me laugh… You do know we're in the middle of fighting each other on a freaking island right now, right? When the time comes that I have to go against them, they'll have something to lord over my head!"

Inevitably, this would end up putting me at a disadvantage.

If they blackmailed me with the threat of disclosing everything, it wouldn't matter what school year they were in; I'd have no choice but to comply with their every demand.

"Yes, I suppose that's true. Looking at it from Senpai's perspective, that must be awfully important."

Yagami conceded, admitting to understanding where I was coming from.

"That being said, it would be nigh-impossible to get those four expelled right now. Or am I wrong?"

"Are you looking down on me? You'd best not get too carried away."

"…I'm sorry. However, I still feel as though I made the best choice at the time."

How exactly was it the 'best choice' to blab about my secrets without my permission?

I just barely managed to suppress the urge to sock him right in the nose as he continued.

"Do you remember what I told you back on the cruise ship? About how I was devising a strategy to expel Ayanokōji-senpai?"

Of course I remembered that.

Yagami had come up with a secret plan to force Ayanokōji out of school, one that he was going to implement once we were actually on the island.

However, he had only handed me a walkie-talkie at the time, leaving me in the dark about the exact details of what he was up to.

"For your sake, Kushida-senpai, I'll add on a few things to my strategy."

"Add on?"

"Once Ayanokōji-senpai has been dealt with, I'll make sure to have those four… unwelcome individuals shown to the exit as well. That should take care of the problem, right?"

Yagami spoke without so much as a trace of guilt lining his voice.

"For now, let's think about getting a leg up on the rest of them. As it currently stands, even if Ayanokōji-senpai's expulsion goes by without a hitch, most of the credit will go to Tsubaki-san and the rest of Class 1-C. You and I won't get a very large cut of the 20 million."

"I don't care about the points."

"I understand, but having a huge sum of points at your disposal makes for a better safety net to fall back on."

This entire time, I had been reluctantly going along with all of Yagami's ideas.

Even if I didn't want to, I didn't really have any other choice given the situation I was in.

However, I was at my limit. I couldn't afford to sit around on this sinking ship any longer.

"I'm done with you. It's already clear enough that I decided to follow the wrong person."

I hadn't come all the way here today just to have Yagami order me around like this.

Rather, I came to draw the line and distance myself from him.

"You can still come back from this."

"It's already too late."

"No, it isn't too late at all. In fact, I'd say that this is your chance."

"Wha…?"

"Currently, Ayanokōji-senpai has his hands full with Nanase-san clinging onto him."

"Nanase? Isn't she that girl from Class 1-D? Don't tell me she als─"

"Please don't worry. You can rest assured that Nanase-san knows nothing about your past, Senpai."

"You know I can't trust anything you say anymore, right?"

"I truly apologize for betraying your trust. But, please, at least hear me out."

Even though I had been making it painfully clear how irritated I was for quite a while now, Yagami simply refused to stop talking.

"I told you previously that she's working with Hōsen-kun to try and get Ayanokōji-senpai expelled, right? Well, I have a general idea of what their strategy is this time around as well."

"…So? What is it? Talk."

"Given that Hōsen-kun is the one who came up with it, I'm fairly certain it'll revolve around violence."

"Violence? That'd be problematic, but I guess the Acting Director did say the school would be looking past any minor disputes that popped up between students. I can't imagine that'd be enough to warrant expulsion though."

"If it's nothing more than a light scuffle, then yeah, that might be true. But what if it's violent to the point of turning into a gruesome bloodbath? What then?"

"Hōsen certainly seems brutal enough to do something like that, but he'll be the only one expelled if Ayanokōji one-sidedly gets his ass handed to him, right?"

Although Ayanokōji would be disqualified from the exam due to his injuries, I found it hard to believe that he would be expelled on top of that.

"I don't think Hōsen-kun will be the one squaring off with Ayanokōji-senpai this time. As you said, Hōsen-kun's already got a bit of a reputation, so if a fight were to break out, he'd bear the brunt of the school's suspicion."

