Volume 13 - Chapter 5: An Invitation

Intro

As the prelude of the Uninhabited Island Special exam came to an end, skirmishes flared up from place to place, However these were but the final remnants of what was an extremely tense period. With only one week left, the group formation stage was entering its climax. By this point, more than 90% of the students at the school were in small groups of 2 or 3, and now their fates were bound together. Ishizaki, Matsushita, and the others who had invited me to join their groups had gradually given up on trying to do so. After all, the later you formed a group, the more danger you'd be in.

I wonder what the remaining 10% will decide to do by next Friday. While I was pondering upon that, I received an email. It was a little after 9:30 AM on a Saturday morning, and the sender was Ishizaki from Class 2-B. I've been in touch with him a lot lately, but this time, the content was different from what I usually received from him. He asked me to come to the cafe as Ryuuen was calling me. The wording of the email didn't make it seem like a request, so I guess they weren't giving me a choice in the matter..

Of course, I could have turned him down, but then they would hold Ishizaki responsible for that. Although I had plans to hang out with the Ayanokouji Group today, they were thankfully for around 1:00pm, so this probably wouldn't affect that. So I got ready, and 15 minutes later, I was on my way to Keyaki mall.

15 minutes would be enough to get there on time. As the group formation stage was just about coming to a close, it seemed like Ryuuen was breaking the silence he had maintained and was finally making his move.

As of now, Ryuuen hasn't formed a group with anyone. It is possible that he would invite me to his group, but I don't think it was likely. Following this line of thought, I'm interested in what he would say beside that.

On my way to the Keyaki mall, I ran into Kanzaki, who was probably on his way back from the convenience store.

Two 2-liter plastic bottles could be seen in his plastic bag.

"Going to Keyaki mall at this time?"

"I won't have any time to relax after the exam starts, after all."

Since I had time to spare, I went up to him to talk.

"It seems like most of the people in Class D have formed groups, but you're still on your own?"

"Unlike the others, I don't have many friends, so."

I was hoping to exchange a few jokes and have a light conversation, but Kanzaki remained serious.

"You and Horikita, are both of you going to act as reinforcements for your class's groups? After all, excellent students could leave their mark in any group during the exam."

Recently, as Kanzaki's opinion of me rose, he also became more wary of me. Therefore, to him that must've seemed like the only possibility,

"At least for now. You're still solo, Kanzaki, so that must mean you're performing that role as well."

Class C's Kanzaki was the same. He hadn't teamed up with anyone yet.

"Ayanokouji, Ichinose seems to trust you a lot, but can 'we' really trust you?"

"If I said you could trust me, would you, Kanzaki?"

"I'd consider it, at least."

The bottles chilled the air around them and water droplets condensed on them.

The summer heat of over 30 degrees mercilessly came down upon us.

"Although we've broken off the alliance, I don't consider Ichinose to be an enemy."

I told Kanzaki seriously. That wasn't a lie.

"That statement leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Are you saying you don't consider Class C to be an enemy?"

I thought I'd be able to sneak that past him with that, but Kanzaki's guard was higher than I'd expected.

"Kanazki, what do you want from me?"

He seemed different than his usual self, almost like he was trying to push me into something.

If I saw the direction he was trying to lead the conversation, I could get an idea of what he wanted.

"Are you trying to get some sort of statement from me and have Ichinose to listen to it?"

"You… Ichinose…no, we underestimated your perceptiveness. When we first met, I had this weird feeling, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Finally, I can clearly see what it was. You're the reason Class D is making such great progress."

"Who knows?"

"I'm simply going to come out and ask you for help. Ichinose trusts you a lot. That is why I want you to tell her yourself: the way she is right now, she isn't good enough."

A drop of water from the plastic bag fell to the ground as he closed the distance between us.

"So you're expecting that to change the way Ichinose thinks?"

"That's right."

"Sorry, but I can't help you. I'd like to keep seeing her own way of dealing with things."

"So you want to see us, your enemy, fall?"

"I can't fault you for reading too deeply into it, but…"

I thought about it for a moment. At this stage, What fate awaited Ichinose was anyone's guess. However, when she's fallen so far the next fall would surely be her last…

Just for a second, I was conflicted as to whether or not I should tell Kanzaki what I was thinking. However, I immediately stopped myself. Doing such an unnecessary thing I hadn't accounted for wouldn't improve the situation.

