Suzaku's POV
I slipped in and out of the shadows cast by the tall trees by the morning sun, making sure not to step on any branches as I trailed my target. This was the mission assigned to me by Ayanokōji.
He'd predicted that the silver-haired girl walking some distance in front of me would leave in the middle of the night. I didn't understand how he'd known that but, here she was, departing at the crack of dawn.
"I want you to wake up early, and follow Shiina Hiyori when she wakes up and leaves. If you stay hidden and don't make your presence known, you will discover useful information for us when she reaches her destination."
"Huh? How do you know that she'll leave? And why don't you do it yourself, Ayanokōji?"
"I have other important business to attend to on the fourth day. I chose you to do it instead because I thought that you'd have some experience in concealing your presence, having been military trained and all. As for how I know... I'll explain it all after the exam."
Those were the last words to me before Ayanokōji Kiyotaka vanished into the night. I briefly wondered whether the rest of Class D even knew what he was up to. I certainly didn't.
He was right, however. During my extensive training in the army, concealing my presence was one of the many skills I'd picked up. Normally, a soldier would have no reason to learn something like that, but I was no normal soldier.
An honorary Britannian. These were viewed differently to regular Britannian soldiers – they weren't viewed as anywhere near as valuable, since they were actually Japanese. Because of this, I ended up receiving very specialized training.
The Lancelot Unit. It was an experimental unit, separate from the main army branches. It reported directly to the emperor, Charles zi Britannia. I was the only soldier in it – they would never test a new training system that could easily go wrong on an actual Britannian soldier.
"Am I nothing more than a guinea pig after all?" I muttered under my breath.
The experiment ended up a success, though. Through their extensive and hellish experimental training, they were able to create in me the ultimate soldier. Britannia ended up falling before it could be tested further, though, meaning I was the only product of the Lancelot Unit. The only one in the world who'd gained this much strength in a mere seven years of training.
Of course, my existence was top-secret, even within Britannia. Few knew of me, even then, and nobody outside of Britannia would ever be able to discover me. Even Lelouch doesn't know about the training I endured.
It was comforting, but also instilled an odd feeling of loneliness in me. As if I'll never be able to relate to anyone.
"Ah, Shiina, glad you could make it."
A voice cut through my thoughts, bringing my focus back to the task at hand. It seemed that Shiina had, indeed, arrived at her destination. The voice that called out to her was undoubtedly that of Ryūen Kakeru.
"Good morning, Ryūen-san!" Shiina's voice was unexpectedly cheerful.
"So? Were you successful, even after being caught out as a spy?"
Ryūen demanded answers straight away. He didn't mess around when it came to business, it seemed.
"Eto, yes, I believe that I was able to figure out the Class D leader."
A wave of surprise washed over me. She figured out that the leader was Ayanokōji? How? When? Questions bounced around in my head.
"They were very vigilant about me, but had one slip-up. Just as I arrived, Sora-kun called out to Ayanokōji-kun, asking him how he took so long just to occupy two spots. At that time, he probably didn't notice me, as I was trailing behind Ayanokōji-kun."
Thinking back to that moment around the fire, when Shiina first turned up at our camp, Sora did say that. Apparently, Shiina Hiyori was extremely observant and sharp.
I had to commend her, even if I was feeling uneasy at the moment due to our leader being uncovered.
"I see. That's the last one, then. We now know every class' leader, except Class E's. Good work. I'll have to tell that Ibuki to get her ass moving. Ordinarily, I'd like to say you can retire now, but I don't want anyone to catch on the fact that all the spies have retired too. If they did, they might figure out that I was still on the island."
Ryūen knew three leaders? That meant that he'd gain at least 150 points after the exam, on top of whatever bonus points he gained from spots. If Ibuki is successful in finding Class E's leader, then he'll gain 200 points instead. If Ryuzaki's theory about Class C joining hands with Class A was true, and Ryūen gave Katsuragi all of the class' leaders, it would mean that every other class would lose 100 points and all their spot bonus points.
Taking that into account, plus expenses used by the class over the course of the exam, it was clear that Ryūen's class would take first place. I stopped the sinking feeling in my stomach by thinking rationally. There's no way that Lelouch and the others haven't already thought of all this.
In fact, Ayanokōji had probably sent me on this mission because he was confident that this would happen. He'd wanted to confirm something by sending me here.
I tried my hardest to use deductive logic, thinking like Ryuzaki and Sora do. What was Ayanokōji trying to find out by sending me here? He already knew that Ryūen's spying strategy would be successful, so it couldn't be that.
