#25 Karuizawa's secret

"There is no possible way we girls are gonna share our tent with a boy!" Shinohara started yelling at Ike.

"But we have only 2 tents and there are more boys than girls so where will we sleep?!" Ike fought back

Satsuki Shinohara, short blue hair, average academic ability, and average physical ability. She is quite cooperative and has good teamwork skills but she is a bit distrusting towards the boys of our class.

"What is going on?" Hirata came and tried to calm the situation.

"It's Shinohara-san again! She already disagreed with drinking water from the river and now she wants us boys to sleep outside!" Ike shouted and pointed at Shinohara.

"I just don't want to share our tent with a boy!" Shinohara yelled

"We can buy an additional tent but I think we should be able to fit in" Hirata was trying to save as many points as he could.

"But there is simply too much of boys to fit in one tent. If we will really try to fit in then I still think that one boy will have to sleep outside" Ike tried to fight for the rights of all boys in our class.

*sigh* I should say something before we will be forced to buy an additional tent just for one person.

"I don't mind sleeping outside" I raised my hand with an apathetic expression.

"Walker-kun? We can't just let anyone sleep outside, even though it is summer, the nights tend to be cold" Hirata tried to disagree with my idea.

"I don't really mind. I already experienced this a few times so there is no need to buy an additional tent" I said with determined expression to convince the Hirata.

"See? Ike-kun, why can't you be more gentleman like Walker-kun?!"

I don't really want to share a tent with a lot of people and sleeping outside will actually be more advantageous for me since I will have better view of the entire camp but it seems that girls misunderstand me...

"What?!" Ike's face turned red from anger but Hirata immediately tried to calm everyone.

"Guys, how about 1 boy and 1 girl will stay on watch at night, that would free 1 place for a person in each tent. We would be rotating shifts every hour. What do you say?" Hirata suggested with a smile.

"That's good idea, Hirata-kun. This way we will have more space and girls can watch over the boys in case they try something" Shinohara instantly agreed with his idea.

"What do you mean by that?! What do you think we are?!" This time it was Yamauchi who shouted at Shinohara.

"You are boys! That's all I need to know" Shinohara said.

That's one pretty shallow view on boys.

They kept arguing until someone came with shocking news.

"Koenji-kun dropped out! He said that he fell ill and boarded the ship"

"WHAT?!!! He just wasted 30 points like that?! I bet that he just didn't want to suffer here with us" Sudo was cursing aloud and a few students joined in.

"Everyone, please calm down! We have just lost 30 points but we can still make a lot of points by finding food instead of buying it. We already bought a portable toilet but we also saved a few points for one meal today thanks to Walker-kun. If we will minimize our expenses then we can still have around 150 points without guessing the leaders at the end of the test" Hirata's leadership really makes wonders. Everyone calmed down and became even excited about the number of points.

Having around 150 points equals 15.000 private points each month which isn't bad but for me, it isn't nearly enough. As for Koenji...he is really troublesome fellow but at least he is academically better than most of our class. You could say that he earned these 30 points he just wasted by his test scores.

While Hirata and others were discussing how to proceed I made my way towards Ayanokoji.

"I heard that you were the one who found Ibuki-san, Ayanokoji-kun" I said in a low voice.

"Hm? Yes" Ayanokoji answered shortly.

"Will you show me a place where you found her?" I asked with a small smile

"...It's pretty dark already. It will be dangerous to go now" Ayanokoji didn't want to go anywhere.

"It's either you or Yamauchi-kun or Sakura-san. But I still want to talk to you about something else so it would be convenient if you could show me the way" I said, unbothered by his uncooperativeness.

*sigh* "Shouldn't we at least inform someone?" He asked me

"No need, I already did it" I said and indicated with my hand for him to lead the way.

..

"Ayanokoji-kun, are you going to do something during this test or do I have to do all the work alone?"

"What do you mean?" He asked me with a confused expression.

When he noticed that I stopped walking after hearing his answer, he stopped too.

"You can fool people like Horikita but don't even try to play a fool before me" My eyes became cold when I stared at him.

"...I still don't ge-" Before he could finish that sentence he had to use his hands to block my elbow that was aiming for his stomach. When he blocked my elbow attack with slight difficulty, I immediately executed roundhouse kick aimed at his ribs but he retreated and my shin met with the tree but instead of injuring myself, tree cracked a bit and swayed a little but didn't fall down in the end.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked me but instead of his stoic expression, he had a bit surprised expression when he saw the cracked tree.

"Your footwork, your blocking technique. They are all part of the military moves, why does the student know such moves? Are you still going to play the fool? There aren't many things that can make me violent but unfortunately for you, trying to make a fool out of me is one of them" I already felt great desire to fight someone skillful like Ayanokoji, but this way, he was only giving me more reason to get into a fight with him which definitely wasn't a good thing since we both were from the same class.

