Chapter 3 : Company

I woke up at 6:30 AM. The sun was shining brightly, and I could see it clearly even from inside the tent.

The climate was hot and humid, but when I stepped outside, a world full of green greeted me.

"I guess I was right to avoid direct sunlight from here."

It had been a good decision to set up the tent at a shaded point, even if it was a bit of a walk from my original area.

After a quick breakfast consisting of portable food and water, I packed up the tent and waited for 7:00 AM to arrive.

Most of the students were going to be up and waiting for the test to start. The main priority was to reach designated areas, but if there were any tasks nearby, I'd consider shifting to them depending on their contents and rewards.

When 7 o'clock striked, an announcement was sent to my watch.

I activated the tablet on my lap and updated the map.

My current location was D7. So where would I be moving to today? The area to go was—E8.

This designated area was closest to the location I chose to set up my tent.

It was the perfect place to aim for the arrival order reward.

Without wasting another second, I started moving.

The first day of the race was a wait-and-watch affair for me, but from

the second day onwards, I gradually increased my pace.

I soon stepped into the next designated area, and a notification of my

score appeared on my watch.

I took first place and 10 points were given as a group.

It seemed a little too much to make up for yesterday's delay.

Now it would be best if I could pick up the rest of the tasks... There weren't any tasks around that I could join in alone, and the

closest one I'd have to travel to was at E8. Considering the time it takes to travel back and forth, it was best to forget about it for now.

Since I didn't know when another task would appear, I'd have to

wait for the next updates.

1

The designated area announced at 9 AM was E6.

There, I was one too slow to reach the area and only got second

place, which awarded me with 5 points for the arrival order reward. After a break at noon, the third area was announced at 1:00 PM—

F7.

I was slightly southwest of the destination, but I went with the flow

and got second place again, gaining me 5 more points.

Most of the tasks that appeared along the way required two or more people to participate. There were probably a lot of students who went in that direction. I was thankful for the fact that I was able to work alone. Today's score was 23 points. 26 points if you included 3 points from

the first day.

If a group of 3 members had been steadily accumulating the arrival

bonuses, they would have had at least 18 points. Even with the high rankings in succession, the difference between the two was hardly significant.

The idea was a bit of a stretch, and made it easy to get side-tracked. I'd gotten second place twice in a row now. On the flip side, I'd missed out on first place twice. I didn't know who it was, but it could've been a strong rival with the same table.

Back in E6, I took a break and waited for a task that I could join to appear.

So far on that day, the previous three designated areas had been in the usual range.

This meant that the remaining one appearing at 3 PM would be the first random designation to pop up.

"Ayanokouji-senpai, it's good to see you again."

Yet again, Nanase showed up alone at the spot where I was taking a break.

This was the sixth area now. I didn't run into Nanase the other three times.

"Could it be that we have the same table?"

"Maybe."

It was no surprise that my table would be the same as Nanase's when we so often encountered each other.

However, it wasn't so much a question of whether we had the same table or not. What concerned me was the high rate of encounters between us. No matter how many times we headed to the same area, the chances of us meeting face to face should not have been so high. In addition to the different directions we went, our arrival order and staying period were also different. It didn't seem like I was being followed, so this could be brushed off as mere coincidence, but...

It's impossible to find out if Nanase actually had the same table as me without directly revealing it. Nanase was in a group with Amasawa and Housen. This means that by leaving it up to the two of them to reach the designated areas, they wouldn't be subject to any problems. They wouldn't get the arrival order rewards, but they'd still steadily accumulate two points each.

It wasn't impossible to guess from the alerts on Nanase's watch, but it was quite possible that she'd muffled out the notifications. The last two times I encountered Nanase, we only had light conversations. I thought she would leave immediately this time as well, but she stopped and turned her attention to me.

"Um, Ayanokouji-senpai. I have a favor to ask of you."

"Me?"

"If it doesn't feel like I'm intruding on you, would you be willing to

let me accompany you for a while?"

"Accompany me? What does that mean?"

No matter how likely we were to have the same table, the way this

special exam works was that it was basically impossible to cooperate with other grades. It wasn't beneficial to both sides at all.

"Actually, we had a problem in our discussion last night. Housen- kun and Amasawa-san both said that it was better to act alone, and the group fell apart."

There was no binding obligation to work together just because they were in the same group.

Of course, there were many advantages to be gained by being together, but working alone was another strategy for students who didn't mind working it.

"I've met senpai three times now since yesterday, and I believe that

Ayanokouji-senpai was quicker to reach the designated areas on all but the first occasion. I think I probably won't be able to catch up to the areas soon enough on my own."

"Don't you think I just happened to arrive early twice?"

"Maybe, but I've decided that it's still better to stick with you than work with my inexperience."