Rather, it would only end up contaminating them.

"Well, fundamentally speaking, one has to care of their own class by themselves. Isn't that right?"

"…Yeah. I might have been too childish."

Kanzaki bowed his head to me, as if he was regretting his actions.

"I was going to come up with a solution on my own. But I thought there was a way to fix the problem without doing that, that there was an easy way out, so I tried to take it."

Kanzaki walked back to his dormitory after saying that.

As he was running out of options, he must've become desperate. But, as they say, a cornered rat can even bite the cat.

In the next special exam, Kanzaki will also stand in our way as a formidable opponent.

Part 1

I arrived at the cafe at Keyaki mall a little ahead of the appointed time. As I was paying for my drink at the counter, two guys who wouldn't usually be together came up to me.

One of them was Ryuuen, who had called me, and the other one was…

"You said there was someone else, were you talking about Ayanokouji?"

Kohei Katsuragi of Class 2-A looked at me with a stiff expression.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that they were like oil and water, but the two men in front of me were definitely not on great terms with each other.

"What kind of meeting is this supposed to be, anyway?"

"What, do you want to stand while we talk? Sit down."

Ryuuen was smiling suspiciously. Following his instructions I took an empty seat.

The atmosphere was peculiar, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before.

"You never had the vibe of an ordinary student, Ayanokouji, but that was quite the trick you hid up your sleeve. Getting a perfect score on that test!"

Katsuragi, who hadn't even talked to me once since the beginning of the 2nd year, suddenly got down to business.

"Kuku, don't admire him too much, Katsuragi– that's in the past."

"The past? You ought to be careful when an unexpectedly strong enemy appears. You've gotten too cocky after defeating Ichinose's Class B."

"Fuck off. Ichinose was off sinking on her own, she was never even on my radar."

Sure enough, this unexpected combination of people immediately built up a sinister atmosphere.

"…So? Tell me why you called me."

Katsuragi's words confirmed that Ryuuen was the host of this meeting, and so I waited with him for Ryuuen to speak.

"What's the hurry? Just chill man!"

"There's no way I can chill. if people see me with you, I'll be in trouble."

Katsuragi was concerned about the people around him, so it wasn't surprising that he urged Ryuuen to get to the point.

Even though it was the morning of a day off, there were still a lot of students around.

I was sure that our classmates would be shocked to see us together.

"What is Class A aiming for in the next exam?"

"What do you mean, aiming for? I'm sure everyone is aiming for the same thing."

"Are you aiming to monopolize the class points? Or is it something else? I've checked the group composition using the OAA, and while you guys seem to have formed groups with Class C and D, Kitou seems to be alone. And then, no matter how you spin it, Ichinose, Shibata and Sakayanagi being in a group together smells fishy. Are you working together?"

I was also interested in that. In addition to the three people Ryuuen named, Class A's Hashimoto, and Kamuro,had formed a group with one of Class C's best students, Ninomiya. And then, the "More People" special card that Asakura was supposed to have, was now with Hashimoto from Class A. This couldn't be a mere coincidence.

"You're free to interpret it however you want, but I cannot confirm anything."

"I don't want any of that diplomatic crap, I want just straight answers."

"Then, let me make this simple for you. I'm not going to tell you anything about this, you bastard." Katsuragi explicitly declared.

Even though Katsuragi and Sakayanagi were rivals in their class, he would never reveal their plans to Ryuuen, who was their enemy.

"Only on the day of the exam shall we know how Sakayanagi will act, and no one will know before she says so. If you want to know despite this, you should go ask her directly."

"Oh, so you don't know just because she doesn't trust you?"

"Well, that might be true."

Like Ryuuen said, Katsuragi didn't necessarily know the situation Class A was in. He was perhaps the only one in Class A who wasn't a member of the Sakayanagi faction, and so was their enemy. It was a well-known fact that didn't need to be mentioned.

Anyway, all of this was just a preamble.

"This is really sad, Katsuragi. This time last year, I considered you a worthy opponent in my strategies. However not a single trace of that person remains. It looks like it's the end of the road for the loser of the faction war, eh?"

"Didn't you also lose to Ishizaki that one time?"

