3.10

Post nightfall my customary date with Kei began in my room.

Today's conversation focused on the groupings for the exam, starting with the fight between Ike and Shinohara.

"Hey… Kiyotaka, who do you plan to group up with for this uninhabited island exam?"

With a somewhat shy expression, Kei looked up at me and raised this question.

"At the moment, I've no plans to group up with anyone."

"Eh? Wh-why?"

I could sense that Kei wanted to group up with me, but I was afraid that it wouldn't be beneficial to me even if we grouped up. Not due to any lack of ability on Kei's part but it was unsuitable considering my battle with Tsukishiro.

"Forming a group undoubtedly has its own advantages. Even so, it's not that one definitely cannot win alone. Rather, it has the benefit of allowing the student to move around freely without being influenced by others. Moreover, depending upon the situation, that student can assist other groups and even join them if they are on the verge of dropping out.

"Basically, you can be more adaptable when going solo…"

Regardless of whether you were a boy or a girl, taking the exam alone was within the rules. In other words, it's also a chance for students who believed they were all-rounders to win on their own.

"If a student came in first place alone, that itself would give the class 300 class points."

"Kiyotaka, if it's you, are you able to take first place?"

"What do you think?"

Our eyes met as I threw the question back at Kei. While we gazed at each other, she was stiff while thinking.

"I feel like… You'd take first place non-nonchalantly. Eh, but wait a minute. In that case, wouldn't it be harder to say that we're dating!?"

Kei couldn't help but get panicky at the thought of the future.

"If you come in first place by yourself, Kiyotaka, I would be so ecstatic that I might just pass out and think you're so cool. But, but, ah– I don't know what would be ideal anymore!"

"You're getting overly excited. Don't worry, securing first place is not an easy task by any means."

"So, so… even you don't think you can win, Kiyotaka?"

"Let's just say, there's a 50/50 chance."

"Just answering that there's a 50% chance is already super impressive…"

"Anyway, the thing you should be worried about isn't who you should group up with, Kei."

"Eh? Isn't that important? Since I might get expelled if I'm not careful about it."

"Right, this special exam does involve expulsion. If you are in the bottom 5 groups, you'll have to face that penalty. That's why you can't randomly choose who you group up with."

"Yeah. That's why, I wanted to group up with you, Kiyotaka… I hoped you could protect me."

Kei who had invited me in a roundabout way earlier finally came out and said that straightforwardly.

"Even if I don't protect you, there's still a way to save yourself, right? That is, to keep a deposit of the amount of private points needed to nullify the expulsion."

"That's true, but…"

Although a large amount of private points were required, as long as you had them, you definitely won't be expelled.

"That's true, but even if you do form a group of 6 students in the exam, you'll still need 1 million points to avoid expulsion, right? I don't have that much."

"How much do you have left now?"

"Um… 240,000 points…. E-even so, I'm considered to be someone who has saved up a lot recently!"

Not that I was making an accusation against that.

Since I was in a similar situation, I was hardly one to assign blame.

"So you're short 760,000 points?"

I had about 250,000 on my hands. Even if I gave it all to Kei, she still wouldn't even have half the required amount.

"Kei, you've got the Free Ride card, right?"

"Yeah. How much is that card worth?

"Honestly, I can't say that it's a good card. Whether it's in a good or a bad way, the impact on yourself would be the least out of all the cards, as it's neither a card that rewards you for effort, nor a card that helps you if you commit a mistake during the exam."

Since you could only use it to bet on a group that you think would likely win, you could say that it's at the bottom of the list in terms of value.

"… Sure enough, that's true."

Kei more or less understood that from the start, and sighed in disappointment.

"Kiyotaka, your card is the Trial card, right? It's a card that has a strong effect if you win, but conversely if you lose it would be tragic… Ah, of course, I know that you'll have no problem at all. I wanted the Half Off or the Nullify card though."

For a student like Kei, it was natural that the relief cards feel more valuable than cards like the Trial card.

"It's not like there's no hope for the Free Ride card. There are probably also many students who think that the Half-Off card or the Nullify card is worthless. In their eyes, the Free Ride card also holds a certain value."

Unlike the Head Start card and the Bonus card, it wouldn't affect the students who were confident about their abilities; rather, it targeted the students at the middle of the pack who reckoned they couldn't win. Also, since most students were in the middle, it would be easy to find someone to trade with. However, cards like the Half Off card would be coveted by some students in the middle and students in the bottom. Depending upon the cardholder, even a worthless card could dazzle like a gold one.

"I'll prepare the points."

"Eh? You say you'll prepare… How?"

"There are many ways, but selling the Trial card is one way to get you the required points."

"But then, you'll have to give up the Trial card… Is that really okay?"

"It's more important to prevent you from getting expelled."

"Ye-yeah… Th-thanks."

After saying that, Kei blushed.

Soon after, our conversation shifted to the approaching summer vacation, and the room's atmosphere got more lively, but, there wasn't any further progress in our relationship.