She made such a statement with determination, but I didn't think she meant it..

"I don't think it's a very wise decision to accompany someone from a different grade. It's going to affect the order in which we arrive, and there will be cases where we'll be competing in tasks, right? If you arrive at a task where only one group left is able to participate, you'll be in trouble at that point."

"I'm fine with leaving everything to Ayanokouji-senpai. I'll step in after confirming that senpai has entered the designated area first and the arrival order has been confirmed. This way, there would be no disadvantage to Ayanokouji-senpai. If there is only one slot left, I will hand over everything."

Was she willing to throw away valuable arrival order rewards and tasks?

There weren't many benefits, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

"Nanase, you will probably get fewer points this way."

"This is my first time testing on an uninhabited island, and Ayanokouji-senpai's physical abilities have already been proven in your battle with Housen-kun, so if you can choose a proper route where I can follow, it will be a great help to me."

She said it would help her, but she looked completely fine that day, even without any external help.

I still doubted it was necessary for her to accompany me.

"Even if I were to choose the right route, can you keep pace with me? Plus, the road will be rough. Are you sure you'll be able to follow me?"

I pushed the issue further, because I thought that her reply would reveal the meaning of her bizarre behavior.

However, Nanase didn't return the words that I expected her to say.

"I'm confident in my physical strength, so... look, I'm really sorry to bother you, but can't you trust me?"

Nanase teamed up with Housen and Amasawa to try and force me to leave school once.

It's true that Nanase was far from trustworthy.

But even if I refused, she was still free to follow me, and that would be something I couldn't refuse.

The journey would feel unnatural if I were to be trailed by someone without my consent. It wasn't that I couldn't forcibly make her go away, but it would be a large waste of energy. If we were indeed following the same table, I wouldn't be able to avoid meeting her again in the future.

Then should I consider allowing her to accompany me at the beginning so I could save myself a lot of trouble later on?

"All right. If you want to do that, then go ahead."

"Thank you."

Nanase smiled happily and lowered her head deeply.

"I just have to make sure we're really at the same table. You

understand, right?"

"Yes. It could be that we happened to be in the same designated area,

and that's not surprising. What will you do after this? It looks like there's still some time before the next area designation is announced."

The time just passed 1:30 PM, and I had more than an hour to spare. "Right... I think we should aim for some tasks."

Several new tasks had appeared on my tablet.

I checked out the tasks in the vicinity and hastily decided where to

move to.

Showing my tablet to her, I explained where we would be traveling

based on the map.

"It looks like a quiz task has appeared at F8 directly below us. I'm

going to go for it."

"The distance is close, too."

"Yeah. If the next area is designated too far away, I'll choose to

abandon it."

For that reason, I wanted to make sure that I had a task to perform

so I could keep scoring points.

"I understand. I'll go with you."

In fact, I wanted to aim for the "Lifting" task that appeared in E5,

but the journey there was tougher and the distance was longer compared to aiming for F8.

For now, I'd see how well Nanase could keep pace with me.

2

"We should be able to see it soon." "Yeah."

I stepped into F8 for the task and proceeded to check my position with my tablet in hand.

"By the way, senpai, the hurdle of the task you're about to take on seems to be a bit high."

"There are certainly many parts that can't be read when it comes to quizzes."

For "Quiz" type tasks, there was a mechanism where each task was selected from multiple genres and then assigned.

Anyone could participate in this contest because of the four-choice format, but it would be difficult to win if you couldn't solve humanities and science-related questions in a consistent manner. Participation was in groups, and up to 12 groups could participate. In other words, the greater the number of people in a group, the more brains there would be to utilize, and the more advantages the group would have.

"However, depending on the genre, there should be plenty of opportunities to score points."

"Maybe so, but... you really wanted to take on this task in E5, didn't you?"

Seeing this, Nanase decided to compromise for me, or so she said.

"It's true that I was in a hurry, but that was only half of it. If you're concerned about it, I'll just say now that there's nothing to it."

"I hope so, but I'm just accompanying you on my own, so please make the same choices as you normally would without me, okay?"

"I don't need to be reminded. Plus, when it comes to rewards, quizzes are better."

The rewards were 8 points for 1st place, 4 points for 2nd place and 2 points for 3rd place. Additional rewards would be given according to the number of people in the current group. You had the option of choosing from a list and given food and water.

It was also a great way to replenish the amount of food and water I had consumed in the previous two days.

We reached a point where we could finally see the quiz task.

It seemed that a good number of people had already gathered there. "Oh, Ayanokouji! There's only three slots left, hurry up and

register!"

Noticing our presence, my classmate Sudou beckoned me by

shouting.

"Looks like it. Let's hurry up."

Nodding, Nanase and I rushed to register for the task.

The details and genre of the questions were not open to the public,

but what kind of contents would it have?