Katsuragi retorted. Ryuuen was laughing throughout.

"Don't you want to crawl back to the top again? That Totsuka who was holding you back, he is gone now, right?"

Katsuragi suddenly slammed his right fist onto the table. Because Yahiko admired him so much, he couldn't hide his anger any longer.

"If you wanted to make me angry, then you've succeeded, Ryuuen. Are you satisfied now?"

"What, you still can't let those emotions out? I'm a little relieved."

Ryuuen clapped his hands thrice, and then said to Katsuragi.

"Don't you think it'll be an interesting development if we manage to get Sakayanagi expelled from the next special exam?"

"What?!"

"If that girl isn't here, then Class-A will cease to have a leader. That way, you'll be able to return to your position as leader once again."

"I don't know what you're planning to do, but that's impossible. Even if you trap her on the island, she has plenty of private points for relief. Also if by chance, something does incapacitate her, she still has protection points to fall back on."

It was extremely difficult to get Sakayanagi, who had both enough private and protection points, expelled.

"That's true, if you want her gone, you'll have to stab her at least twice. Well, getting her expelled in the next exam was a joke. The objective for the uninhabited island exam isn't to kick your enemies down, but to climb up."

I could see Ryuuen gradually steer the conversation to the main topic of the meeting.

ILLUSTRATION :

"The reward for getting 1st to 3rd place is enough to get within shooting distance of Class A, but the rules seem to be a bit troublesome. So, I wanted to prepare in advance."

"Is this why you called me and Ayanokouji here?"

"Exactly."

No matter what the strategy was, I didn't think Katsuragi would easily agree to it. Although I think Katsuragi didn't consider Sakayanagi favourably at least, if he made an enemy of her, he would be striking at his own class. Maybe it would've worked at the start of the leadership struggle, but now it would only have a negative impact.

"Even so, Ichinose really did agree to team up with that woman. Did you guys butter her up well, or was it because she's so incompetent that she thought that was all she could do? Right?"

"I don't know. And if Sakayanagi heard that question, she'd ask you the same thing. Not many people would like being on your team. You're a delinquent, after all."

Instead of betraying Sakayanagi, Katsuragi stood up for her with his reply.

"In that case, everyone here's that kind of delinquent."

The three of us hadn't formed a group with anyone yet, and were working alone.

But why did he try to incite Katsuragi? It was obvious that Katsuragi wouldn't betray Sakayanagi easily, no matter how much he tried to incite him.

Or… was it to confirm that he wouldn't betray Sakayanagi?

"Good for you, Katsuragi. Obnoxiously righteous as always. Not bad."

"Flattering me won't work, Ryuuen."

Ryuuen finally decided to get down to business, and straightened his posture.

"The most important thing about this special exam is to not lose any points from the 2nd year. I don't want the 1st and 3rd years filling their pockets with my money. For that, we need to at least form an alliance, right? If you rely only on your own class, you'll lack combat power."

At the time when the group formations tage was coming to an end, Ryuuen was proposing that we work together.

"If the small fry in Class B were added into this group, then I'd be better off fighting alone, but if I can draw in some firepower from elsewhere, then it'd be a different story."

He looked at Katsuragi with an evil smile.

"No way, are you asking me to work with you?"

"Not just you. Ayanokouji as well, who's spaced out over there just listening to us talk."

He then turned his attention to me.

"… me too?"

"Why would I call you here if you weren't."

I thought this was so unlikely, but he's seriously asking me to help!

"I refuse. Although Class A would get the rewards too, I don't want to be on a team with someone like you."

"What a rash decision. You've gotta hear me out till the end."

"That's not necessary. But– Why did you call Ayanokouji? I want to know that first."

"Why are you asking?"

"It was surprising that he got a perfect score in math in the special exam at the end of April. I agree that he has a high ability in academics. But can you really say that he's the right person to choose if you want to win?"

Although Katsuragi immediately rejected the proposal to collaborate, he expressed his doubts on Ryuuen's strategy.

He seemed to be unable to accept it, because this strategy was formulated with me in mind.

"You think I came up with a half-assed strategy?"