The other thing I'd heard here was Ryūen telling Shiina that ordinarily, he'd let her retire. On our way back from Class C's camp yesterday, Lelouch had told me that Class C's leader was either Ryūen himself, or one of the spies, as everybody else would be dropping out at the end of the day.
That must be it. Ryūen has to be the leader – he would have no other reason to go to such lengths to conceal his presence on the island. Ayanokōji hadn't wanted me to find out whether our leader was uncovered or not, like I'd initially assumed; no, he'd wanted to confirm that Ryūen intends to remain on the island until the end.
Class C's leader was undoubtedly Ryūen Kakeru. Feeling a little proud of myself for deducing that, I slipped away from the scene.
△▼△▼△▼△
Horikita's POV
The fourth day of the island exam. That meant that today was the halfway mark. I found myself actually dreading the fact that we were only half-way done. I already began to struggle with my deteriorating health, and still had three full days ahead of me.
Little did I know that this would be the worst day yet. A disaster, so to speak.
I was awoken by a hysteric crying sound. I leaned forwards and rubbed my eyes, before taking in the scene inside the tent. Karuizawa-san was crying her eyes out, while being comforted by the other girls like Kushida-san.
Not even bothering to ask anything, I forced myself up and made my way over to the doorway. A few of the girls shot me a look, since I didn't bother to spare a glance at the crying Karuizawa-san, but I ignored them and exited the tent.
I shoved my way out through the tent fabric, and stumbled out into the humid air outside. Things weren't much calmer out here. In fact, they were probably less calm than in the tent.
The boys, looking still half-asleep, were standing around with looks of confusion written on their faces. The rest of the girls, who didn't stay in the tent, were apparently berating them. Shinohara-san had taken the lead.
"What's going on? Why did you wake us up so early?"
"Sorry, Hirata-kun. This doesn't involve you, but... we've gathered everyone to confirm something."
Shinohara-san gave everyone except Hirata-kun a look of complete contempt.
"Well, this morning...Karuizawa-san's underwear went missing. Do you know what this means?"
"U-underwear?"
Even Hirata-kun, usually calm and collected, appeared visibly shaken.
"Karuizawa-san is crying inside the tent right now. Kushida-san and others are comforting her right now, but..." Shinohara-san looked over to the girls' tent.
"Huh? Huh? What? Why are you glaring at us over her underwear being missing?"
"Isn't that obvious? Someone went through her bag in the middle of the night and stole them. Our luggage was outside the tent, so if someone wanted to steal something, they easily could have!"
The boys, still in a state of drowsiness, all exchanged looks.
"No, no, no, no! Huh?! Huh?!"
Ike-kun, in a complete panic, looked back and forth between the boys and girls. One of the boys who'd been observing all this grumbled calmly.
"Come to think of it, Ike, you were pretty late getting back from the toilet yesterday. You took a really long time."
"No, no, no! That was just, well...I was struggling because it was dark!"
"Is that so? You stole Karuizawa's underwear, didn't you?"
"Y-you're wrong! I didn't do it!"
The boys started blaming one another for this particularly nasty crime.
As I was standing some distance away, silently observing the altercation, my eyes drifted over the only other person who was alone. Ibuki Mio. Could it be her...?
"Anyway. This is a huge problem, don't you agree? It's impossible for us to camp alongside a bunch of underwear thieves," said Shinohara-san, her arms crossed. She looked as though she was going to lose her temper.
"Hirata-kun, can you find the culprit?"
"Well, there's no evidence that the boys stole it. Maybe Karuizawa lost it."
"Yeah, that's right! We have nothing to do with this!" The boys shouted behind Hirata-kun, proclaiming their innocence.
"I don't want to think there's a criminal among us."
Doubting our own classmates seemed wrong.
"I know that you're not the culprit, Hirata-kun. But for the time being, let's check the boys' luggage."
Apparently, the girls weren't changing their minds on this. They had decided that the culprit was on the boys' side. Well, I supposed that it was only natural to think that.
"Huh? Don't give us that crap. We don't need to do that. Hirata, tell them no."
"For now, we'll try gathering the guys together and talking it out. Can you please give us a little time?" Hirata asked.
"If you say so, Hirata-kun. I understand. I'll try talking to Karuizawa-san. But if the culprit can't be found, we have some ideas."
"Speaking of the boys, isn't there one missing?"
At that, everyone scanned their eyes over the boys' side. I counted them, and quickly realized who had disappeared.