The deadline was more than 30 minutes away. We could either wait

until the timer ran out, or until the last remaining group arrived to participate.

Ike was waiting for the quiz to start at a little distance away, but he wasn't smiling.

I could see that his expression was somewhat blank and dazed. Hondou also seemed to be having a hard time talking to him, so he was passing the time by himself. The main redeeming factor of Sudou's group was the teamwork that stemmed from their friendship, but I was doubtful that it was working to any degree.

"How are you doing?"

I asked Sudou, who was the only enthusiastic person around. "Points wise, it's going smoothly. I took third place in one of the

designated areas today, and first place twice in a few tasks."

"I couldn't make it to participate, but I saw you taking first in the

grip test task. The results were overwhelming."

"Gee, so you intended to participate? Lucky you didn't since I

wouldn't have won, heh."

He showed a gesture of wiping sweat from his forehead in a slightly

forced manner.

"What about your group? Have you guys ran into any problems?" "Well, our water supply ran out sooner than planned... I think we've

skipped on that part a little too much."

It seemed there was an adverse effect of fighting at full throttle on

both the first and second day.

"But, you know, I'm glad this task can replenish it. We'll be okay

for now, but..."

Sudou's face showed a difficult expression as he spoke up.

"It's just that, Ike... That guy, well... he's a little down right now." "Why?"

"Well... he'd been acting a little crazy even before the exam started,

but I didn't think much of it then."

After all, it seemed that the matter with Shinohara was still strongly

lingering in his mind.

More than half of the second day on the uninhabited island had

already passed.

In the meantime, Shinohara, who Ike possessed a vested interest in,

was in the same group as his rival Komiya.

It's not surprising that he was feeling concerned about her.

"I'm a bit curious about that, but tasks are tasks. If the three of you

work together as a group, it won't be hard to get top spots in the rankings."

"Yeah. Oh, by the way, you are going alone, right? Must be tough." "It's so-so. I get by with the tasks I've chosen for myself."

Sudou suddenly noticed Nanase's presence standing beside me and

turned his gaze to her.

"Wait... that's a first year, right? What's her name again...?" Sudou was present in the dispute with Housen back then, so Nanase

naturally looked familiar to him.

"I'm Nanase, Sudou-senpai."

Sudou's face immediately became serious, scrunching up his nose

at the cute girl in front of him.

"...Come here for a moment, Ayanokouji."

He lightly placed his arm around my neck and pulled me a distance

away from Nanase.

"Why are you going around with her when she's our enemy? What

the hell are you doing?"

"She just asked to accompany me. There's a good chance we have

the same table of routes."

"Huh? She asked to accompany you just because you guys have the

same table? Isn't she trying to get you expelled from school again with Housen? That's dangerous."

Apparently, Sudou was worried about me.

"Maybe."

In fact, I knew Nanase was accompanying me for a reason.

"You don't feel any sense of crisis at all... Well, you seem like

you'll ride it out, so I guess it's fair that you're not too worried about it... But if you're having any trouble, let me know, okay?"

I nodde in response to his sentiment, and Sudou's expression changed to one of reluctant understanding.

"I thought I'd tell Nanase she's a bother to you, but since you're okay with it, I won't butt in any further."

Immediately after he said that, the last group had finished registering and started to prepare for the task.

"Well, see you soon. Like you said, the tasks are tasks, so let's do our best."

Sudou returned to Ike and Hondou, and all of the 12 groups of participants took out their tablets for the questions. When the time came, the genre of the quiz was announced on our tablets all at once.

Genre: "General Anime"

A-Anime...? The first question immediately began showing without giving my mind any time to process the letters that filled up my tablet screen.

Question 1: Which of the following is the title of the 13th episode of the TV anime Mobile Squire Bomdam?

1.) Farewell Bomdam 2.) Burning Bomdam 3.) Scream Bomdam 4.) Bomdam's Tears

"...What is this?"

I couldn't help but blurt out something to myself.

It was obvious from the genre and the question that the quiz was

anime-related, but I had no idea what the answer was. "Seriously? This is a piece of cake!"

Hondou, holding his tablet nearby, exclaimed excitedly. Easy? The problem?

To begin with, Bomdam... What is a "Bomdam?"

Clearly, it was far from my area of expertise, but it was still a task, so I had to do my best.

There was no reason to panic. As long as there were 4 choices, I'd

have a 25% chance of getting the correct answer.

If I had to make a guess, only choice number 4 had "Bomdam" at

the front of the title, unlike the titles of choices 1 to 3. Was that a clue? I decided to take that gamble and chose number 4. Shortly after, when the time limit was up, the answer was displayed.

Correct Answer: 2.) Burning Bomdam.

My reasoning was in vain, and I got the answer wrong.

