Matsushita Chiaki POV
Walking over the forest, I picked another branch. It was dry enough, so I kept it.
I was doing a round to collect branches for the campfire along with Horikita-san, Ayanokouji-kun, Kushida-sanand Miyamoto-kun. A short while ago, we had split into two groups, and I had found myself with Horikita-san.
This was my opportunity to talk to her about it. I had been delaying it each time, but I had to have this conversation with her before the exam was over.
"Horikita-san, can I ask you something?"
She answered affirmatively while picking up another branch.
"Did something happen between you and Kushida-san."
"No," she simply said not even looking at my direction. "Why the question?"
"Well... She may hate you to some degree," I answered.
I had pondered a lot these past few days whether to answer her truthfully or not. I finally opted to be honest with her. Since our conversation at the beginning of the exam, Horikita-san had implied herself a lot with the work at the camp, it'd be washing the clothes and leaving them to dry or giving directives here and there. She still treated our classmates in a cold manner, but I was glad she was trying to be useful for the class. I'm sure everyone shared the same thought, even Hirata-kun; especially when one considered that Horikita-san was our leader.
"I see."
"You don't seem surprised..."
She shrugged and turned considering this conversation over. I couldn't leave it at this, however.
"It's just that," I began joining her to walk by her side. "Kushida-san tried to be friends with you at the beginning of the year, right? I thought that perhaps all your refusals made her, you know... hate you."
"Kushida-san is free to think whatever she wants of me."
"Even if that feeling drives her to work for your expulsion...?"
She stopped completely and stared at me, not taking her eyes off mine.
"What are you implying, Matsushita-san?"
"Huh? I'm not implying anything, Horikita-san," okay, time for the truth. "It's just that I discovered another side to Kushida-san, and she well... hates us both, so I thought I could—"
"Why does she hate you?"
"Because I discovered this other side of her," I replied immediately, tilting my head, I would have thought that much was obvious.
Horikita nodded in understanding. Looking thoughtful, we stayed in silence for a minute. This was taking too much, come on Horikita-san, help me with this.
"...Kushida-san and I went to the same middle school."
"Eh? Huh?"
Confused sounds escaped my lips.
She had just given me information, right? I didn't dream it?
A wide and happy smile formed on my face along with a sudden urge to give Horikita-san a hug. I held myself though. I wouldn't get a positive reaction if I did that.
"So, you knew each other from before? But Kushida-san said in her introduction that none of her friends from middle school entered ANHS."
"We weren't friends. We weren't even in the same class. I just knew her by reputation. Just like now, everybody loved her."
"Really? But then why she hates you to the point of wanting your expulsion?"
"I wonder."
"There's really nothing that comes to your mind? It's important Horikita-san."
Even if Miyamoto-kun was with them, I feared what Kushida-san might be doing. She had made it crystal clear that she would try to put Ayanokouji-kun against Horikita-san and me, and although we were friends, I wouldn't blame him if he complied. After all, Horikita-san and I had been dragging him into class affairs since school began.
I knew Ayanokouji-kun was someone exceptional. Yet, I had no clear understandings of the extent of his capabilities. I had no doubt, however, that he could get rid of both Horikita-san and I in the blink of an eye. Even if he didn't do it himself a simple call to someone like Tomori-san and my fate would be sealed.
I had to admit, though, that I actually wanted Ayanokouji-kun to choose me over Kushida-san. We were friends, right? And he had trust me enough to show me a bit of his abilities. Besides, Ayanokouji-kun wasn't the type to hold a grudge.
Horikita-san had submerged herself in another deep reflection.
Come one Horikita-san! I need you to be my ally here.
As Horikita-san opened her mouth to respond something fell over mine and Horikita-san's hair. I closed my eyes as to not let it enter them, and after rubbing myself, I noticed Ayanokouji-kun and Miyamoto-kun being scolded by Kushida-san who was claiming that it wasn't good to do such jokes. Sure, she had to act like she was angry, she probably was thrilling on the inside. Miyamoto-kun was failing magnificently at trying to hold back his laughter.