"If you say that, then…"

"Yes. The one facing off with Ayanokōji-senpai will instead be Nanase-san. Although, even if she raises her hand against him, I can't imagine that he'll strike back right away. However, if she really puts her all into it, he'll inevitably have to do something to keep her at bay. Perhaps he'll actually end up hitting her? Or maybe he'll get on top of her and pin her down? Either way, the spectacle would surely be quite unsightly."

Indeed, if those two were to duke it out with each other… well, needless to say, it would be a big deal.

"So… You're saying their plan is to have Nanase tell the school that Ayanokōji beat her up…?"

"Precisely, and that's why we need to keep an eye on her. Once she takes action, we'll strike while the iron is hot."

"Say you're right about all of this, it's not like we can do anything if we don't know when the fight'll happen, right? It's not like we can just hover around them 24-7."

"I've already got that covered. A certain somebody told me which day it'll be taking place."

"A certain somebody…?"

"While I can't disclose their identity, they're definitely trustworthy. Anyway, Nanase-san will be making her move on the seventh day of the exam. Though the exact timeframe is still unclear, chances are that once they've gotten somewhere remote enough…"

Then and there, things would start getting ugly.

"So, what exactly is your plan here? Your plan to get a leg up on the other first-years?"

"Our tablets come with the ability to record videos, right? If we use that to record their fight, it'd be possible for us to get our hands on incriminating video evidence."

If we turned the video evidence of their fight over to the school, expulsion would certainly be on the table.

"But, a single video might not be enough to guarantee his expulsion."

"It'd at least be enough to use as a threat. It's even possible that he might choose to drop out on his own accord."

I understood the gist of what Yagami was trying to tell me.

If it really ended up playing out the way he said it would, taking a recording would indeed give us the upper hand.

"I'd like to entrust the job of recording the video to you, Kushida-senpai."

"Huh? Why does it have to be me…? Can't you just do it yourself?"

"Compared to me, it won't seem unnatural if you're the one approaching him."

"That's what you think. Ayanokōji's already super wary of me."

"I'm a guy. At some level, it'd be expected of me to step up and intervene if a fight were to break out in front of me, making it too suspicious if I were to just stand there and take a video. However, you'd have the excuse of just being a delicate, terrified girl who, despite not being brave enough to intervene directly, at least managed to turn on her tablet and record what was happening. You'd be able to represent righteousness, refusing to cower in the face of injustice even though the perpetrator was a fellow classmate."

"While righteousness is great and all, I might end up being scorned by my peers for selling out one of my own."

"In that case, you can just give the video to me. I'll just say I got it from an anonymous source and leave it at that."

Yagami was trying his best to persuade me, but as far as I was concerned, I was perfectly fine with letting Nanase or whoever else get rid of Ayanokōji for me.

That being said, it'd also be worthwhile for me to put in the effort if it meant increasing the odds of success, even if only by 1%.

"I just don't want to be on a sinking ship any longer."

"Naturally."

"… So what's your role in all of this? Are you just gonna pile this on me and wash your hands of it?"

"Of course not. On the day of, I'll be providing you back up over the walkie-talkie. Once the 'GPS Search' feature is made available tomorrow, I'll be able to relay Ayanokōji-senpai's location to you at any time. That way, you'll be able to maintain a safe distance while you tail them. Plus…"

"Plus?"

"There's a chance Tsubaki-san is conspiring something too. She might try and pull something at the same time as us, so I'll be poking around to try and find out what they're up to as well."

"What about that Utomiya guy you're in a group with?"

"He's nothing more than Tsubaki-san's pawn. There's no need to worry about him being up to anything."

It was important, if not necessary, to take anything Yagami had to say with a grain of salt.

But right now, I didn't really have much of a say in the matter anyway.

"You'll do it for me, right Kushida-senpai?"

"…It's not like I've got any other choice."

There was no way out for me anymore.

For the sake of protecting my position at this school… My status…

I couldn't afford to allow myself any more mistakes.