Feeling slightly dizzy under the blazing sun, I focused my attention on the second question.

Question 2: Who sang the theme song for the TV anime Datsu Chicken?

However, reality was often cruel and unforgiving.

I was confronted again with the fact that a genre which I could solve had not been chosen.

Of course, I didn't know the answer to the second question as well, and all of the answers looked the same.

I realized that it was a waste of time for me to have been participating in this.

I wished for a miracle where my choices would continue to be correct, proceeding to tap on the appropriate numbers.

10 minutes and 20 grueling questions later, I quietly closed my tablet.

The number of correct answers I had was 4, and my final percentage was 20%. It ended with a result below my expectations. It wasn't surprising that I took last place, but it was Sudou's group which took first. Their correct answer rate was an astounding 95%. Ike and Hondou were pretty strong on these types of questions. This exam didn't just involve simple academic and physical strength—a wide range of knowledge could prove useful. It's exactly the kind of good precedent that Chabashira was talking about.

"They were all difficult problems, weren't they?"

Nanase's percentage of correct answers was 25%, about the same as mine.

In short, I could say that I had no knowledge about anime. Looking

at the overall percentage of correct answers, more than half of the participating groups must have had a similar impression to mine.

"We did it, Kanji!"

In the same group, Sudou raised his hand in joy to high five Ike and Hondou.

"...yeah."

Ike replied with a concerning lack of energy as he connected his high five with Sudou and Hondou. Looking at this, I wondered whether I should tell Sudou about my worries or not.

Even though we had encountered each other twice before, there was no guarantee that we would ever see each other again in the future. If Ike found out during the exam that Shinohara and Komiya, for example, were dating or had a close relationship with each other, he would be expected to be distraught.

However, it's highly questionable whether Sudou was the right person to tell this to. Sudou showed remarkable growth academically, athletically, and even more so mentally, but whether he could take care of others delicately was a different matter.

"What's wrong?"

Since the task was over, there was no point in staying here anymore. Knowing this, Nanase was curious to ask.

"Do you have any thoughts about Sudou-senpai's group?"

Nanase, who was observing closely as a third party, precisely

pinpointed the matter at hand.

"You want to know about Sudou's group, Nanase? I believe you're

already acquainted with Sudou, or at least his name might ring a bell or two."

"Yes, can you tell me about the rest of the group?"

"To Sudou's left is Kanji Ike, and to his right is Ryoutarou Hondou, both of whom are usually the type of people who do questionable things to show off... or should I say the good-natured ones. But they're also the class mood-makers."

The easiest way to explain it, I'm sure, was to make it sound like that.

That's probably not too far off from reality, I added in my mind.

"They're not the most academically gifted bunch, but Sudou has enough strength to make up for it and Ike has sufficient knowledge on how to live on an uninhabited island. Hondou is... um, he's lively, I

guess."

Not a bad combination if you saw special exams as one fun game to

play.

"Ike-senpai and Hondou-senpai, huh? But as mood-makers... Ike-

senpai doesn't seem to be doing well. Is he feeling sick?"

Even Nanase, who had never interacted with him face-to-face,

seemed to be able to see it clearly.

Certainly, if you only saw him in this one situation, he wouldn't look

like the type of person who was a mood-maker at all.

"It's true that he's always been a big part of the class. He's a little

out of sorts right now, though. Physically, he's fine."

"So, in other words, that's what Ayanokouji-senpai is concerned

about."

After talking this far, Nanase must have been able to figure it out. "Well, yes, I am talking about that. It's a worrisome situation, but

I'd rather not worry about it so much. We couldn't even scrape third place in the quiz, but got the lowest ranks instead, while Sudou's group took first. Whatever the combination, the group that scored the most points is the better group."

Worrying about Sudou's group, who had a higher overall score compared to me, would be considered overkill.

"This special exam is where you can fight by making the most out of your specialties. You can feel the implications by the school. Not only is this uninhabited island reserved, but is on a larger scale as well which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of various students."

I may have sounded cruel here, but there hadn't been many opportunities for Ike and Hondou to play an active role in school so far. A student would mainly focus on their academics and athletics, and

inevitably, students who weren't good at both would be buried.

But in this special exam, there were many other elements that could fall right into their areas of expertise. Before the exam, I was worried about Sudou's unbalanced group, but it looked like they'd do well after

all.

That's why Ike's mental and physical condition, which right now

were a little anxiety-inducing, was such a tricky thing to tackle...

If he was in perfect condition, he could've been a dark horse capable

of overturning his whole reputation.

But still... I thought to myself as I watched the exam proctor who

had finished their tasks and were beginning to clean up. Even though this high school was much different from other normal ones, the amount of money spent on large ships, equipment, and personnel costs for one special exam were still extraordinary. Last year's uninhabited island was quite something, but this year's was something else entirely.