Taking my attention towards the substance in my hair, I noticed it was mud. That's true, there had rained last night, and looking at the sky, it seemed like tonight would rain too.
Ugh! I had been so focused in my conversation with Horikita-san that I completely forgot about surveying my surroundings.
Wait, how was I supposed to interpret this? Was this supposed to mean that Ayanokouji-kun had chosen Kushida-san?
No, if that was the case, they wouldn't let me know right away. So, what was the purpose of doing this? It was just a simple prank?
Opting to not give any more thought to analyse this, we returned to our camp, a pissed Horikita-san and I'm sure a thrilled Kushida-san walking next to me.
Horikita Suzune POV
Once I took my shower and recovered my things, I noticed the key card was missing. Surprised and panicking a bit, I walked over the boys' tent to talk to Ayanokouji-kun.
Noticing standing right in front of his tent, I approached him, eyes downcast. I then scanned the surroundings, making sure none of our classmates could hear us.
"Ayanokouji-kun; could you please come here for a moment?"
I felt even more dizzy than before, my headache worsening by the second, but I had to kept going. I had to make up for my pitiful performance during Sudou-kun's affair, and for my class to recognize me as one of the leaders, I had to show I could be useful to the class.
He looked at my direction, his face didn't let any feelings transpire at all. Just his usual neutral expression.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked me.
"Follow me. We can't talk here."
With that, I walked toward the forest.
He asked me some petty question, but I ignored him. Stopping once I was certain we were far enough away from the camp, I turned around determined to speak with him about the missing key card, but I faltered.
"This is my fault. I messed up... again," I stated, my last word leaving my lips in a whisper so soft I doubted Ayanokouji-kun heard it.
"Your fault?"
"Someone stole it. The... the key card. I totally messed up, I left it unwatched."
I was disgusted with myself. I'm don't think I would have made such a blunder if I had my whole mind, but my illness had been dragging me for the whole exam.... Ugh, even that sounds like a petty excuse, I would have lost the key card either way.
I should have stayed out of this exam just like that Class A student.
"This is so humiliating! I trust your abilities, Ayanokouji-kun. You orchestrated everything that happened in the trial after all. Help me find the culprit... please."
I didn't trust Hirata-kun to solve something like this, and Matsushita-san had been acting weird with me since the first day and that conversation we had earlier only made me uncomfortable around her.
"Ugh! This must be exactly why the school put me in Class D."
Four months in, and my only real apport was finding out Sakura-san was the witness. Perhaps Nii-san's right and I'm a lost cause...
"This isn't your fault. The one who stole it is to blame."
"That doesn't matter, our classmates gave me the leadership because I'm supposed to be someone responsible. It has nothing to do with me being sick or covered in mud!"
I hung my head but managed to notice his eyebrow raising at my comment about my sickness. I was going to continue lamenting myself, but he stopped me.
"Don't blame yourself. I doubt this'll be any consolation, but I think you did your absolute best. You've even been acting as a leader."
I bit my lower lip hearing his words. You're not supposed to console me, Ayanokouji-kun. I know how much I messed up. Neither you, nor Matsushita-san would have let go of the key card for a second.
"We shouldn't make this information public. We don't want our classmates panicking."
"You're right, let's do that."
He was right, if a general panic consummated our class now, then we would definitely be done for.
"I think Ibuki-san did it," I stated trying to recompose myself, we had to resolve this matter first.
"Are you sure? Didn't she retired yesterday after what happened?"
"I doubt it, she's a spy, she would've stayed near the camp, waiting for the opportunity to find the card."
"But why steal it, though. Just looking at the name would've been enough."
"I don't know! Perhaps she wanted to get a penalty for stealing or something."
I looked at him helpless. He must have an answer, right?
He placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me down.
"Let's go back to camp for now. Diner must be ready and roll call will start soon as well. We can scout the surroundings later. If not, we just have to report the theft to Chabashira-sensei."
I nodded slowly and he walked back to our camp leaving me alone with my laments.