"You're right. Where is Kōenji-kun?" Hirata-kun asked in confusion.
"Kōenji has dropped out of the exam," a stern voice cut into our conversation. "He claimed that he wasn't feeling well."
It was Chabashira-sensei, who was standing a distance away and glaring at us coldly. As she said that, the atmosphere somehow became even worse, and chaos erupted.
"He dropped out?! Doesn't that mean we'll lose 30 points?!" Ike-kun cried out in horror.
"Yeah! Damn that narcissist!"
"I bet it was him that stole Karuizawa-san's underwear, and made off with it during the night."
Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun let out an involuntary snicker as Shinohara-san said that, but quickly stiffened up and zipped their mouths when they were shot an icy stare.
"Well this is just fantastic!" Sudō-kun fumed, kicking a nearby tree in anger.
"Yeah! We've been dragged out of bed early for something we didn't even do, and now we find out that egotistical guy decided to make us suffer losses just for his own self-benefit!" Yukimura-kun complained vocally.
"Never mind that! We have a more pressing matter at hand!" Shinohara-san snapped at the boys who were more concerned with our points than a missing underwear.
To be honest, though, I couldn't deny that I was also more worried about our points than the matter with Karuizawa-san. I've been feeling ill this whole time, but stuck it out for the sake of our class, while Kōenji-kun just goes and does that?!
"We aren't the culprits!" Ike-kun shouted angrily back at them, eyes full of frustration.
"Then you have nothing to hide! Give me your bag, now!" Shinohara-san retorted, equally angry.
It seemed that this incident, in combination with Kōenji-kun's dropout, had a severe impact on Class E's morale. I felt myself beginning to lose faith. I also felt some anger myself. Why was a superior student such as me stuck in this hell?
"Fine! I'll prove my innocence right here!" Ike-kun confidently grabbed his bag, but suddenly froze.
"Well? What's taking so long?" Shinohara-san pressed.
"Oh, nothing..."
He turned his back on Hirata-kun and the girls, checked the inside of his bag, and frantically closed it back up.
"Kanji?"
Ike-kun's face was pale, his body stiff. He was completely paralyzed. "On second thoughts, I don't think we should have to show our belongings openly to all the girls."
"What, you're the one that really stole them?" said Yamauchi, half-jokingly.
"Th-that's crazy talk!"
Ike frantically denied it, shaking his head while clutching his bag.
What a blatant overreaction. We weren't dumb enough to believe nothing was wrong.
"Wait, don't tell me..." Yamauchi said.
"What? You don't believe me?!"
"This all looks a bit suspicious to me."
Shinohara-san marched up to him, and firmly grabbed Ike-kun's bag. He tried pulling back on it, desperately clinging on, but Shinohara-san eventually snatched it from his grasp.
Ike-kun watched in horror, his face like that of a ghost, as Shinohara-san unzipped his bag and peered into it. When she turned her eyes back up, they were colder than ice as she glared at Ike-kun.
"W-wait, I can explain!" Ike-kun cried.
Slap!
Shinohara-san didn't give Ike-kun time to explain, apparently, because she struck him harshly on the cheek with her hand.
Ike-kun yelped in pain and jumped back, holding his reddened cheek. He looked at Shinohara-san with moisty eyes.
"I-I didn't steal them, okay..." he said dejectedly, on the verge of tears.
"Shinohara-san, he doesn't look like he's acting," said Hirata-kun, standing up for Ike-kun.
Once again, my eyes drifted over to Ibuki-san. I'd been suspicious of her for quite a while now. After meeting up with Ichinose-san, I'd discovered that she wasn't the only student to be 'exiled' from Class C. What's more, Kōenji-kun had taken to referring to her as 'Spy-girl' before he dropped out last night.
Could this be a trick orchestrated by Ryūen-kun, a way to disrupt our class? Should I voice my suspicions? No, bringing up Ibuki-san right now would only make matters even worse.
"I don't care. It's clear that one of the boys is a pervert, and that's how the underwear ended up in Ike-kun's bag!" Shinohara-san didn't back down, and pushed her allegations further.
"I'm telling you! It wasn't me! Someone put them in there to frame me!" Ike-kun pleaded his innocence desperately.
"Yeah, right."
Shinohara-san seemed adamant about the boys' guilt. Personally, I thought that this incident was a bit too far, even for Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun. The timing was also quite convenient – just as we'd started to get everything in order, this happens. It didn't make sense.
"Guys, we should stop accusing one another and think rationally. Fighting will get us nowhere."