It wasn't just the financial part, but the content was very different as well. Last time, the students of each class were required to act as one unit, but this time there were many small groups of students going around this large uninhabited island. There was a risk that minor disputes between students could lead to major unexpected problems.

Injuries and physical problems were also important. Scratches or light fevers wouldn't be a problem, but some could lead to more serious injuries, like fractured bones.

School officials wouldn't have time to relax until the two-week exam was over.

"It's time to go."

It was preferable to move on to the next designated area or seek a task by now.

"Senpai, before we leave, may I ask you a favor?"

Before I could walk away, Nanase came around to my front and looked up at me.

"Once again, please choose the ideal route for yourself without any consideration of my presence."

In this uninhabited island test, even if you did well once or twice, you wouldn't win, and you'd need to be consistent in order to finish in the top spots during the two-week long competition. And while the greater the number of people in a group, the greater the advantage, if you were on your own, you'd have to score more points than everyone else.

"I'll say it again too. I won't take your presence into account, so don't worry about it."

The way I would fight had already been set in stone.

The rules of this special test and the students' thoughts were the key to this fight.

If she interfered with that, I wouldn't have allowed Nanase to accompany me from the beginning.

"I'm relieved to hear that. Thank you."

I checked my watch and took out my tablet.

It was time for the first random designation to be announced, and we checked the location on our tablets. The designated area was I7.

To get there on the shortest route, we had to go over a mountain. However, if I chose to use a safer detour, it'd be quite a long journey. But that was a problem since such a distance would make it near

impossible for me to reach the designated area.

"Shall we leave?"

"Yes. But first, Nanase, I need to see your tablet."

"Ah, that's right. We haven't decided if we had the same table yet." I expected to see some kind of resistance, but Nanase took out a

tablet from her backpack and opened the map without hiding it. And her own designated area proved to be I7.

"I think senpai and I have the same table."

"That's right."

It's possible that another table had received the same random area

designation, but looking at the history so far, I was certain our tables were one and the same.

"Let's proceed to the designated area now. Should we use the shortest route?"

"No, I'm not going to push us to score in the designated area this time, so we're going for G8 and G9 this time, which has some tasks for us to do. I think we're going to end up in those two areas today."

Both tasks were subject exams, specifically being "Math Test" and "English Test."

As long as I could make it for participation, I'd for sure score some points there.

"So, where will you be setting up camp today?"

"Right... The first designated area tomorrow will be around I7. If we get too close to it, there's a risk that we might accidentally step on the designated area. I'd like to avoid that if possible."

If I was trying to avoid pushing myself, it was best to travel to H9 to set up a campsite, which could serve a solid starting point.

"I think I'll walk to H9 and set up camp there after finishing the tasks."

After listening to my explanation, Nanase nodded and agreed without complaints.

"Hey, Ayanokouji, did you say you were going to camp at H9 now?" Sudou, who was about to move after completing the task, called out.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"No, our next designated area is H9. Which route are you going to take?"

"For now, I'm going to take the Math and English tests in E8 and E9."

"Ugh, I was planning to avoid that..."

Sudou muttered as he scratched his head, obviously repulsed by the contents of the tasks.

Perhaps Sudou and the others were heading for other tasks in E9, though it would be a bit far away.

"If you want, why don't we meet up later so we can camp together? It's more exciting with friends. I'd like to hear some advice from you regarding how we should advance, too."

It was an unexpected suggestion from Sudou, but it wasn't a bad idea. Above all, a positive attitude should be prioritised. Even here, Ike was stuck in an endless pit of depression.

It was to the extent where he'd think everything was intentional, even in the face of a simple coincidence.

"It's going to be difficult to meet up with you in the woods, so how about we meet up on the beach at G9?"

If it was on the beach, then we'd be able to find each other without much problem, so it was certainly a good proposal.

"All right. What about the time?"

"You'll have to reach your designated area first. How about at 5:30 PM?"

Then, after participating in the tasks, we would be able to join without any problems.

"All right. 5:30 PM on the beach of G9 it is."

Sudou and his group set out in a different direction for the time being in order to take on tasks different from ours.

Well, it'd be impossible to ask that group to solve Math and English problems anyway.

It was only natural to tackle the tasks that we were good at.

"I'm going to spend today with their group. Is that okay with you, Nanase?"

She didn't necessarily feel comfortable spending time with a group of guys.

Still, I guess it was better than having to spend the first few days of

camping alone with me.

"It's okay. I think it'll give me some good opportunities to talk to

them."

Above all, she seemed to have taken it in a favorable light.

3

It was about 5:30 PM. Sudou and the others seemed to have reached their designated area in H9, so they came to meet up with us on the beach.

