Chapter 4.6 - Scouts

Day 2, 3:28 AM.

I swiped the card without looking back. There was no need. As soon as I swiped the card, class C's name popped on the screen alongside the eight-hour countdown.

"Oh, Ayanokouji-kun you're up. Levent-kun too, it seems."

It was none other than our good-natured Hirata Yousuke who came toward us. Even though I was well aware of his sudden early appearance, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't petrified out of all my wit.

"Not really. Did we wake you up by any chance?" Ayanokouji replied.

"Oh no. I can't exactly sleep soundly in this environment." Hirata replied as he looked at the keycard. "Oh, I see. So, you were doing that."

"Yeah. I'll be heading out on a hike soon. Might as well get us some extra points." I whispered.

At that time, I had planned to capture the nearest spot, which was the outpost. Plus the mountain Makida was talking about yesterday. I was also curious about where class A had set their base at.

"Don't you think that's a bit dangerous? It's still dark out there. What if you get lost?"

Hirata's warning wasn't too far off the mark. It was 3 am, the witching hour. It was still hours before the sun could rise. Everything was dark and foggy. The only light source I had was the flashlight provided by the school.

"Don't worry. I'm quite confident in my navigation skills." I replied.

"I'm still reluctant to allow such a reckless action, Levent-kun. If it's okay with you, why don't I join you guys?" Hirata didn't seem to buy it.

"No. You have another role to play. I want you to stay here and guard this device."

"Why? Wouldn't it be better if the three of us went inside the forest together?"

"The two of us lack appearance, meanwhile you are a major figure in this class. What if Ibuki-san wakes up and finds the three of us missing? And if she checks the device, it'd be hard for us to hide. That's why I suggest you stay here, just in case." I spurted out some random something.

"That's... I guess you're right."

"It's decided then."

After filling our water bottles, we sprinted towards the nearby outpost. The clock was ticking. We needed to act as quickly as possible. Or else Ibuki could notice our absence.

•••••

Day 2, 3:34 AM.

We were cutting through the dark dense forest at a rapid pace. The flashlight illuminated our path as we ran toward our destination.

"Looks like we're here." Ayanokouji mused. We could see the dome of the tall wooden outpost.

"Yeah. But it sure is a pain to navigate at night."

That was to be expected. Even though we had a flashlight burning, we still had to do a crisscross maneuver to march forward. After a few more minutes of walking, we reached the base of the outpost.

"Well, it seems no one else found this place after all," I remarked.

"The other classes must've had their hands full with setting up their camps," Ayanokouji replied.

"True. But I wonder if that's going to be the same case today."

The spot recognition device was standing beside the outpost, blank, ready to occupy. I immediately whipped my card out and occupied the spot.

"Done." I looked to my left. A medium-long hill was located on the northern side of the island. Apparently the river spring originated from that place. According to Makida and his group's report, the spot was somewhere nearby the spring. "The cliff of the hill, huh?" I blurted.

"Now that, would be quite demanding, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm aware."

Climbing the mountain and our descent. Plus I intended to search for more spots afterward. On top of that, we had limited time on our hands. It would take a great lot of stamina to accomplish this mission.

We immediately left for the hill.

•••••

Day 2, 4:49 A.M

Hirata Yousuke's point of view...

It's been more than an hour since Ayanokouji-kun and Levent-kun left. I initially wanted to join them on their mission. However, Levent-kun asked me to guard this place. Hence I was sitting beside the campfire all alone.

"Now that I think about it, Levent-kun is really good at decision-making, isn't he?"

This has been on the back of my mind for quite some time now. Levent-kun doesn't have that good of a social presence. But something tells me that he's more capable than what he lets out. That Levent-kun is more amazing than he seems.

Before the midterm exam, Levent-kun was the one who suggested the idea of forming study groups. And when Sudou-kun was on the cliff of getting expelled, I noticed Levent-kun and Horikita-san going after Chabashira-sensei. He even accompanied Horikita-san during Sudou-kun's trial. Even though he said that Horikita-san was the one who saved Sudou-kun, I still can't help but think that he's hiding something.

"He says that he's average but... is that really the case?"

Suddenly, I heard some noise coming from my back. I looked behind only to find Horikita-san getting out of the tent.

"Good morning, Horikita-san." I greeted her with a hushed voice.

"Good morning."

"Can't sleep?"

"I could ask you the same."

"Ah haha..."

Horikita-san was as cold as usual. After gaining her posture and dusting her clothes, Horikita-san walked towards the tents opposite the girl's side. The boy's tents. From the looks of it, I think she was looking for someone. Levent-kun, perhaps.

After a few more glances, she came toward me.