"That's right. If you get Ayanokouji in, it'll reduce the class point reward to one thirds each. Since you're inviting me from Class A anyway, wouldn't it be better to invite Kitou to the group? Besides, if we need three classes, Kanzaki from Class C is still alone, and he should've priority over Ayanokouji."

Katsuragi acted as an advisor, recommending suitable candidates.

"Someone who doesn't know about him wouldn't understand, but I made the right choice. Right, Ayanokouji?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I echoed Katsuragi, and shrugged as if to say I didn't know why I'd been called.

"Stop with that poor acting. You're the man who beat me and shut me up."

Ryuuen said that with nary a consideration for my preferences about that matter.

Although it could be considered a joke, in this situation, Katsuragi didn't seem to think so.

"To shut you up?… Is that true?"

He turned to Ryuuen and I to confirm if it was the truth.

"Ah, I got my ass handed to me. Thanks to that, I almost decided to quit school."

When he heard this, Katsuragi started connecting the dots.

If he connected it with the fact that Ryuuen left the limelight at a certain point, it would be easy for him to imagine it.

"Come on, admit it, Ayanokouji. Even if you continue to hide it from Katsuragi like that, I'll just keep talking, yeah?"

Saying all these unnecessary things, it's almost as if he was threatening me.

"Even if I do admit it, do you think I'll help you?"

"Well, like with Katsuragi, it won't be that simple."

Katsuragi, who was listening to us, sighed.

"No, I can't accept this after all. I can't believe that Ayanokouji beat you. Coming back to what I said earlier, if you have three classes working together, even if you come in first place, you'll only get an average of 100 points. The gap between you and Class A will be impossible to close."

Katsuragi strongly questioned the importance of this group's existence.

"Yeah yeah, completely forgot about that. As an advisor, you're certainty qualified."

Ryuuen flashed a grin as he said that and turned his attention to Katsuragi again.

Even in this situation, Ryuuen maintained his frivolous attitude.

"I see, proposing to join forces with three classes inefficiently, and saying complete nonsense like Ayanokouji beating you, it seems like you didn't intend to negotiate seriously from the beginning."

Katsuragi, who still thought that Ryuuen was joking, prepared to leave his seat.

"A serious negotiation? You knew that was impossible from the start, didn't you? But you still came. Were you asked to spy for Class A?"

Katsuragi agreed to a meeting that he could have refused.

But indeed, there must have been a reason behind it.

"You're a dead man, and you're looking for a chance to come back to life. Am I right?"

Totsuka Yahiko, a great admirer of Katsuragi, was expelled from the school because of Sakayanagi.

And now, Ryuuen was trying to find out if Katsuragi had forgiven Sakayanagi for doing so.

"Whether or not that's true, it has nothing to do with you."

"Since you're already here, hear me out to the end."

"No matter what you say, there's no chance of me working with you. It's true that I have a semi-antagonistic relationship with Sakayanagi. However, I don't want to trouble my classmates. I don't want to work with you."

Hearing Katsuragi's words, Ryuuen clapped his hands happily again.

Looks like he was waiting for Katsuragi to say these words all along.

"Don't want to cause trouble for others? Since last year's uninhabited island exam, you guys in Class A have been diligently transferring money to me every month because of that contract you made with me, did you forget that?"

Katsuragi, still standing, shifted his attention to Ryuuen once again.

"It was a fair contract, we got 200 points from your class, and in return Class-A pays off the loan. All of my actions were only to lead Class-A along a better path."

"Sure, if you only look at the numbers. However, what about the psychological impact that your class suffers every month? Why should all of you have to share your private points with us for so long?"

Humans were surprisingly greedy creatures. Even if they had agreed to pay in advance, they would still feel dissatisfied with their purchase. Month after month, Ryuuen continued to squeeze 20,000 points from every student in Class A. Even if there were one less person now, the total amount of private points taken from their entire class was still 780,000. That was 9.36 million points a year. That would have been fine if the recipient was an ally of sorts, but continuously paying tribute to the man who posed the greatest threat to their position was something they wouldn't be very happy about. And finally, the contract wasn't signed by Sakayanagi, their current leader, but by Katsuragi, who had receded into the shadows by now.

"It doesn't feel good, does it, Katsuragi? Losing, and not being able to get revenge."

"So… So what!?"

Katsuragi got angry again, and it looked as if he was about to grab Ryuuen.