"...I just want to lead a peaceful life but I think you aren't really normal yourself" He said while looking at the cracked tree

"I didn't say that I am normal and I don't really care how you want to live your life. It's your life so do what you want but at least give me an honest answer to my question next time. So? Are you going to do something?"

"...Maybe"

"Still not honest but much better than trying to fool me. But why would you try to help class when you want to lead a peaceful life while avoiding troubles? Let me take a guess, were you perhaps blackmailed by Sae-chan?" I asked him with an amused smile.

"Sae-chan?" He asked me with a confused and little surprised expression.

"Heh, so I was right. She is really one greedy woman. Tell me, what did she use against you?" I chuckled when I recalled how she tried to blackmail me. Unfortunately for Ayanokoji, he doesn't care about Class D or A, yet he is being forced to help our class. She tried to blackmail me but she probably realized that what I am doing is enough and she shouldn't push me too hard or it might end badly for her.

"..."

"I guess it's a bit personal so I will drop that question for now. You don't really have to worry about me as long as you won't turn against me. I also don't care about your secrets, all I wanted to know is if you will take action during this test" With this said, we resumed walking towards the spot where they found Ibuki.

"This is the place where we found her" He pointed at one tree.

I examined the area around that tree and found that there was a spot without any grass on it. I looked around a bit more but I couldn't find any tool for digging.

"Were her hands dirty when you found her?" I asked and he just nodded with a sigh.

I started to dig at the area without any grass and after a few seconds I dug out one object

"You already knew about this, didn't you?" I asked but all I received was silence.

"Well, doesn't matter. Do whatever you want, I won't interfere with your plans but we should head back before they will notice that we are gone" I put the thing back into the hole and covered it with dirt once again.

..

At night

"How did I end up here with you of all people?!" Karuizawa said to me with a hint of anger on her face.

"Why ask me? How should I know?" I answered with a blank expression and threw another branch into the campfire.

"Hmph!" Karuizawa turned around to show that she doesn't care about me.

"Still as childish as before, aren't you Kei-chan?" I poured fuel on the fire and waited for an explosion.

"D-d-d-DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She almost shouted aloud but I was able to cover her mouth in time.

"Sorry, I didn't think it would make you so embarrassed but you should be more conscious of your surroundings" I smiled at her embarrassment.

I will probably never get used to this. Calling someone with the first name is apparently something special here. Back in my past life when someone was calling his friend by surname then it could even appear as rude or indicated that you aren't actual friends.

"Hey, can I ask you something? She asked after she regained her composure.

"It's not like I can shut your mouth, neither I have to answer that question" I said indifferently

"...Why not just say yes?"

"Why not just ask the question?" I answered with a question and enjoyed the view of Karuizawa getting flustered.

"Ugh!... What is the reason?" She asked me with a sharp glare like she was staring right into my soul.

"It's about why I never came back, right?" I asked her with a little but genuine sad smile.

"Yes, I want to know the reason! Also why you never said anything or sent us a letter!" She raised her voice but instantly covered her mouth.

"...I will tell you the truth if you will answer one of my questions honestly" I said with a small delay and she nodded with a determined expression.

"What are you hiding? What happened to old Kei-chan I once knew? Why are you so conscious of the area around the torso on your body?" When I asked her this she started to shiver.

"You were bullied, right?" My statement made her look at me with a surprised expression.

"N-no, you are wrong" She tried to deny it but the truth was more than visible.

What kind of bullying had she gone through? There also must be a scar in that region. Girls are more conscious of their bodies and if they have a scar they will begin to think that they are ugly.

I checked our surroundings just to be sure no one is watching and then I sat right next to her.

"Life is unpredictable and unfair to most of the "good" people. But people adapt and learn from mistakes and misfortunes. Just because you were bullied doesn't mean you are destinated to be a weak person, pray." I put my hand on her back and after she calmed down a little, I rolled up her shirt out of nowhere and a relatively big scar appeared before me.

"?!!! What are y-?!"

"Is this that "big" secret of yours?" I interrupted her with a light smile and she instantly slapped my hand away from her shirt.

"You aren't disgusted?" She asked me with a glare

"How can I be disgusted by a small Kei-chan? To be honest with you, I think that scar is beautiful, it might sound weird but at least it proves that you are a woman that can endure tough situations and suffering"

"How do I know that you aren't just lying to me?" She asked me suspiciously.

"How? Because I have a collection of scars myself, haha" I laughed a little and showed her my bare back.

*gasp* She drew a sharp breath when she saw my back.

"H-how? What happened to you?" She had moistened eyes when she asked me.

"That's a long story maybe we can tell about our past to each other another time as for your question about my reason why I never contacted you or your mom...I simply felt that I was getting too attached to you two. I promised myself-... *sigh* That's all"

I should prepare a few things before I will make a move tonight.