"By any chance, do you know where Levent-kun is?"

I guess I was right after all.

"Levent-kun and Ayanokouji-kun left the camp to scout some areas," I whispered back.

"This early? Aren't they being a bit reckless?"

"I tried to stop them and even wanted to tag along. But the duo insisted on doing this mission."

"I see." her expression changed ever the slightest. However, she seemed a bit worried?

"By the way, are you feeling alright now, Horikita-san?" I asked.

"Why are you asking that now?" she replied.

"I heard that you have a fever. So I was wondering if you were feeling okay."

"Heard it? Could it be that Levent-kun told you about this?"

Oh... Was I not supposed to tell her that?

"Well, Levent-kun seemed worried about you. So he asked me to look after you."

"That idiot! In any case, you don't have to worry about me. I'm feeling better now."

"Is that so? That's good to know."

"In any case, I'm going to the river. Call me if you need anything."

"Sure. I'll let you know. Thank you."

With that, Horikita-san left the cave. As the conversation ended, I suddenly noticed some light rays seeping through the gaps in the forest. Someone was probably coming towards this place. A few seconds later, we could see two figures coming out from the shadows. Both of them were clad in our gym uniform. One of them had medium-length chestnut brown hair; the other one had night-black hair. There was no doubt about it.

"Seems like they're back."

The black-haired boy waved at us with his usual stoic demeanor, while the boy next to him simply followed. Of course, I waved back at them. Their t-shirts were drenched and sticking to their skin, probably because they were sweating intensely. They worked hard, period.

"Good job, you two! Please take some rest now."

"For sure," Levent-kun replied before sitting on a rock beside the cave entrance. "Did anyone wake up by the time we were out?"

"Yes. Horikita-san woke up not too long ago."

"Then where is she?"

"She was headed toward the river, I think?" I replied.

"Is that so?" he said before looking toward the tents.

"How long has it been?" Ayanokouji-kun suddenly asked. Levent-kun looked at his watch and replied, "It's almost five. We probably scouted for about an hour and a half."

"Everyone should be up in about an hour or two."

Now that he mentioned it.

"Did you guys happen to find any spots?" I asked rather inconspicuously. I was weary of the possibility of Ibuki-san overhearing the conversation. As much as I wanted to believe in Ibuki-san, I couldn't really put aside Levent-kun's warning. However...

"Oh, we actually managed to scout four more spots nearby." Levent-kun unexpectedly replied quite audaciously.

"Hey! What are you doing, Levent-kun!" is what I wanted to say. But then he added this.

"We'll report it to our leader once he wakes up. That way we'll be able to occupy those spots later."

Huh? What? The leader?

Wasn't HE the leader? What's going on?

Hold on. Could it be that he's simply being cautious?

Ayanokouji-kun nodded in my direction.

"I see."

So that's what they were trying to do, huh?

"Alright. But for now, just relax." I looked at the empty bottles in their hand. They're probably thirsty. "I'll get some water for you."

"Thanks, Hirata."

I don't know if Ibuki-san was truly awake or not. And I can't be too sure whether or not she's a spy. But if she really was, then after listening to our conversation she would be misled into thinking that the leader was someone else.

Levent-kun, you're more intelligent than you let out, aren't you?

•••••

Day 2, 5:12 A.M

It wasn't too long before we returned to the base. After scouting and securing six total spots, we were resting outside the camp. The sun was already rising. Unfortunately, I could only imagine the scenery and not witness it with my own eyes given all the dense vegetation that were around me.

"Look who decided to come back"

As I was agonizing over such tremendous loss, a familiar voice called out to me.

"Good morning, Horikita."

"Why did you tell Hirata-kun about my fever?" asked the girl in a sharp, yet gentle voice.

"I guess returning a greeting with a question is the trend nowadays."

"I wish you don't try to change the topic, Levent-kun." She replied

"Is this matter really worth arguing for? I don't really see any mishaps in my actions."

"I wanted to keep it a secret. Even from you, if it weren't for your accursed deduction skills."

"But why? Why would you try to hide something that's directly connected to your health?" I asked with a stern expression.

"W-whether I should tell someone or not, shouldn't that be my decision to make?" she replied with a hesitant expression.

"Look, Horikita." I looked straight in the eyes and said, "I want you to calmly think, and articulate why you are so insecure about such a normal, trivial matter?"

"Insecure? I'm not. It's because–"

"Because you still don't have faith in your comrades, do you? You still look down at them from a high pedestal. Hence you're trying to hide your weakness and pretend to be rock solid."

"That's... that's not right."

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me, that I'm wrong."

She tried to open her mouth but decided not to go any further. I guess it's a piece of cake to grasp the psychology of this character.