Hirata-kun stepped in as the mediator and, eventually, the girls decided to drop the topic for now, albeit reluctantly. Such was Hirata-kun's influence.
"Unity is a vital component of this exam. We're doomed if we fight amongst ourselves," narrated Hirata-kun.
I finally decided to interject. "More importantly, we have things to do. We need to renew our spots, and then get moving with our tasks for the day. It'd be nice if we could find some more food naturally, to reduce our expenses."
"Ah, that's right. It's been over eight hours since we last renewed our spot, hasn't it? Everybody, gather around!"
Hirata-kun called a majority of the class over to the terminal. At the beginning of the exam, Class E had come up with a tactic to avoid our leader being spied upon; namely, having everybody stand around the apparatus so that the leader couldn't be identified within the crowd.
As always, we all crowded around the facility, ready to take control of the spot once more. I reached into my pocket for the key card, but froze as I grasped it.
"Horikita? What's wro—"
Hirata-kun called out to me, but also fell silent. He must've spotted the same thing that I did. One by one, all of our classmates began to come to the same realization.
We stared at the spot terminal in silence for a while. The spot terminal that read:
Class D
07:13:24
"C-Class D?"
Murmurs of astonishment spread amongst my classmates. I was still paralyzed by shock, staring blankly at the monitor.
"What about our other spot?" Hirata-kun asked anxiously.
"Let's go and check on it," I replied, shoving my way through the crowd.
Hirata-kun and Kushida-san both joined me quickly, and we set off towards the other spot we occupied. It wasn't a spot that we used, but we found it unoccupied on the first day and decided to occupy it for the sake of points.
After around seven minutes, we arrived, but sure enough...
Class D
06:55:49
"This one too...?" Kushida-san muttered dejectedly.
"They must've taken them while we slept," Hirata-kun deduced solemnly.
"Is that allowed?"
"Yeah," I answered flatly. "We have the right of exclusive possession while we occupy the spot. In other words, when the spot's eight-hour duration expires, any class is free to enter and occupy it."
"We should've taken into account sleeping time when renewing our spot. We just reclaimed our spot whenever we could, disregarding the chance of anything like this happening. We last occupied the spot at around six PM yesterday, which means it would've ran out in the middle of the night." Hirata-kun added, looking down.
"Do you think that we're the only ones who had this happen?" Kushida-san asked.
She raised a good point. We'd neglected to consider that our spot would run out during the night, but we didn't know whether the same would be true for the other classes.
"Let's go and meet up with Ichinose-san, and see if Class B is in a similar situation," I suggested, garnering nods from my two companions.
We sombrely trudged through the forest, heading back to and along the river until we reached the waterside spot occupied by Class B. One thing immediately stuck out to me – they were all awake even though it was quite early, but their usual unified and jovial atmosphere was gone. I immediately assumed the worst.
"Ah, Horikita-san, Kushida-san, Hirata-kun. Welcome."
Ichinose-san spotted us, and waved to us. Nobody missed the fact that she just didn't have her usual energy.
"You too?" I asked as we approached her.
"Yeah. Look," she beckoned us over to the spot facility.
We walked over to it and huddled around the screen. As expected, it was also sealed off from Class B.
Class D
06:09:57
"Yours is about half an hour ahead of ours. They must've done an entire lap around the island, visiting every spot systematically." I surmised dryly.
Thinking back, on the first day, Ayanokōji-kun openly claimed a spot right before Kushida-san, Kōenji-kun and I. The one at the tower. It'd been in the back of my mind, but I hadn't paid it much attention until now. That guy must've been the one behind all this.
I couldn't understand him at all. What did he gain by revealing that he's the leader? Even if they captured all of these spots, they'd lose all the bonus points when everyone guesses their leader correctly. His strategy made no sense.
Knowing Class D, there must be more to it, but I couldn't see any possible way for them to wriggle out of the pit they'd put themselves in. Once every class figures out that Ayanokōji-kun is the one going around taking all of these spots, it'd only be a matter of time before they lose 200 points from his identity as the leader being guessed.
"I think we should go and look at Class C and A," Hirata-kun said, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Good idea. Then we'll be able to get a picture of how many spots they've actually taken. Are you coming, Ichinose-san?" Kushida-san agreed heartily.
"Eto... Yeah, I think it'll be for the best if I join you," Ichinose-san thought for a short while, before agreeing to join us. "Hey guys, I'm just going to go check out the other class' situations! I'll be back soon!" She called out to her classmates and, with that, we turned to leave.
