3.1

The quickest way to get in touch with Sakayanagi was, needless to say, to contact her directly. However, it would be difficult to know her current situation in detail. She might speak honestly to me, but I could also predict that there would be many things she would intentionally hide.

Another option was to indirectly extract information from someone who knew Sakayanagi's current situation in detail.

But this also carried risks. I was interested in Sakayanagi's situation—it was unavoidable that they'd know that. Hondō and Shinohara from Horikita's class are assigned to the same group as Sakayanagi, but neither of them were the type to keep their mouths shut or were good actors.

In the meantime, I decided to go out to the lobby to slowly organize my thoughts.

Depending on the timing, I might have been able to find Sakayanagi out and about.

"Ayanokōji-kun."

As I moved to the lobby, one student noticed me and approached.

It was Sanada from the same class as Sakayanagi.

He seemed to have just gotten out of the bath, as his hair was wet and I could see a few droplets of water on his glasses.

"Can we talk for a bit? There's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"I don't mind. What did you want to ask?"

I was also grateful to have run into Sanada.

On the first day, he had won a game against the group Sakayanagi belonged to.

"It's about Hashimoto-kun from your group. I guess you've heard various rumors about him."

"Like how he had a hand in Kamuro's expulsion?"

"I don't intend to pry into it without any solid evidence, but regardless of the truth, I'm curious about his current situation... I wonder how he's doing."

Now, in Class A, not only Sakayanagi but also Hashimoto was attracting a lot of attention.

It wouldn't be strange if there were students like Sanada who were concerned about them.

"There's nothing particularly different from usual. He seems to be doing well, not just putting on a brave face."

"I see... That's good."

"But how about Sakayanagi? Has there been any change with her?"

Following the flow of the conversation, I tried to touch on Sakayanagi.

"As far as I could see at school, she seemed to be the same as always."

"I thought the fact that her group had lost three times at the exchange meeting might have had some effect."

"I'm not sure, but that might be the case. However, we haven't seen each other much since we came here, so I don't know the details."

At least for now, Sanada answered that he didn't have a grasp on the situation.

"But didn't you play a game against Sakayanagi's group today?"

When I pointed that out, Sanada quietly shook his head.

"She didn't participate. I didn't see her giving any instructions nearby either."

She might've just been absent from that game, but it seemed more likely at that point that she hadn't been involved in the exchange meeting at all.

"What about you, Ayanokōji-kun? Do you know anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. The information I have is probably the same as yours."

In fact, I might have had even less information.

"I'd be happy if you could keep an eye on Hashimoto-kun, as well as Sakayanagi-san, even a little."

"As a member of the same group, I intend to keep an eye on Hashimoto as much as possible, but I don't know the details, so it's not my place to interfere. What do your classmates actually think? Do they think Hashimoto really betrayed them?"

"That is—"

Unable to immediately answer, Sanada couldn't continue.

"I haven't talked directly with my classmates, so I can't say for sure who thinks what. But there are definitely people who assume that's the case."

The first person who came to mind from the conversation with Hashimoto earlier was Kitō.

He was a man of few words, but he had always been obedient to Class A.

He and Kamuro seemed to get along well, as they were often together.

After that, I talked with Sanada a little more, and then I spotted Horikita looking at us from a distance. She seemed to want to talk to me, so I ended the conversation at a reasonable point.

As soon as I was alone, Horikita approached me. Even though there were only 20 third-years, it seemed that the chances of running into someone were still high despite the large number of students.

"I'm glad I ran into you. I have a little favor to ask... Is that okay?"

Horikita, who started off with a friendly attitude, didn't seem to have a problem with the exchange meeting.

It was common knowledge that Nagumo's group had been undefeated and was in first place with five consecutive wins since the first day.

"What's the favor?"

When I asked back, Horikita pulled my sleeve and forced me to move to the edge of the lobby.

"It's about Amasawa-san... It's not something I can talk about out loud."

"She's in your group, isn't she? Did something happen?"

When it came to confidential matters, the first thing that came to mind was trouble.

But that guess seemed to be off, as she immediately denied it.

"She talks a little too much, but she hasn't done anything problematic. She's been behaving well so far."

Relieved at that, I waited for Horikita to continue.

"Did you know how good her physical abilities are? It seems that she's also quite skilled in martial arts."

"Setting martial arts aside, I do regularly check the OAA and have a rough grasp of it."

While giving a noncommittal response, I urged for more information since the full picture was not yet clear.

"I think you wouldn't know about it unless you heard it from Amasawa-san, but I owe her a bit of a 'debt'—something I can't repay in my typical school life."

Martial arts and the word 'debt.'

Although she avoided direct expressions, it seemed that she had a confrontation with Amasawa at some point.

Looking back, without thinking deeply, it seemed that the only stage for such a confrontation would have been the deserted island exam.

"It's hard to imagine the circumstances."

I decided to say something that most people would say upon hearing this story.

"Well, various things."

Horikita evasively responded, showing no intention of elaborating on the 'debt.' 

Since it wasn't something I needed to pry into, I decided to move on.