"Well, I guess it was kind of my fault to let him know about your fever. To tell you the truth, I was really concerned about your well-being. So, I decided to get some help from Hirata-kun."

For some reason, I reflexively replied while looking away from her.

"Huh?" Horikita let out. I couldn't really see her expression, but judging by her reaction, I guess she was bashful about it. "Tha- um... I- I guess it's okay! B-but you don't have to worry about me."

"So, how are you feeling right now?" I asked.

"I'm feeling better than yesterday. It's because of the pills you gave me," she replied.

"Is that so? I'm glad to know that you're fine." I looked at her again and smiled.

"You... you're such a contradicting idiot."

I heard that you know.

•••••

Day 2, 5:42 A.M

"I can't be completely sure but, I think they should be here at least once," I said to myself.

I was standing by the river, waiting for class B to approach. On the second day of the exam, Ayanokouji and Hirata met Kanzaki and the others, who later invited them to their camp. I don't necessarily remember all the details. That's why I was not sure whether or not we'd collide with each other or not. If anything, we could be there too early, or too late.

At that point, it was up to chance whether we'd meet or not.

"How long do you plan on standing here Levent?" asked Ayanokouji.

"About half an hour."

"I see. Good luck with that." As he was about to leave, I nabbed him by the backside of his collar.

"You don't leave your partner behind, partner."

"Why me? Wouldn't it be better if Hirata was here?"

"True. He's more sociable and easy to talk, compared to you."

"Ouch."

"But I want you to stay here for a different reason," I added.

"What's that?"

Lady luck of course.

"What are you doing here?" suddenly a voice called out to us. A student from Class B, Kanzaki, looked our way. Some other boys I didn't know were with him, probably Class B students. They appeared surprised, as if they hadn't expected us at such an early hour, but quickly regained their composure.

"First day's over, so I wondered how the other classes were doing. I thought I'd check on you too." he looked at the cave entrance behind us. "Camping inside the cave, huh? You guys probably have the best location."

He seemed legitimately impressed by our base camp. He didn't appear to have a hidden agenda.

"Kanzaki-kun, aren't you?" I inquired.

"Did I surprise you? I'm sorry, I'm not here to cause trouble."

"No, it's fine. Actually, it's a pleasure to meet you guys here." I replied.

"Pleased to meet you too, Levent."

"Kanzaki. Where's Class B camping?" Ayanokouji asked from behind.

"There are large broken trees along the path from here to the beach. If you enter the forest to the southwest and walk a bit, you can find our campsite. You shouldn't get lost if you enter by those large trees. If you need something, go ahead and tell her you can come by." Kanzaki answered without hesitation.

With that, Kanzaki left.

"I'm guessing he meant Ichinose when he said 'her'. You're friends with her, I take it?" Ayanokouji gave me a strange look.

"Hmm, that depends."

At this point, I can't really be sure...

•••••

Day 2, 7:55 A.M

Everyone was slowly getting up. We would end up having roasted corn for our breakfast. It isn't much, but it'd be better than running on an empty stomach. The corns could only support us for so many days. Not to mention how boring it would get if we kept relying on corns. We needed to find more food and rations.

The spots I had accumulated this early morning should also expire when the clock hits twelve. If we wanted to gain more points, then triangulating through those spots would prove to be most beneficial for us.

"So, our top priority is to secure more food, huh? I guess I can see why we'd want that." Horikita responded.

"We have an entire class to feed. So I think Levent-kun's concern is natural. We won't be as lucky as we were yesterday."

"Ike and his group are already behind the fishing rods. They're surprisingly diligent when it comes to things like this."

"Levent, don't you think it would be better if we simply recruit more people into food and resource gathering?" Ayanokouji added.

"Yeah, I was thinking about that too. If we begin the operation now, we should be able to secure a decent amount of food for lunch." I replied.

"How many people should we send in search of food?" asked Hirata.

"Two groups of six would probably be good. But the more, the merrier." I replied.

"That would be a good idea," Horikita remarked.

"I think it would be a good idea if we send some people to scout the surrounding areas for some spots too," Hirata added.

"But I don't think we should blindly rely on spots for bonus points. It would be too risky." I replied. "What if someone from another class catches 'our leader' while registering the spot?"

"Ah, that would be quite troublesome."

"Indeed. But I'm not against mobilizing a group to search the forest. I think it would give us some worthwhile results."

While it was certainly correct that securing spots under daylight can be troublesome, I could always go around claiming them when it's nighttime. My main reason for saying that was because class A was pretty much the only class I needed to pay attention to. I was curious about finding out where they were camping at.