We made our way through the dense forest, toward where the beach that Ryūen-kun occupied. We pushed out way through the trees and, eventually, stepped out onto the coarse sand.
"They're... gone?"
It was like a ghost town. Not a single person was in sight – all I could see was the occasional gust of sand that was kicked up by the passing winds. The only remnant of life at all was the spot monitor. The monitor that clearly displayed:
Class D
05:41:22
"So Ryūen-kun had all of Class C drop out... Him and that Ayanokōji-kun... I can't understand them at all." I muttered as I read the display.
"Ayanokōji-kun? Why mention him?" Ichinose-san shot me a quizzical look.
I exchanged a glance with my classmates, asking for confirmation. I received two nods in return, so I went ahead with my explanation.
"On the first day, Ayanokōji-kun openly captured a spot, in full view of Kushida-san and me. It was the one at the tower. At first, we thought he was just joking around but we checked the screen and he actually did occupy it." I narrated, recounting the events of the first day.
"So Class D's leader is Ayanokōji-kun... Why would he make it that obvious?" Ichinose-san tilted her head in confusion.
"We're not sure either," said Hirata-kun as he began walking away from the monitor.
The three of us quickly followed to catch up with him, and matched his pace. We wordlessly agreed to head towards Class A next.
When we got there, they were all still asleep. Taking care not to wake anybody, we crept over to the facility and peered down at it.
Class D
05:32:59
"So, every class..." Kushida-san breathed.
"Looks like every other class also had the same oversight as us. We should've timed our renewals, and made sure to wake up before it expired." Hirata-kun whispered.
This strategy was quite simple when you think about it. It wasn't one that outmanoeuvred the other classes – no, it was one that relied on the other classes making a mistake.
If we didn't mistakenly overlook our spot timings, we could've easily countered their strategy by waiting intentionally until right before we sleep to reclaim our spot, and then ensuring that we wake in less than eight hours.
However, once again, I took everything at surface level, and didn't even stop to think about the moving parts behind the scenes. There is probably much, much more to this exam than what first appears, but I had overlooked all of it. Once again, I'd made the same blunder that Sora-kun had been trying to teach me not to make.
Perhaps, my way of thinking is flawed, and I'm not the all-too-superior student that I think I am. Just maybe.
"What should we do now?" Ichinose-san cut into my thoughts quietly.
"I think that we should go to Class D's camp." Kushida-san suggested.
"Yes. I think that's the best move, too. It's not like we have anything urgent to do right now." I agreed.
"Okay. I'm in. Let's go," beckoning us to follow, Ichinose-san began to leave Class A's camp and headed toward where Class D's camp was located.
We began walking and, once we got out of hearing range of the Class A camp, Ichinose-san struck up a conversation as we walked.
"Ayanokōji-kun is an interesting one, isn't he?"
"Mhm. He seems to have extraordinary ability, but doesn't like to show it. He could easily be praised as one of the best students in the school, if not the best, if he so pleased." I responded dryly.
I couldn't ignore it anymore. I had to bring myself to acknowledge Ayanokōji-kun's abilities. He'd proved his prowess repeatedly, whether it be by his perfect scores in the midterms and finals, or by him beating my brother in a skirmish.
Curiously, Kushida-san twitched subtly as I mentioned that he could be the best student in the school. I briefly wondered what that was all about, but quickly let it go.
"He always looks so calm too... Maybe he has like a secret dark and cold side to him!" Ichinose-san punched her fist against her hand with enthusiasm, grinning widely as she said that.
"Hmm, like a cold calculating and evil side that he never lets anyone see?" Kushida-san asked, cocking her head to the side.
"That's nonsense." I cut in. "Ayanokōji-kun is nothing more than a good-hearted idiot. Do you really think that someone like him could have a dark and twisted personality?"
Ayanokōji-kun was someone who tried not to stand out during the first month, and he never did anything out of spite. Someone like that could never be ruthless.
"Or maybe that's just what he wants you to think." Hirata-kun added half-jokingly.
I noticed Kushida-san was uncharacteristically quiet, another odd behaviour from her. She'd been acting strange ever since the topic of Ayanokōji-kun came up.
"We're here," Ichinose-san announced as we reached the alcove outside Class D's cave.
What I saw baffled me. They had a net set up, and were currently playing volleyball. Lelouch-kun, Sora-kun and Shiro-san were sitting on a long, while Ayanokōji-kun and Ryuzaki-kun played a match against Light-kun and Kururugi-kun.