"What are your results?"

"Not very good... We went to do three tasks, and we came first in one of them, but the other two had crazy competition so we couldn't even participate."

Sudou clicked his tongue in frustration while exhaling strongly. Considering that they didn't make it to register, it was clear that there were a lot of students nearby.

"We've only just finished the second day, don't get too worked up about it."

Their pace was a bit too fast for their own good, as Sudou himself said. Sudou was confident in his power and stamina, and it would've been nice to see him lead the unruly Ike, but no person could sustain a consistent pace indefinitely.

Hondou, in particular, looked wounded and out of breath. I'm sure he disliked the harshness of this exam, but seeing as he didn't make a single complaint, I'd say he was keeping it all to himself.

"I guess we'll just have to find a place to camp for now. What do you think, Kanji?"

When they asked Ike for advice, he pointed toward the forest, albeit somewhat blankly.

"Let's go back to H9 for now. There was an open area over there earlier, so that's a good place to go."

Sudou replied apathetically, and I followed him as we began to move.

"I can't really feel the mood-maker in him, as senpai said earlier." "A lot of things going on around him right now."

"A lot of things?"

"I'm reluctant to talk about it without his permission. If it bothers you, you can ask him directly."

"All right. I'll ask him sometime."

Nanase responded without hesitation. But whether Ike would answer honestly or not was another matter.

We then followed Ike for twenty minutes or so and came to an open point.

This was a good enough place for three or four groups to bundle up and live together without any problems.

"Let's set up a tent and get some food, I'm hungry."

Sudou, who must have moved around quite a bit, rubbed his stomach.

Then Sudou and Hondou looked expectantly at Ike.

The reason was obvious, seeing as how a fishing rod was poking out of Ike's backpack. However, without noticing their expectants stares, Ike stood there in a daze.

"Hey, Kanji. You're not going fishing today, are you?"

Sudou urged in anticipation of that due to our close proximity to the ocean.

"Eh? Y-yeah... It's late and I'm pretty tired right now. Sorry about that."

If he was planning to fish, he would have stayed on the beach when their group joined us.

Or maybe he just hadn't got around to doing it yet.

"Well, it can't be helped then."

He looked disappointed, but quickly backed down, not wanting to

force himself.

Shaking his head to keep his consciousness firmly in place, Ike

began to prepare his tent.

"It's like his mind isn't even there anymore."

Even Nanase, who didn't know a thing about the situation, could see

it clearly, so it was obvious that Ike was out of his usual self.

4

Dinner was over and the sun had already set. It was around 8 PM, and each one of us was spending our free time by ourselves. Despite it being clear, it wasn't wise for us to be walking around the forest at night with the addition of insects and mosquitoes around, so we had to stay in our tents.

Inevitably, conversations were had through the tents, taking advantage of the thin mesh fabric of the tent.

The tents belonging to Nanase, Ike and I were lined up side by side, with Sudou and Hondou across from us.

"Nanase-chan is a Class D student. You don't seem like one at all, though..."

He enjoyed talking to girls, and Hondou talked to Nanase more than anyone else on this occasion.

"No. I'm not a very accomplished person, so... I think it's appropriate for me to be in Class D."

"Well, I don't think so. I mean, we're the ones who choose for ourselves, aren't we?"

Hondou laughed out loud, as if his words were even remotely hilarious, but Sudou merely lay down, looking up at the ceiling of his tent instead of trying to participate in the conversation. A hard expression was visible on his face. I couldn't see Ike, though he wasn't really participating in the conversation, only occasionally giving a few nods.

"I don't think it's all that exciting. What happened to Kanji and Ken?"

"It's nothing. But Ryoutarou...You should stop trusting Nanase." "W-what's that?"

Not believing the attitude he had for the cute kouhai, Hondou looked

at Sudou as he pressed his face to the mesh fabric.

"What? It's nothing. I'm just telling the truth."

"I don't understand what you mean."

"It's fine, Hondou-senpai. I was rude to Sudou-senpai before, so..." "Eh? Did Ken sexually harass Nanase-chan or something?"

"I didn't do that."

Hondou was convinced by Sudou's denial, even though he had no proof.

"Well, you and Horikita are pretty single-minded. So what the hell happened to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Sudou turned his back to the entrance of his tent.

Kazoumi Housen, a Class 1-D student who treated Sudou's heroine,

Horikita, without any mercy. And Nanase, who cooperated with Housen before, was right here.

It was natural for Sudou, who knew the details of what had happened, to be wary of Nanase. If Horikita was here, he would have said the same thing. Hondou may not have agreed with it, but as long as Nanase herself said she didn't mind, he had no right to pursue it further.

"Well, but... Kanji is Kanji, I guess."

"Oh, I'm not... I'm perfectly fine."