"Speaking of which, we stumbled upon Kanzaki from class B earlier. They invited us to visit their camp," said Ayanokouji.

"Really? When did that happen?"

"More importantly, I think it would be better if we visit them. Maybe we could even get some information out of them." Horikita replied.

"I think we have a chance to secure something even more important than that," I added.

The alliance and the crossfire agreement, both were achieved during this part of the arc. But there are certain gray areas in my case. Now that we're in class C, I have my doubts about whether they would be willing to cooperate or not. Cooperating with us would be the best option in the long run, for them. If they decide not to...

Then that's a shame.

•••••

Day 2, 9:06 A.M

"Everyone, we need some of you to join Kikyou-san and her group and search for more food." Hirata's voice reverberated throughout the cave.

"Wait, didn't we get enough corn yesterday?" asked Makida.

"Yeah. Don't tell me that we used it all?" Okitani showed his concern.

"Not really. We still have a few bags of corn left. But I don't think it would last long. That's why we wanted to mobilize more of us."

"What do you think, Ike-kun?" Kikyou went near Ike and asked. Seeing someone relying on Ike was a welcome change.

"W-well, he's not wrong. *Cough~ It would be better if we get as much food as we can for now." Ike stammered.

"It would be better if we left immediately while the air is cold. It would get even more humid and the temperature would rise when we hit midday."

"So it's decided then? Are there any volunteers?"

"Me! I'll go!" Yamauchi immediately raised his hand.

"Dude you already agreed to do fishing!" Ike yelled at him.

"But it's boring as hell! I wanna go help Kikyou-chan and the others. What if they come across some trouble on the way?"

"That's... You're cringe bro." Sotomura whispered to himself.

"It's okay. Yamauchi-kun can join the search as long as someone else takes over for you." not wanting to let the scene go any further, Hirata agreed to his selfishness. "Is there anyone else?"

A good number of students raised their hands, which was a good thing. The more the number of volunteers, the more food we would be able to secure.

The number ended up being eighteen. I didn't want to send a group of such a large number. So we ended up splitting the group in half. That way they would be able to cover a large ground.

As demanded, Yamauchi ended up joining Kikyou's group. Not wanting to let him go rampant, I also sent Hirata, Okitani, and Makida to keep an eye on him. As expected, he wasn't happy about his rivals.

Hasabe and Miyake happened to be in the second group. Unfortunately, Sakura didn't seem to be interested in joining them.

"Sakura-san. Aren't you going to join them?" I slowly whispered to her.

"M-me? No. I don't feel like going back into the forest."

"By any chance, are you feeling unwell?"

"No, I'm fine! It's just... I'm not used to this yet."

"Then, wouldn't it be better if you tried to tag along with someone who's the same as you?"

"What do you saying, Levent-kun?" Sakura looked at me, her head a bit tilted to the side in confusion.

"I'm talking about Miyake-kun, Hasabe-san, and Ayanokouji-kun. You already know them, right? They're usually silent and introverted. Do you think you can get along with them?"

Sakura pondered about something for a while...

"If it's with them... I guess?"

"Then I think you should go."

"Huh?"

"I'm already aware that you feel uncomfortable when someone tries to be social with you and believe me, I can relate to that. But when you try and force yourself to do something uncomfortable, at some point you slowly gain resistance toward it."

"Is that.. so?"

"The world is cruel towards people like us. If we fail to adapt to the situation, then we would inevitably be abandoned by the ones around us. So please, try harder. I don't want to see the same thing happening to you, Sakura-san."

Sakura looked down, thinking about something. I did what I had to, I gave her the hardest push I could give for now. The rest is up to her.

"O..kay" suddenly Sakura said something in a meek voice.

"Hmm?"

She looked up and gave me a determined look.

"I'll... I'll try my best! For you, Levent-kun!"  Hearing that made me want to scream in satisfaction.

"Then go... They'll be there when you need them." I replied.

Before going toward them, she looked back at me.

"Thank you, Levent-kun."

"...."

Thus, I had somehow managed to manipulate her into joining them. Ayanokouji was forced into joining her, just to keep them safe. And with that, the Ayanokouji group was fulfilled...

"...."

Not quite...

[A/N: "Well, it's been a long while, huh? As of my excuse for such a huge gap, my life is in hell now. And I'm somehow trying to go with it. I'm kind of burnt out ATM and I lack motivation. At some point, I wanted to drop this fic, real bad.

But don't worry, I'll keep writing. Just, it'd be a little late than usual. Sorry about the negativity. This is totally not like me haha. Anyways, enjoy your life guys. Peace🤞:]

Initial allotted special exam points: 300S¶

Remaining Points: 200S¶

Current balance: 1,294,970¶¶