Chapter 14

Hikigaya didnt really want to get caught by Class C by himself.

It was merely for recon.

Maybe Ishizaki was stupid enough to not remember his face when he had stolen one million points from Class C.

But he didn't want to risk it.

Also, he had little interactions with other classes in general, so it would be awkward if he just walked up to Class C.

But he did want to see a glimpse of Shiina. She was timid, that one.

Approaching the beach, he saw something either completely unexpected.

Class C were enjoying their vacation with jet skis, volleyball, and actual meat other than fish!

Hikigaya looked at Class C with envy.

But after a few seconds of thinking, he understood a gist of what Class C was planning to do.

A zero point strategy. The S-Points couldn't go into the negatives, so when they finish having fun, Hikigaya assumed that a majority of the people in Class C were going to drop out with some makeshift excuse with one person left as the leader.

Hikigaya didn't know how they were going to figure out the leaders, but there was probably something else that came with it…

He looked at where Ryuen was sitting, with a large and well built black man and Ishizaki near him.

On the small table next to him was a walkie talkie.

That meant that he was communicating with someone. It probably wasn't Class D, as they were supposed to be their rivals. Class B was the most likely possibility.

But why…

Were they teaming up?

Until Hikigaya came to a reason conclusion.

If Class C was going to use the zero point strategy then they would probably give their supplies to Class B. That made sense.

That meant that sometime today or tomorrow, the rest of Class C were going to resign, so there was no need to worry about Shiina.

Hikigaya knew that Shiina wasn't particularly athletic, rather she was one of the more of the less athletic people so it was good to know that she wasn't going to have to experience the outdoors for longer than necessary.

But it was unusual.

Why would they use all their points?

He counted the number of the people on the beach just in case and it came up to 38.

There were two people missing.

…

…Ah,

So that was Ryuen's plan.

Because there couldn't be negative points, he would probably strike up a deal with Class B in exchange for something, probably monthly payment in return for their supplies.

Knowing Ryuen, he would probably betray Class B despite all that.

So that meant that he was playing the game of guessing the class leaders.

Hikigaya assumed that once he returned from his rounds, he would find a Class C student in the camp.

Still, the maximum class points that Ryuen could possibly earn would amount to 150, and if he got even one Class's leader wrong, he wouldn't get 50 and would also lose 50.

So if he made one mistake, it would lead to him losing 100 possible Class Points, and another 50 if someone guessed Class C's leader.

A high risk and high reward strategy, and if the alliance with Class B included paying Class C points, then even if Class C didn't get any Class Points they would still get something.

Hikigaya had to give some respect to Ryuen. If there was a guy that excelled at backstabbing and using underhanded tactics, then it would be Ryuen hands down.

Hikigaya had thought himself a shrewd man, but Ryuen was worse.

But if it would be a guessing game, then there needed to be at least one person to vote for the possible Class Leaders, and that meant that Ryuen would probably be the one who stayed on the island by himself.

Ryuen seemed like the type of person who'd only trust in himself anyways despite his cronies.

Still, it was unfortunate that Hikigaya's plan perfectly countered his.

Because his plan was to prevent anyone from knowing who the leader was by switching before the exam ended.

This meant that even if Ryuen discovered that he was the leader through his spy or by himself earlier then he switched, Ryuen would get his plan discovered.

So all Hikigaya had to do was to vote Ryuen, and Ryuen would get 0 Points.

'Unlucky,'

Hikigaya thought, looking at his watch.

An hour left.

Since the spies would probably leave once they have conclusive and tangible evidence of the leader, they were probably equipped with a camera or something similar.

Hikigaya remembered being able to buy a camera with S-Points, so it was probably that.

He looked at the visible bought items, writing them down in a notepad that Ichinose had handed him when he said he was going scouting before his rounds.

If they're communicating with the spies and Class B, there would be 4 radios bought, and 2 cameras bought. He would have to look at the buyable stuff when he returned.

Hikigaya made his way to his first location in his round.

—+—

Once again coming back with 29 spots occupied, he came back to a strange sight.

Ichinose was… smelling a towel?

Or maybe she was just wiping off her sweat. She was consistently close to the fireplace after all.

"Yo, I'm back."