Ike got upset when the topic of the conversation moved to him. "That ain't fine at all. I'm going to say it now, but you've been acting

weird since before the exam, you know?"

"I agree with that. You haven't been normal since then."

Sudou, as if he was interested in this matter, switched his stance and

turned his head toward the entrance.

"Nah, you two. It's not like that, you know, it's just that the

uninhabited island exam... I mean, I'm just nervous that I might be expelled from school."

"What are you nervous about? You were so motivated when you heard about the uninhabited island exam."

Ike, who had prior camping experience, had a certain amount of success in last year's uninhabited island exam. His best friends, who knew this well, were not easily fooled.

"Well, um... It's just that..."

In response to Ike, who was unable to answer, Nanase turned her gaze to the next tent and opened her mouth.

"I just met you, but I've also noticed that you seem to be somewhat listless."

"What do you think, Ayanokouji?"

I had been trying to just listen in, but Hondou decided to ask me for my opinion.

It would've been more natural for me to honestly agree with him at the moment, seeing the flow of the conversation.

"I felt that a bit as well when we met up today."

"See? All four of us know you're not fine. You can see that, right?"

Ike, who was being driven into a corner, could not think of a good way to escape as his mouth quivered, and only empty air came out.

"I heard from Ayanokouji-senpai that Ike-senpai and Hondou- senpai are mood makers, but Ike-senpai seems kind of weird all the time... Are you worried about something?"

It wasn't hard to imagine how surprised he was by Nanase's words, which struck soundly at the core of his problem despite not having any context.

"Well, I mean, what can I say...?"

Ike was desperately trying to find words for a rebuttal.

"Nah, man. If you've got a problem, just spill it."

"It's not a big deal anyway, right?"

Being his two best—yet worst—friends, they felt that Ike's troubles

were trivial.

That was why they tried to draw it out of him by being frank with

each other.

But this time, apparently, it only weighed down Ike's nearly

unhinged mouth.

"It's nothing, really..."

"Can't you give him a moment?"

Nanase, who had been watching the scene from the side, said so

quietly to Sudou and Hondou.

Sudou looked miffed for a moment, but then realized it when he saw

Ike's troubled face beside Nanase.

He realized that the thing Ike was troubled about was more severe

than he originally thought.

"You don't need to say it, Nanase-chan. It's seriously not that big of

a deal, you know?"

"Maybe it's a little early to assume that, don't you think? Let's wait

and see, Ryoutarou."

"Eh? Y-yeah... that's right."

Reading the atmosphere was by no means Sudou's forte.

Nevertheless, it seemed he had gradually learned to perceive things by watching his surroundings. This could be said to be a result of Horikita's support. This created an atmosphere where all four of us were quietly watching and not trying to hurry things up.

Of course, it wasn't easy to talk in such a situation, but at the same time, they could no longer run away hastily. All that was left to wait for

was for Ike to ready himself up for this situation.

Eventually, after nearly ten minutes of silence, Ike began to speak

as if he had made up his mind.

"Actually... I... I have a girl I've been interested in for a long

time..."

Sudou and Hondou looked at each other through the tent with

surprised expressions.

And in the next moment, Hondou felt that an interesting topic was

dropped and grew excited.

"W-What? Who is it?!"

"Let's wait until Ike-senpai says it."

Nanase lightly stopped Hondou, who was groping at Ike to talk

about it.

It's hard to believe that simply having someone you like would get

you to such a state of mind, but Nanase understood that something was ahead of us all.

"N-No. But... A topic like this carries so much weight!"

"Why don't you calm down and wait for Ike-senpai's words? Isn't it more important to find out how that relates to this current situation than which person he likes?"

Nanase stopped Hondou's momentum with calm yet meaningful words.

"Yeah, I guess so."

He scratched the back of his head, wondering to himself just how insensitive he sounded, while being chided by a junior.

"The person I like is..."

The two boys listening to the story must've been imagining lots of things in their heads.

Was the person in the same grade, or were they a senior or a junior? If they were in the same year, were they classmates or not?

They were probably thinking of Kushida, Ichinose, or some other

girl who was popular with the boys.

"The person I like is... S-Shinohara... Satsuki Shinohara."

With the name revealed, Sudou and Hondou seemed to be unable to

comprehend it for a bit.

They must have thought it was impossible, since she was basically

considered Ike's quarrelling companion.

In terms of looks alone, she did not rank very high. It was no wonder

that they were confused by Ike's remarks, when he used to boast about going out with cute girls on a daily basis.

"B-but Kanji. You never got along with Shinohara? You even said she's ugly."

Hondou couldn't help but touch on the most important factor.

"It's not like I was aware of Shinohara from the beginning. I didn't like her at first. But... I don't know what it was, but at some point I started to care about her... But I didn't want to admit it to myself, so I just pretended I didn't like her."