As he had found what he wanted in those eyes, Ryuuen said:

"Come to Class B, Katsuragi."

Such an extremely bold invitation by Ryuuen.

Katsuragi forgot his anger for a second as he contemplated Ryuuen's sudden proposal.

"Are you crazy? You're asking me to come to Class B?"

"Of course, we'll pay for the points you don't have."

"Even if you have the necessary points, why should I come to Class B? You think I would give up my place in Class A?"

"I'll soon defeat Sakayanagi, and then the entire Class A will fall. In other words, remaining in Class A is worthless, right?"

Without Sakayanagi, their head, it would be difficult for Class A to continue fighting on the front lines.

"How much do you have on hand?"

"… About 1.8 million points."

"What, you've been saving up after all! Even if you're rotten, you're still in Class A, eh?"

It's true, it was still far from the 20 million points needed. Even with the monthly remittances from the school and the money collected from Class A, it only added up to 800,000 points filling Ryuuen's wallet every month. It would be really weird if he had even 10 million points on hand right now.

Knowing that he would be rebuffed, he took out a piece of paper and put it on the table.

"You've seen this before, yeah? It's the contract I signed with you last year."

"… yes."

"After negotiating with Sakayanagi, I'm giving this thing up for 5 million points."

Although it was quite high, if you simply calculated the amount he would be paid until graduation, it was around 10 million points. Moreover, their psychological burden of constantly giving away their points to Ryuuen would be eliminated. No matter how you looked at it, it was a bad deal for Ryuuen.

Of course, if he were to sell the contract for an immediate reimbursement albeit half the original value, Sakayanagi would be able to predict what Ryuuen would do with the money. In the case of this exam, it would be to make the best team, or to collect stronger cards.

However, Sakayanagi accepted such a favourable proposal despite knowing the risks.

If I were Sakayanagi, I would have agreed to Ryuuen's proposal as well.

"Did you tell her that the points would be used for stealing me?"

"Don't tell me that you think Sakayanagi would reject the proposal if I said that?"

"… No, it's Sakayanagi, she'd accept it."

Katsuragi didn't think Sakayanagi would reject a proposal which had nothing but benefits for them.

"You're not going to get a chance like this again, Katsuragi."

He would use money from nullifying the contract that bound Katsuragi, to steal him away.

In other words, it's paying a huge sum of 20 million points to Katsuragi.

And it would allow Katsuragi to fight against Sakayanagi openly.

"Why… Would you go that far for someone like me?"

"Heh, Katsuragi, you have a surprisingly low opinion of yourself. Though, to be honest, you're not going cheap."

In the end, the only thing Ryuuen wanted to do was to beat Class A. Even if Sakayanagi was defeated and expelled, it was still not a good thing for Katsuragi to remain there. If Katsuragi, who valued defense, returned to his position as a leader, Class A would inevitably become a sturdy fortress.

However, if Katsuragi left first, and Sakayanagi was expelled later, Class A would collapse.

That's why Ryuuen was willing to pay as much as it takes.

In addition to that, Katsuragi also had high individual ability. According to the OAA, Katsuragi would be the top student in Class B.

"The 5 million for nullifying the contract plus your current balance. The remaining points have been collected from the class. I've forced them into poverty to welcome you to our class!"

Between May till the end of July alone, 39 people can accumulate nearly 6.5 million private points. The remainder would be about 200,000 private points per student. Of course, Class B's funds would be exhausted for a short time, but if they could get a top student, it'd be worth it. Ryuuen took out another contract which he had prepared in advance. On it, the use of the 20 million points provided was written, as well as the arrangements for Katsuragi's transfer to Class B.

"Come on, sign it. Using 20 million points to change classes requires several conditions. You can't force a person to change classes. In the end, the person must agree, and then use his or her funds to transfer to any class of their choosing."

The contract was to prevent Katsuragi from taking this huge sum of money and using it for other purposes.

Well, even if Katsuragi really used this much money for whatever he liked, he would be suspected of fraud by the school.

In other words, the purpose of this contract was not to prevent Katsuragi from doing anything dishonest.

Instead, it was a contract to keep him from changing his mind later on.

"You seem to be serious."

"It all worked out, right, Katsuragi? You've been on your own until now, which makes it easier to invite you into our class."