Ichinose jumped in surprise, turning her head in his direction with an expression like she had been caught jacking off or something.

"W-welcome back!"

Her face was as red as a tomato.

'Was she that embarassed from wiping her sweat?'

Well, there was no reason to tease her when she was already that embarassed.

"So what happened while I was gone?"

Hikigaya asked.

It seemed Ichinose got her act together relatively quickly, taking deep breaths to calm down.

"O-oh! First of all, a Class C student joined us cause he got kicked out by Ryuen for disagreeing with spending all his money."

Called it.

"So where's he now?"

Ichinose pointed in a random direction.

"He's with the other boys, fishing. They said they would be back by 6, so in 2 hours."

Perfect timing.

"He's a spy by the way,"

Ichinose looked surprised.

"I thought that too, but Ryuen does seem like the type of person to do that, and he looked genuinely annoyed."

Ichinose explained.

"No, he's got a communicator."

"I also think Ryuen has a contract with Class B by giving them some supplies before they all resign. So they would have 4 total communicators and a way to have proof of the Class Leaders."

Ichinose looked confused.

Hikigaya looked at Ichinose's confused expression before realizing that he probably should have started with the beginning.

"Wait, let me start from the beginning."

Ichinose nodded.

"So, you know how Class C is buying leisure items and goofing around?"

Ichinose nodded in agreement.

"I'm pretty sure Class C has a contract with Class B after the class resigns for extra points."

Another nod.

"But Ryuen doesn't seem like the type to just take zero S-Points by the end, right?"

"Yeah, from when Class C had tried to frame Sudo, Ryuen doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd just end with a deal with Class B,"

Ichinose agreed.

"Since you can't have negative points, he's probably going to try and guess the Class Leaders for more points. If you asked Class D, they probably also have a Class C student right?"

"Oh yeah, D Class said that the alliance would last for this exam, so they don't guess our Class Leader and we don't guess theirs. Also, how'd you know that D Class had a C Class student?"

That just meant less work for Hikigaya.

"It's because they're spies."

Hikigaya explained, and Ichinose's expression changed from confused to an expression of realization.

"Also like I said earlier, I looked over at what they bought, and wrote it down, with the exception of the communicator. If my theory is right, then there would probably be enough money for 4 communicators and 2 cameras,"

Hikigaya explained. Ichinose took out a small booklet and started doing the math of the remaining points that C Class would have.

"You're right, Hikigaya-kun, there's enough money for 4 communicators and 2 cameras!"

Ichinose exclaimed.

"Yeah, and since they're going for a guessing game, then there should be at least one person staying on this island to vote."

"So you think that person's Ryuen?"

Hikigaya nodded.

"Yep."

"So we kick Kaneda out?"

So Kaneda was his name.

"No, it's better for him to know who our leader is."

"Oh, because of our strategy, right?"

"Yeah. Our strategy counters Ryuen's cause the method I devised makes it impossible to guess the leader."

"Lucky!"

Ichinose exclaimed.

"Yeah, it really is,"

"Hikigaya you're way smarter than I thought!"

"Oi."

Ichinose giggled.

"I'm joking!"

"You better be, also I don't remember if I thanked you earlier, but thanks for waking me up at 6. It was the exact perfect time for me to wake up,"

Ichinose smiled. She already knew.

"No problem! So you're staying for dinner and leaving 2 hours after roll call?"

"Nah, since we figured out Class C's leader, I should at least figure out Class B's before I come back."

"It also just happens that one spot expires during the gap after roll call and my round."

Hikigaya noted.

"Then after that, you'll stay at home base for the rest of the time, right?"

Ichinose asked.

Hikigaya could imagine the puppy eyes.

"Yeah"

Ichinose smiled.

"So is dinner fish again?"

Hikigaya asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Fish and corn! Maybe some berries,"

Ichinose replied.

Damn it.

At least there would be a little sweetness in his meal.

A/N: I'm lowkey noticing that the chapters are shorter than normal, but I'm finding fire spots to end a chaper so I'm satisfied. I might finish the island arc by the end of today. Gotta take a cold shower in between to keep myself up though.

Ichinose might be a closet pervert?

Whatever shall I do?