Another Like Me - Part I (CoTE x OC) ✔

Chapter 16 - Deserted Island Special Test, Part 3

"Hey, a lone girl!", Yamauchi cried out, "are you hurt?"

"Leave me alone", was her cold response.

"But you're hurt. Who did this to you? Should I call a teacher?", Yamauchi pressed her on.

"Just a class dispute. Don't worry about it", she said, seemingly laughing in self-deprecation. She was definitely shaken up from whatever had happened.

"But we can't leave an injured person alone in the forest right? Besides it's going to get really humid as the day progresses. Maybe you can come back with us to our camp."

The girl looked at him incredulously. "Are you an idiot? Why are you taking me to your base camp?" This girl understood how lopsidedly the cons outweigh the pros when you get someone from outside into your camp. It reveals and gives a clear outline of how the class was planning to conduct themselves throughout the exam. Of course, Yamauchi does not understand that. We had basically used the same tactic when we visited the Class B camp.

"I don't know about that, but we can't leave a person in need in the forest alone", Yamauchi declared. He probably thought this would improve Sakura's impression of him, but for all I knew, Sakura wasn't even looking at him, and was rather uncomfortable with the unexpected situation that had suddenly risen.

"We'll wait here until you come along with us! Right, Takeyama, Ayanokoji, Sakura?", Yamauchi roped us into an unwanted conversation. I simple nodded my head, and the other 2 did the same as well.

After waiting for almost 10 minutes, the girl finally spoke up. "Jeez, you guys are absolutely crazy. Bringing someone from outside into your camp. I'm from Class C. That means I'm your enemy. You must understand that."

"We do! It's just that we in Class D are really good guys as well!", Yamauchi chirped in. "By the way, my name is Yamauchi. Pleasure!"

She sighed. "I'm Ibuki."

"Woah, so do girls like, slap each other on the cheeks when they fight or something?", Yamauchi asked.

"That's none of your business", Ibuki snapped. Despite her words, she definitely was in pain, as she lightly caressed her swollen cheek. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and winced at the pain. Yamauchi's eyes lit up.

"Hey, let me help you with your bag!" Saying that, he moved forward to take Ibuki's bag from her.

"Hey, stay away!", as she did, Yamauchi tugged at the bag, and Ibuki lost grip on it, and it fell to the ground with a dull thud. That was a rather interesting sound coming from a bag, considering we weren't allowed to get anything from the ship onto the island. It sounded a bit metallic.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that," Yamauchi apologized.

"It's okay. But I still don't trust you guys. You understand?" Ibuki said forcefully.

With that, Yamauchi fell silent, and we walked back towards the base camp with a visitor in tow.

________________________________________________________________________________

"Nope. Not at all," was Horikita's first reaction to Ibuki's appearance.

"Come on, Horikita-san! She's injured and been kicked out of her class! This is the least we can do to help!", Yamauchi shouted in.

"What if she's a spy? There's a high possibility of that being the case."

"If she really was a spy, then she wouldn't have hesitated and disagreed to come here so much! We pretty much forced her to come here because it is really mean to let a lonely girl sleep in the woods all alone!" For the first time in my high school career, Yamauchi had said something that wasn't actually wrong.