If Katsuragi had grouped up with someone, this wouldn't have happened.

"This is your fate. Accept it."

After remaining quiet for a while, Katsuragi sat back down on his chair, as though he had thought it through.

Katsuragi had buried his desire for vengeance against Sakayanagi in his heart.

Ryuuen brilliantly exploited this, and successfully brought him into his ranks. Thus, Katsuragi came under his banner. One thing was for sure, this would be of great benefit to Ryuuen's class. The gap with Class A had indeed been narrowed.

Katsuragi slowly signed the contract.

"Although I don't really care that you brought me into your ranks, what exactly are you looking for? You won't mind it if I speak my mind?"

"Suit yourself. Your stubborn opinions might come in handy sometimes."

That was what Ryuuen said after receiving the signed contract. This was the first time in the history of this school that an individual had moved to another class. However, instead of moving up to Class A, they went down to Class B. You could say it was a coincidence that these two circumstances overlapped. The first was that it was possible only because Ryuuen ruled his class like a dictator, and could get their points with a single command. The second was that there was a person who was isolated in Class A, and was disgruntled and vengeful towards the leader. For them, if there's something to be worried about, it would be the fact that they would be fighting for their lives in the uninhabited island exam. Since, the number of students who could afford the luxury of paying the penalty were limited.

"Hey, Ayanokouji. What are you doing?"

"Eh?"

Ryuuen asked me with a baffled expression, as I poured water into the remaining one-fifth of the coffee.

"Nothing. I was just wondering what it would taste like if I suddenly diluted the coffee 3 or 4 times the normal amount."

After bluntly answering the question, both Ryuuen and Katsuragi looked even more bewildered than they did before.

"…You're a strange one, Ayanokouji."

Katsuragi said that with a disgusted look on his face.

"So, what are you going to do with Ayanokouji? If you include a student from Class D in the group, the rewards you'll get will be split in two-thirds."

"No one said anything about him joining the group."

"Then, what do we need from him?"

"Why, it's the Trial card he received."

Ryuuen mentioned the card that had been given to me.

"Sell it to me."

I thought he would request me to cooperate with him, but that was what this was about.

"You just bought Katsuragi, so I'm sure your funding situation isn't so good. Can you prepare enough money?"

"I'll be able to get 500,000 points or so. That should be enough."

Indeed, this was the only chance I've got to sell the Trial card. Although I can't say it's a good deal, at least I can get some money for Kei.

"I have one condition. Make a student in your class that has a Half Off card exchange their card with one of our students that has the Free Ride card. If you accept that, I'll sell the trial card to you."

If she couldn't form a big group of 6, and if Kei was hit with the penalty of expulsion with a group of 3 students, she could still limit the points she would have to pay for relief to 1 million using the Half Off card. Being able to definitively keep her safe was a big deal.

"Kuku, I guess it's settled then. Half Off card, eh? It just so happens that Katsuragi has it, right?"

"I won't have much money anyway. There would be no point in holding on to the Half Off card."

So Katsuragi had been assigned the Half Off card.

If Ryuuen has the Trial card and gets first place, he can get 450 Class Points at once.

With that Class B's Class Points would also break the 1000 point barrier.

Part 2

Soon, it was July 16th, the deadline for the formation of small groups.

As I was doing my morning routine, I received a phone call from Ishizaki.

"Yo, Ayanokouji. Morning."

"It sure is rare for you to call me."

"Today's the last day for forming small groups, right? I have something important to talk to you about."

"Is it about Nishino? Last I checked, she hadn't formed a group."

I hadn't checked the OAA this morning though. Did the situation change?

"In the end, she couldn't find anyone in her class to team up with, so she asked Ichinose to help her. Now, Tsube from Class C will help her out."

Ah, Hitomi Tsube from Class 2-C. She was an excellent student with more than a B in both Academic and Physical Ability.

"That's great."

"Yeah. That means almost all of us have formed a group of 2 or more people. Except…"

There was a student in Class B who hadn't formed a group yet.

"Ibuki, right?"

"Yeah. Ibuki's on her own. Is there anyone who would group up with her?"

"It's risky to take the special exam by yourself. I understand how you feel."

I could tell from the way Ishizaki spoke that he had tried to persuade her many times, but had failed.

