#87 Survival Test 11
"Look, there are more reasons why I usually don't go out of my way to engage more in our class's strategic meetings, however, if I should name one most important is to not draw too much attention to myself..." Yuichi said to Mei with a bitter smile.
"But...Why? Wouldn't you be able to make more decisions and have more people support you this way if your ideas were to be true?" Mei asked with a thoughtful expression while looking up at the treetops.
"You must understand that there doesn't exist only a positive attention, I have learned that much through the hard lesson." Yuichi said with a nostalgic expression while staring emptily into the forest.
'?!' Yuichi frowned a bit when he felt like they were being watched. He has always been sensitive to such things due to his popularity in Junior high school. It made him able to completely ignore those curious stares but he was also able to perceive when no one is actually looking at him.
"...?! You don't mean to say... T-That had nothing to do with you being popular! Why do you keep blaming yourself for him being bullied, Yu-chan?!" Mei perceived Yuichi's change in expression as a pained one so she almost shouted at him with a worried face while tightly grasping both his hands.
'We are relatively close to Class B's camp, so it would be no wonder if someone from there were here, observing us. I shouldn't make any moves that would indicate that I am aware of their presence. If they are truly someone from Class B, I might even be able to invoke sympathy from them and their overall trust in me might also increase.' Yuichi had a general idea about the students from Class 1-B, they were usually polite, non-trouble seekers, usually people from Class 1-B made a lot of friends even from other classes.
"I don't blame myself, at least not anymore. It's in the past, I can't change it even if I want to, and blaming myself for it also won't help anything. The only thing I might feel is regret for not hearing from him anymore, however, ...that might even be better this way. Instead of dwelling on my past mistakes, I should focus on the future so I will no longer make the same mistakes." Yuichi said in a lower voice, supposedly making it more gentle but in truth, he was just making it harder for the observer to hear.
"...Sometimes, you make me think that you are too mature. But at least I don't have to worry about you!" Mei said with a cheerful smile.
"Right...Shall we continue towards Class B's base camp? But first..." Yuichi no longer felt as if he was being watched so he thought that their observer left once they heard that Yuichi's destination is Class B's base camp.
Yuichi looked down at his hands, still in Mei's tight grasp which made her to also look down at her hands.
"Ah! I am sorry!" Mei quickly let go of Yuichi's hands while bashfully retracting her hands.
"No worries, if you are too scared in this forest, we can always walk hand in hand~" Yuichi suggested with a bright smile, showing off his white teeth while winking at Mei.
"W-Who is scared here?!" Mei replied in embarrassment while keeping her head down, looking at the ground in front of her as she was walking.
"Well, the offer stands even if you are not scared" Yuichi said in a very low voice with his hands behind the back in a relaxed manner.
"huh? What?" Mei suddenly looked up at his face with a myriad of emotions displaying on her face...confusion, surprise, slight happiness. She questioned Yuichi because she couldn't hear his words clearly but she could presume what he probably meant to say.
However, she immediately regretted her actions because as she looked up at his face, he released a teasing smile which made her face turn red in anger.
"Hmph!" Mei turned her head away from him, pretending to ignore him.
'Is this what others would normally call flirting? Or is this just teasing? I am not really well versed in this, either way, it doesn't feel bad, looking at her cute response.
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The two of them were talking to each other the entire way to Class B's camp and they got so absorbed in their talk that they only noticed that they arrived once they stepped inside the camp. Obviously, a lot of other people also noticed them but they just looked at them before quickly returning to their business.
"Oh! Hi, Iwamura-kun, Mei-san!" When Ichinose noticed them, she quickly came running to them with a big smile on her face.
"Hello, Ichinose-san."
"Hi~!"
Both greeted her back, Mei more cheerfully than Yuichi.
"Did you two come to take a look at our camp? I have already heard from Kanzaki-kun that yours is positioned in a pretty good location." Ichinose asked with a friendly smile, welcoming both of them even though they were enemies in this test.
"You are really kind Ichinose...It could be said that we are enemies yet you even welcome us here. Anyway, that's right, we are just taking a look around, your camp looks pretty good too, to be honest, even better than ours. Your class's teamwork is something to behold." Yuichi said with a faint smile.
"Hehe, stop with the flattery. This camp's location isn't that good but still acceptable. Anyway, you two are really close, heeh" Ichinose giggled before replying with a faint blush. She also leaned forward and started looking back and forth between Mei and Yuichi which caused Mei to take a small step back out of embarrassment.
"Of course we are close, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Still, I had no idea Ichinose-san has also a teasing nature to her." Yuichi exclaimed while putting his right hand on top of Mei's head and started ruffling her hair.
"ah! Stop it, you are going to ruin my hairstyle!" Mei shouted, trying to get rid of Yuichi's hand that seemed to be glued to her head.
"Hahaha" Ichinose started laughing after seeing this which caused both Mei and Yuichi to stop their "fight" and both looked at Ichinose with questioning looks.
'From all interactions I had with Ichinose, she seems to be genuinely kind without any ulterior motives but I think it's not so simple...She is way too kind, however, that kindness feels genuine polar opposite from Kushida's kindness. What in the world would have caused her to be so kind...some stressful situation from the past for sure. Well, we aren't that big friends so I can't just ask and even if I was, I doubt any of her friends know about it. That's the only thing that keeps me from fully cooperating with her." Yuichi thought behind his confused expression, he was already thinking whether to help Class B to close their gap with Class A and at the same time, trying to sabotage Class A. By doing this, he would make Class A focus all their attention on Class B and only one he would have to look out for would be Class C.
He was also fairly sure that there was no need to sabotage Class A, thinking they would sabotage themselves by having 2 leaders. Anyone who could lead Class A must be a proud and stubborn individual so he was sure that 2 leaders would lead the civil war among their class before focusing on the class underneath them that might catch up to them.
"Sorry, sorry...Let me show you around as a form of apology for teasing you." Ichinose said with a smile before she started showing them all kinds of items they bought by exchanging their points.
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"Aren't you practically telling us how many points you have already spent by showing us all items you bought?" Mei asked with a confused expression.
"Well, I would like to think of Class D as an ally, after all, it is the most beneficial for us to cooperate, isn't that right?" Ichinose asked with an almost pleading look in her eyes but that could have been just Yuichi's imagination.
"Under normal circumstances? Yes. However, we might become Class C after this test, which would make you our primary target next." Yuichi said while shrugging his shoulders.
"True enough but I think our classes are pretty friendly to each other unlike the other 2."
"Well...If you truly want to cooperate, we can arrange something like that. But I am not here as my class's representative, I am here as a stranded person named Iwamura Yuichi, heh." Yuichi said before he lightly laughed, indicating that he wasn't the one making decisions in his class.
"Hihi, I think I know what you mean by that. Anyway, what such a stranded person as you require from us? Shelter? Food?" Ichinose giggled and played along with Yuichi.
"I am not such an ungrateful person as to come and ask for something without giving something in return even though I have nothing in my pockets, I can still give you something for the last time you have helped me before we start this "trading". Have you already seen the Class C's state?"