The ball floated over the net, over to Ayanokōji-kun's side. Ryuzaki-kun hit the ball upwards, and Ayanokōji-kun leapt upwards to meet it, spiking it down harshly.
The ball shot downwards ridiculously fast but, somehow, Kururugi-kun was even faster. He went from standing to diving just above the ground within a blink of an eye, and saved the ball from hitting the floor.
The ball spun over the net again, right to where Ryuzaki-kun was standing. He returned it apathetically, firing it in a long arc towards the far-side of the opposition's net.
Light-kun tracked backwards to meet it, sending it back to the other side. However, he'd made a miscalculation. The ball began to slow down right after it passed the net, and Ayanokōji-kun didn't miss the opportunity.
He rose up into the air and, with Light-kun still at the far side and Kururugi-kun only just having scrambled to his feet again, there was nobody to prevent Ayanokōji-kun from slamming the ball into the dirt.
"It's pretty incredible that you're always in the perfect place to return a shot, Ayanokōji." Sora-kun remarked.
"It's just a matter of predicting how your shots will be returned," replied Ayanokōji-kun, not a trace of sweat present on his face.
Getting slightly irritated that nobody had notice us standing here yet, I cut in loudly.
"What the hell are you guys doing in the middle of an exam? Do you even know what an exam is?"
Lelouch smirked at me. "Oi guys, do you want to hear a joke?"
I already knew that whatever was about to come out of his mouth wouldn't be nice for me, but nobody could do anything to stop him from talking.
"An angel, a chick-magnet, a boy-magnet and a bitch walk into a forest clearing," he paused, and made eye contact with me. "The bitch said 'What the hell are you guys doing in the middle of an exam? Do you even know what an exam is?'"
His classmates snorted in response, while I felt my fist tighten. It appeared that they already didn't intend to take us seriously.
"Good one, very funny. But seriously, what are you trying to pull?" I glowered.
"And then she said—"
"Okay, shut up!" I snapped.
Somehow, members of this class in particular had a certain way of getting under my skin. It really started to bother me.
"Someone's a bit snappy today. Did something happen?" Sora-kun asked, placing his finger against his cheek, as if he was deep in thought.
"Maybe she's annoyed because she can't find a boyfriend," suggested Shiro-san irritatingly, resting her head against Sora-kun's shoulder.
"Maybe... Or perhaps she's annoyed because her brother is the student council president while she's in Class E?" Lelouch pondered.
I felt my frustration rising more and more at these guys' antics.
"Hmm... Maybe it's that time of the month?" Sora-kun proposed with a grin.
"It is not!" I shot him an icy glare, but he just laughed at me.
"Guys, it isn't nice to make passive-aggressive comments of that nature about a girl," advocated Hirata-kun, the ever-neutral mediator.
"But Horikita is barely a girl. She definitely doesn't act like one," Lelouch-kun retorted with a smirk. "And also—"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence, though, because he received a satisfying chop to the head which caused him to yelp in pain.
"That's enough, you guys," Kururugi-kun scolded them sternly.
I felt a sharp pain in my palm, and realized that it was my fingernails digging into my hand. Apparently, I'd tightened my fist too much. I loosened it and examined the marks dug into my skin.
"But in all seriousness, why did you guys come here? I mean, I can probably guess, but I'd still like to make sure." Ayanokōji-kun stepped forward from the volleyball game, and came over to us.
He was followed by the rest of his classmates one by one, until we were all standing face to face with each other.
"Ayanokōji-kun," I began, looking him in the eye. "It was you who captured all of the spots during the night, wasn't it?"
"That's right," he didn't deny it, and instead openly admitted to it instead.
"Hmm?" Ichinose-san looked baffled. "So you're really the leader, Ayanokōji-kun?"
"I suppose so,"
This didn't add up. If he really was the leader, there's no way he'd be so calm about it. But then again, Ayanokōji-kun was always this calm. There's also no way he could've taken the tower spot if he wasn't the leader. What game was he trying to play?
"Excuse me, Class D, but do you understand the effect your actions have had on the other classes? Now that everybody has lost their spots, they've also lost their base camps. You can control what happens at every spot now, after all. Nobody else has anywhere to camp now." Hirata-kun said gravely.
"Oh, there's no need to worry about that," Ryuzaki-kun countered disinterestedly. "'You can't change your base camp location without a justifiable reason once you've decided.' Losing your spot is a justifiable reason. Just move your camp somewhere else."