"So, what's next?"

"I've been doing my best every day. But I don't know if I'm at a level that can compete with her. So, I want you to evaluate my current strength."

"I understand you want to repay your debt to Amasawa, but it sounds quite dangerous."

"It would be under normal circumstances, but her strength isn't normal."

"Even if you say 'strength,' I don't know how strong Amasawa is. I can't be of much help."

Without knowing the exact strength of the opponent, preparing a measure was meaningless.

—Well, in reality, I did know.

But I decided to keep that to myself.

"You just need to judge my strength in your own way. Of course, I would be happy if you could give me some advice."

From her tone, it seemed that she might've been more interested in my advice.

"It's up to you if you want a rematch, but has Amasawa agreed?"

"Not yet."

However, Horikita quickly continued.

"If she refuses my proposal, I won't force her to do it."

Despite her answer, it seemed that Horikita didn't consider the possibility of Amasawa refusing.

After all, she had gone through the trouble of confiding in me and asking for special training.

"Would you... accept my request?"

"Accepting is a problem in itself."

Facing Amasawa would be quite disadvantageous.

No matter how much Horikita had trained after her defeat, it was unlikely that the gap in their abilities could close that easily.

"Why don't you ask Ibuki over there? She would be happy to help."

I called out to someone who was probably hiding nearby and listening in.

"Tch, you noticed."

With an annoyed click of her tongue, Ibuki showed her face from around the corner of the hallway.

It was clear that this was a prearranged plan between the two, as Horikita didn't seem surprised.

"Unfortunately, I'm tired of sparring with Ibuki-san. There's little to gain from fighting the same opponent over and over."

Ibuki, standing next to her, seemed to have a similar 'debt,' showed a similar reaction.

It seemed that this was a request made after doing everything they could.

"You're strong, so you should be willing to help a little."

"Are you also up for it, Ibuki?"

"Of course. I can't stand losing to a little girl who's only been here a year."

After throwing a few punches, she showed off a clean high kick.

She seemed desperate to land that kick.

It was nice to be enthusiastic, but even though she referred to Amasawa as a little girl, there was only a one-year difference between them, and in terms of actual physique, Ibuki was actually smaller...

"You decided to do this during the training camp because you wouldn't have trouble finding a place to spar, right?"

"It would be too conspicuous to have a fighting rematch at school."

Horikita, who gave a small nod in response, seemed determined. Ibuki too, for that matter.

"I wonder... Honestly, there's nothing in it for you..."

"Indeed, I don't have anything to gain from this."

"But if you were to accept, I'm willing to offer private points as compensation—"

She seemed ready to offer compensation, but it was pointless to accept such a thing.

"I don't know how much it will help, but if you accept my conditions, I'm willing to take it on."

I interrupted Horikita's offer and responded.

"Really? I wasn't expecting that at all..."

"Whether or not both parties agree to it, there are more disadvantages to getting into a fight at school. If you want to pay back some kind of debt, you don't want to miss such a great opportunity. However, you can't just go out at night."

"Thank you. I couldn't ask for more cooperation. So, what are the conditions?"

There were absolute conditions that had to be accepted in order to face Amasawa in a rematch.

"The first is to talk to Amasawa today. You're in the same group, so it shouldn't be hard to find an opportunity to do so. Of course, to avoid making a fuss, make sure no third party finds out. The timing should be early morning on the last day. You should get Amasawa to accept the rematch at that time."

The chances were slim, but if she refused, the special training would be meaningless.

"Of course, I understand that. What are the other conditions?"

"I'll talk about that once you've finished this one. There's no point in special training if Amasawa doesn't accept. Besides, we can't do it in the middle of the night at the training camp, can we?"

Since this was a discussion based on the premise that she would accept, there shouldn't be any objections even if they didn't hear the remaining conditions.

"I'm ready to do it right now, you know?"

"You should keep quiet."

Horikita, unlike Ibuki who had quickly agreed, had proper common sense.

"If I get permission from Amasawa-san, I'll send a message."

"Please do. I'll be ready in the morning."

Amasawa wasn't the type to refuse a fight.

On the contrary, if these two wanted a rematch, she would be happy to accept.

She would understand that this camp was the perfect place with fewer watchful eyes.

As Horikita nodded and was about to return to her room, I stopped her.

"This isn't related to the exchange meeting, but there's something I want you to investigate."

"What is it?"

If she was planning to propose a rematch, she could probably deceive Amasawa's sharp sense.

I made a small request to Horikita.

"I don't quite understand, but I just need to keep that in mind, right?"

"Yeah. Don't tell Amasawa."

"I understand. It's not a big deal."

I thanked Horikita, who readily agreed, and the meeting was over.

"Well..."

I decided to look for Sakayanagi a little longer.

However, I wandered around the training ground aimlessly, but I couldn't find Sakayanagi.

Around 9 p.m., as the crowd began to thin, I decided to call it a day.

When I returned to my room, Hashimoto, Toyohashi, and Shintoku were preparing to go to the bath and were waiting for me, so I decided to go to the large bath with them.