There were no falsehoods in those words. This was because it was normal to see Ike and Shinohara constantly bickering in class every day. "I mean, if you like Shinohara, why don't you just go ahead and tell

her?"

Ike immediately responded to Sudou's encouragement, which could

be considered coarse.

"The situation isn't the same anymore."

"Something's up, isn't there?"

"It's just that Komiya is in a group with Shinohara right now. That

guy probably likes her."

It was only up to this point where Sudou and Hondou began to see

the situation.

"And that Shinohara... she looks at Komiya as if he's a special

person to her."

Men and women who were conscious of each other shared the same

group in this uninhabited island exam. It was an important battle with expulsion on the line, so the conditions were right for them to bond in the face of splitting off forever.

"I noticed that I liked Shinohara a while ago... So I really wanted to be the first to work with her on this uninhabited island, but I couldn't find it in myself to be honest. I'm sorry I haven't been fighting as usual... I've been looking for Shinohara, even today..."

Ike was looking somewhere above the sky. That line of sight must have followed Shinohara's shadow to the ends of the world.

"I might have misunderstood it for some time. Even though we're always arguing, I'm really wondering if Shinohara likes me or not. I still don't know what to do."

Like he said, it wasn't though they necessarily disliked, or even hated, each other. Still, no one is able to easily guess the other person's

true feelings.

That was something I myself experienced firsthand when I

confessed my feelings to Kei the other day.

"Ike-senpai can't be honest with her, right? I don't think that's a bad

thing."

After listening to the conversation, Nanase responded with what she

thought of Ike.

"But... Shinohara teamed up with that Komiya guy. That's called

moving through impulse, right?"

"I don't know. I think Shinohara-senpai was expecting to draw the

line."

"Draw the line...?"

"I understand that Ike-senpai is usually cheerful and jovial to

everyone, and is someone who can easily say what he thinks. Of course, I think Shinohara-senpai appreciates such a person, Ike-senpai. But I'm sure she wishes she was the most important person to you."

In other words, Ike's words were too lightly spoken.

"I think she wanted you to convey your feelings of her more honestly."

It was true that Ike had a fondness for Shinohara.

And I believe that Shinohara also had no small amount of fondness for Ike.

But Ike always continued to tease Shinohara, sometimes making fun of her and treating her like she wasn't of the opposite gender.

However, Nanase said that it was not enough.

"I'm..."

"Would you be happy if the woman you like always irritates you,

Ike-senpai? Conveying hidden feelings under some other context is fine, but if it doesn't get through to them, it's useless. Haven't you ever wished for people to take you more seriously?"

There was something to be seen by placing himself in Shinohara's position.

I wondered if the person I had been thinking of talked to me in the same way all the time.

"...Damn."

Ike held his head in his hands. He was probably remembering how he'd treated Shinohara so far, while trying to understand how he would take it if she did that to him. No, he was starting to understand already,

and that was why he had his head buried in thoughts.

"I'm not saying that worrying is a bad thing. But right now, we're in

the middle of a special examination where our position in school is at stake. Not only will you be expelled from school, but Sudou-senpai and Hondou-senpai will be involved as well. I understand that you want to go after Shinohara-senpai, but the first thing you have to do is to fight and survive."

I noticed that everyone here was listening intently to Nanase's words.

And not just because she was answering Ike's concerns more sincerely than any of his best friends.

"If you can't see her, if you can't see someone you love anymore, you'll never be able to convey that feeling of love...!"

Just by hearing Nanase's voice, you didn't even need to see her face to know.

"Hey, why are you crying?"

Sudou, who had been wary of Nanase the whole time, panicked when he saw her tears.

"Don't you think time is too much at stake here to be thinking about such things, Ike-senpai?"

It didn't matter that she was crying. She asked Ike anyway. "...That's right. First of all, I have to finish this special exam safely." As a junior, Nanase's words seemed to have sunk into Ike's mind

more than he could have imagined.

"I'm sorry, Ken, Ryoutarou. I've probably caused you guys more trouble than I realized during these past two days, haven't I?"

Sudou responded to Ike's regret—

"No, I don't think... Actually, yeah, maybe just a little."

He couldn't deny that Ike had caused some trouble for his group, but on the contrary, it was probably a good thing.

"I'm honestly still worried about Shinohara. But... it won't make sense if I don't get through this special exam first. Otherwise, everything will be thrown away."

"Yeah, that's right, Kanji!"

Hondou agreed and shouted to liven us up.

Sometimes, a bad friend may be a pain to be around, but at other times, they are irreplaceable.

The discussion that night definitely taught me this lesson.

As for Nanase's tears—it was hard to believe that she was just pretending or crying in the heat of the moment.