Ryuzaki-kun pointed out yet another rule that I'd overlooked. While I felt more frustration with myself, an even bigger question floated into my mind:
Just how much have these guys thought out?
They seemed to have an answer for everything. They didn't miss a single detail. Every possible thing, down to even the most minute elements, was considered in their plans. I felt chills run through my body. Is this the gap between a true genius and a mere above-average honour student?
"So we can move our camp? But that sounds like a long and arduous task." Ichinose-san said dejectedly.
"To put it as respectfully as possible, that doesn't sound like our problem." Lelouch-kun countered neutrally. "We're doing what it takes to win. Inconveniencing our enemies is just one of many things done to achieve victory."
"Is victory all you guys care about?" Kushida-san asked.
"Horikita said it herself," Light-kun replied assertively. "This is an exam. Everybody is trying to win, albeit in different ways. Our way is just objectively superior to yours."
"What, revealing your leader is an objectively superior strategy, is it?" I scoffed.
I thought about it, and there was no possible way that revealing your leader could ever bring about a positive result. I rubbed my arm as I thought about it.
"Maybe it is,"
"By the way, who is she?" Ichinose-san asked, pointing her finger at a girl who was sitting alone at a log in the centre of the clearing.
She had silver hair tied by twin black ribbons that fell to the small of her back. I'd never seen her before.
"Oh, her?" Sora-kun glanced over his shoulder at the girl. "Just some refugee from that Ryūen's class. No one important."
"A refugee?" Hirata-kun narrowed his eyes.
My suspicion of Ibuki-san increased even more. Not only was there also a Class C student living amongst Class B, but there was also one in Class D. It all seemed a bit too convenient.
"There's also Ibuki-san in your class, as well as Kaneda-kun in ours." Ichinose-san stated.
"Mhm, it's all quite suspicious, isn't it?" Light-kun replied with a gentle, heart-capturing smile.
"I was thinking the exact same thing..." I murmured to no one in particular.
"Anyway, did you get what you came here for?" Lelouch-kun asked, bringing us back to the main topic at hand.
"No. I want to know what you're playing at with this ridiculous strategy." I asserted harshly.
"Isn't it obvious? The more spots we occupy, the more bonus points we get at the end of the exam." Ayanokōji-kun answered as if it was obvious.
"But that makes no sense. If your leader is guessed, you lose all of those bonus points anyway, so what's the point?" Kushida-san looked confused, as did we all.
"Well we'll just have to not get our leader guessed then, won't we?"
With those cryptic words, Ayanokōji-kun turned around and went to sit on the logs arranged as chairs, and he was shortly followed by the rest of Class D.
Kushida-san, Ichinose-san, Hirata-kun and I exchanged looks, and wordlessly agreed to take our leave. Once we were a fair distance away, we began to talk again.
"I have more questions than answers now," I sighed in exasperation.
"Me too. I can't understand what they're thinking at all." Ichinose-san agreed.
"Well, everything will become clear at the end of the exam, I suppose." Kushida-san said, trying to brighten the mood.
"It might not be that simple, though." Hirata-kun shot her down. "There's a chance the school might just tell us the results and nothing more. They might not even tell us who the actual leaders are. In that case, we'd still be left in the dark."
We all pondered his words solemnly. Our position was extremely precarious. Not only was our class in complete shambles after being hit by three demoralizing events in quick succession, but we were also clueless as to what was going on behind the scenes. It all invoked a feeling of lingering dread.
"Well, I suppose nothing can be done about it for now," Ichinose-san concluded.
△▼△▼△▼△
Later that day, something curious happened. We'd spent the entire day moving our camp elsewhere after losing our spot, causing us to miss out on valuable resource-gathering time. Well, the boys did, anyway. The girls were still refusing to talk to them.
The girls were all simply sitting around our old spot, while the boys carried the tents and luggage and such to a reasonable location that Ike-kun had stumbled across when looking for where to move to.
I also stayed behind to confirm a suspicion that I had. I remained next to the spot apparatus, not making conversation with any of the other girls. I spent the time in idleness, watching as the time on the display slowly ticked down.
When it reached approximately ten minutes, my suspicions were confirmed. Coming out of the trees, Ayanokōji-kun appeared. It looked like he was here to renew the spot, not caring if he was seen.
"So, you came," I noted aloud.
"I did. You were expecting me?"
I nodded. "After how nonchalantly you've acted about being the leader thus far, I could only conclude that you'd also come to openly reclaim this spot too. There'd be no point in you just taking it for eight hours, after all."
"Well, you're certainly right about that," he said emotionlessly, as usual.