"Give me some time. I think I have an idea."

"Seriously? Sorry about dumping this on you so early in the morning!"

I told Ishizaki that I would call him later, and then hung up.

Then I decided to try and contact someone who might group up with Ibuki.

Fortunately, that person hadn't left the dormitory yet, so I decided to meet her in the lobby.

In the elevator after mine was Horikita, the person I was waiting to meet.

Horikita was also one of the few students who, even now, didn't seem like they were about to group.

"What are you going to do about your group?"

"It's too late to bring that up. Anyway, I'm not going to group up with anyone this time. If you consider that the maximum number of people in a group is 6, it's not a bad idea to go alone."

"I know you're doing that so you can act as the situation demands. But what if you get sick and are eliminated? If you can't pay the incredibly high penalty, you'll be expelled."

I know I don't need to go out of my way to remind her of that, but.

"I am aware that I'll have to bear that amount of risk. Isn't that why you're not in a group as well?"

"But, my risks and your risks are different."

"What's the difference?"

"You had a problem with your health during the uninhabited island exam last year."

"I can't believe you're bringing up something which happened a year ago. Anyone can get sick."

"Yeah. However, you also took a break in the winter due to a fever. That makes it twice in one year."

"You just happened to spend the year without taking a leave of absence. Do you think that means you won't get sick this time?"

"In terms of taking care of myself, I'm more confident than you are."

When faced with the fact that I had perfect attendance, she had to accept this.

"I see. It's true that I'm not as good as you at taking care of myself. I admit that. But even if that's the case, making it out as something to be worried about–"

Horikita looked into my eyes. Her tone had started to heat up earlier, so she calmed herself down.

"It's enough that you know. I had no intention of opposing you."

One must thoroughly take care of their health.

If she was strongly aware of that, then it was fine.

"But even so, it's dangerous to go alone."

"Yeah."

"In our class, only you, I, and Koenji haven't formed a group yet, us three. The rest of our classmates have formed a small group of at least two people. It's safer to form a group of two, if possible."

"You and Koenji are the only ones left in the class. That means there's no way to form a group anymore."

"That's only in our class."

"Are there any girls left who haven't formed a group?"

"Ah, there's one person I can think of."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Ibuki from Class 2-B. Didn't you check the OAA?"

"Well, last I checked I did notice that she was alone."

"Ishizaki is worried because Ibuki doesn't have anyone to group up with. How about grouping up with her for the special exam, Horikita?"

"Me and Ibuki?"

"If it's two girls, you can merge with any other small group later. Why don't we just hear them out?"

"That's true, having some kind of insurance would be better… All right, I'll hear her out."

Maybe she just couldn't ignore this, and so, promised to meet with Ibuki.

I contacted Ishizaki and asked him to meet me during the lunch break.

Part 3

During the lunch break, I took Horikita to where I was supposed to meet Ishizaki.

"Hey, Ayanokouji! Over here!"

Ishizaki was practically hopping as he arrived, and when he saw me from afar he waved his hand.

Next to him was Ibuki, who was staring at me with her arm folded in displeasure.

"Did she agree to this?"

"From the look on her face, I'm not sure."

Looks like she was in a bad mood after hearing the plans of forming a group.

I guess Ishizaki brought her here without explaining the situation in much detail.

"Hurry up and come over!"

Ishizaki exuded the enthusiasm of a bunny.

"You seem to be close friends."

Horikita was slightly creeped out by Ishizaki's attitude.

"He's a nice guy."

"Even so, I wouldn't get too close to him."

He was similar to Sudou in terms of enthusiasm, but Ishizaki was different in his own way.

"What's going on? Why are Ayanokouji and Horikita here?"

Ah, so she wasn't told beforehand.

Horikita and I looked at each other. It wasn't smart to let Ishizaki do the talking here.

"Actually, there's something we wanted to discuss, so I asked Ishizaki to call you, Ibuki."

I had no choice, so I started to explain on the spot.

"And?"

"I heard that in the next special exam, you're going to go compete by yourself?"

"That's my choice."

She replied curtly, as if there was no room for discussion.

"I've told you a few times, that it's better to group up."

"I don't need it."

"Well, you say that but the fact is there's no one who wants to team up with you."