Silence befell us for a while, the ambient sound of chatter filling my ears as background noise. After a while, Ayanokōji-kun decided to speak again.
"Things don't seem so good here," he observed.
I sighed in response. "The boys and girls had an argument this morning."
"An argument?"
"That's right. Karuizawa-san's underwear went missing, and it was found in Ike-kun's bag. He claims he didn't steal it, and that somebody planted it there." I gestured toward the stack of luggage.
Ayanokōji-kun didn't respond instantly. Rather, he looked a bit hesitant, as if he was choosing his words.
"That's... quite disconcerting for everybody involved, really." He said eventually.
"Everybody?" I echoed, perplexed.
"Yes. Obviously, for the girls, it's quite a terrifying prospect, knowing that somebody stole underwear from them. However, it must also be uncomfortable for the boys. Put yourself in their shoes – somebody stole Karuizawa's underwear, and is allegedly trying to frame Ike. If underwear is found in your bag, it's especially hard to explain, and proving your innocence is near impossible. It wouldn't be too hard for the true thief to frame anybody. For the boys, they could be worried that they'd be targeted next." He elaborated analytically.
Really, just from hearing a little about the situation, he thought of all that? I had to give Ayanokōji-kun my genuine praise. Of course, I'd never say it to him.
"I suppose so. To me, it's all just a load of stupidness. It's obvious who the real thief is." I looked over to Ibuki-san, who was sitting alone, as usual.
"Ibuki, huh."
I was surprised that he knew her name. He must've been told it when he visited our camp yesterday. It was highly unlikely that he'd heard of her before that.
"It does seem like a very 'Ryūen' thing to do. Causing chaos in the other classes like this." He added.
"Yes. I can't understand what he stands to gain from it, though."
"If your class is less unified, the chances of him being able to find your leader increases. There is a bright side, though. The fact that Ryūen has resorted to such measures tells you that he doesn't yet know your leader. That's always nice."
I hadn't thought that far but, yes, I suppose the fact that Ryūen-kun was doing things like this now did mean that he hadn't found our leader yet. If he had, I had no doubt that he'd simply begin ignoring our existence.
"Do you think he instructed all his spies to do stuff like this should they fail to find the leader another way before dropping out?" I asked.
"Probably," he responded vaguely, as if dodging the question.
I glanced at the monitor screen. Thirty seconds left. I watched wordlessly as it ticked down, and eventually reached zero.
Ayanokōji-kun took the key card from his pocket, and pressed it against the device. After a moment, the capture was recognized, and the clock began counting down from eight hours once more.
"So that's that, then." I said.
"Looks like it," he replied.
He turned to leave, not even bothering to say goodbye, but stopped. He turned around, and decided to say one last thing to me.
"Horikita, what you're doing right now, quite frankly, is idiotic."
"W-what are you talking about?"
"This," he gestured to the surroundings. "Look at where you are. Look at what you were doing before I arrived. You spend all your time alone, playing the lone wolf. Sorry, but you aren't strong enough to fight alone."
"And you are?"
"I am. That's why I'm telling you this. I have that strength. That's how I know what strength is required for such a thing. And I'm telling you, you don't possess that strength."
I fell silent for a while. I wanted to disregard his words, act like he was just an idiot spouting nonsense, but I couldn't ignore the weight behind them. I couldn't brush the truth off forever.
"So? What am I supposed to do? Just give up?"
"No. If you can't fight by yourself, fight with another. You have classmates for a reason. Kushida and Hirata will help you."
"You really think they'd work with me?" I scoffed.
Kushida-san had made advances towards me, trying earnestly to become my friend repeatedly, and I had coldly rejected her every time, paying no attention to her feelings. She probably hated me by now.
"Of course. They want to reach Class A just as much as you do. Besides, hasn't Kushida been trying to befriend you for quite some time now?"
How the hell does he know that?
"I suppose so... I'll consider it, I guess."
"It's not like you have much else to do while sitting alone here. Goodbye, Horikita."
"Goodbye, Ayanokōji-kun."
A/N: 6892 words. Quite short compared to recent chapters, but it's the same length as most of my earlier chapters.
Also, apparently wattpad cut off like half of this chapter when I first uploaded it. idk what's up with that but...
There isn't a whole lot to write about during the middle of the island exam, so enjoy this entire chapter from Horikita's POV lmao. She's finally beginning to show some development :)
Next chapter will probably be around the same length as this one, so I'll probably try to get it out within 2-4 days.
Thanks for the support <3