Ishizaki just had to say something. Was he trying to help her or get in her way?

I turned to him, and remained silent.

"Huh? What's wrong, Ayanokouji?"

But… Ishizaki didn't understand my intentions, and questioned me instead.

"It's nothing. By the way, Horikita here is the same as Ibuki, she hasn't teamed up with anyone yet."

"So?"

"Next exam, if you don't form a group, you'll be at a disadvantage. Even if it's not three people, if at least the two of you form a group, then even in the worst case scenario, if one of you gets eliminated, you'll be able to continue."

She should now understand what I meant.

"And there's not much time left before the deadline."

"Don't tell me you want me to group up with Horikita?"

"Well, that's about right."

"Ha? Who are you to say that about me?"

"Apart from your physical ability… You're not much good at anything else."

"Hey, you too, don't say whatever you want."

Ibuki impetuously drew close.

Then she stared at Ishizaki, who was standing behind her with an absent-minded look on his face.

"You too, you want me to group up with Horikita to help them out, don't you?"

"I didn't know it would be Horikita, but wouldn't it be great if you formed a group?"

"I already hate this guy a lot, but my hatred for Horikita is even higher than that."

'This guy', I think she was referring to me. That was polite. Using her finger to directly point at the person in front of her.

"Ayanokouji, she doesn't seem to like you very much."

"I didn't even realize it. Although, she seems to hate you even more than me."

"I'm honored."

Ibuki seemed stung by Horikita and I whispering to each other, and didn't bother hiding her displeasure.

"I don't know if Horikita asked you or whatever the reason, but there's no way I'm going to team up with that girl."

It seemed like she really had a grudge against Horikita.

She stubbornly refused to listen to what I had to say.

"Ah, but I don't remember saying I wanted to be in a group with you."

Observing Ibuki's attitude, Horikita attempted to provoke her.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Looks like you've got things mixed up. You've been left behind because nobody wanted to be with you, and I didn't group up with anyone because I wanted to fight alone. Although we're both lone wolves, our situations are not the same."

ILLUSTRATION :

Horikita replied, almost astonished. However, it lit a fire in Ibuki, and she said:

"I'm also on my own because I want to be. Anyway, you say you want to go it alone, that's perfect. It's a challenge, Horikita!"

She shifted her gaze from me to Horikita.

"Can I ask you something? Why do you want to fight me? It's true that we competed at the uninhabited island exam and during the sports festival, but that wasn't anything special right?"

"You're the only one who thinks that."

As far as I know, Ibuki beat Horikita in their fight on the uninhabited island, but Horikita won in the 100 meter race at the sports festival.

One win, one loss. Though it's hard to say that they were at their best. Horikita had a high fever during the uninhabited island exam, so that was a big disadvantage for her while during the sports festival Ibuki was so fixated on Horikita that she lost her pace in the sports festival. In other words, there was no way to determine who was better.

Even on the rooftop, after I beat both Ryuuen and Ibuki, she still challenged me again later on.

In short, she's the kind of person who can't accept anything until she knows for sure who was the stronger one.

This time, she wanted to compete against Horikita in the uninhabited island exam through survival.

If you think about it that way, there was no way that Ibuki and Horikita would be able to work together.

"It seems like this was a waste of time."

"Wait. Do you accept? Or no?"

"I am going in alone, but I'm not choosing to work alone throughout. When the special exams start, I'll merge with another group if necessary."

If it had been a one-on-one match it would be possible to decide the winner, but now it wouldn't be a fair fight.

"Lame!"

"Lameness Isn't a reason to change the way I take the test."

Letting Ibuki know that she was wasting her energy, Horikita rebuffed her.

"If you insist on fighting alone, then even if I form a group, try not to lose. If you win, then I'll recognise you a bit."

"…Not better."

Looks like negotiations seem to have broken down as it was impossible for Horikita and Ibuki to team up.

However, provoking her until the end would definitely have strengthened Ibuki's resolve to fight on her own. I softly apologized to Ishizaki, and then went back to the classroom with Horikita.

"You knew from the start that Ibuki wouldn't be able to accept it, right? You're too kind."

"I wanted to provoke her into doing something reckless in order to disqualify her."

Horikita wasn't being honest with herself, but this kind of answer felt very much like her.