Half an hour later, once roll call was over, Ayanokouji-kun, Matsushita-san and me entered the forest to scout the surroundings. If we could find Ibuki-san and make her return the key card, then maybe we could limit the damage. I didn't like Matsushita-san being here but there was nothing I could do. Another proof of my helplessness. Apparently, she had informed Hirata-kun of the situation and explained to him what we were going to do so, he wouldn't worry. He had promised not to tell the rest of our classmates, as well.
Scouting the forest at night wasn't ideal but we had to roll with it.
A few minutes after we entered, Ayanokouji-kun suggested to split up so we could cover more ground. We agreed and split up.
Walking alone, I tried not to think about my failure and stay alert in case something suspicious came up. With exception of one or two events like the one of Karuizawa-san's underwear, the exam had been going exceedingly well for our class. I couldn't let my mistake take us down like this. A good result here was a great opportunity to close the gap with the other classes.
As I walked, almost aimlessly, it began to rain. The sky became even more darker, that seeing beyond a few meters was very complicated. This wasn't good though, with the rain, my state could only worsen.
My body felt heavy and slow. I had to force myself to carry on taking each step. There were no footprints on the ground, and I could barely see anything. Why there has to be rain?
A noise coming from my right put me in a state of alert.
Seeing Ayanokouji-kun come out of the bushes made me relax.
"Ayanokouji-kun? Is everything okay?"
"You don't look well."
"I'm fine enough."
That wasn't true, I felt like I could fall at any second. But I needed to continue, I had to repair my mistake.
He sighed.
"You should retire from the exam Horikita."
Huh? What was he talking about? There was no way I was going to retire now. The exam ended tomorrow morning; I could hold until them. I could handle this. I can handle this. I know I can.
My heart was beating fast.
I wasn't calm at all. That didn't matter, as long as I appeared calm, everything was okay. Ayanokouji-kun doesn't need to see my growing anxiety and distress. I had managed to survive alone up until now, right?
I shouldn't have implied myself with the class so much during this exam, all that effort worsened my fever and now with the rain... No, don't think about that, just carry on.
"I'm sorry but I think we should continue searching for Ibuki-san."
I passed by him to continue my way, but his next words stopped me in my tracks.
"Ibuki doesn't have the key card. I have."
I turned to see him, but he was giving me his back. Reaching for his pocket he took out a small green card.
"Y-you—"
"I had it all along. Sorry for taking it, but it was necessary."
"Necessary?"
I suddenly felt my blood boil. I've been lamenting myself and feeling horrible for the past hour and he had the key card all along? Did he think this was some kind of joke?
"Necessary? I've been completely stressing out and you—"
"You should retire Horikita," he repeated simply, not turning around to face me.
"I'm not going to retire, and you just lost all the trust I had in you."
"Because you had any?"
What was that supposed to mean? I told him earlier that I trusted his abilities. And that even though I don't know the extent of them. Nii-san did acknowledge him, so, that meant that he was someone exceptional.
"You said you trusted my abilities, right?"
"Y-yeah. That's what I said."
"Then rely on them."
"Huh? You're asking me to do that after what you did? Fooling me like that? Do you have the slightest idea of the state I'm in now, because of your little act!"
I couldn't stand this. The rain, my fever, the stress I felt and the rage I'm feeling now.
If Ayanokouji-kun had the key card all along, then there's no danger on anyone finding out our leader.
"You shouldn't make assumptions. Ibuki stayed with us for five days. That's plenty of time to take a look at the card, don't you think?"
"Ugh! Can't you look at me when you talk?! Your parents didn't teach you manners?!" I took his arms and turned him around so that we could be face to face.
I immediately stepped back. The look on his face wasn't that neutral and boring one, he always put up. Now, he had a menacing air, that gave you the feeling that bad things would happen if I didn't obey. A shiver ran through my spine, but I had to hold my ground. I couldn't appear weak now, not with him, not with anyone.
"Are you going to retire?" he asked.
He's still with that? I already made it crystal clear that I wouldn't retire. And now that I knew the key card was safe there was no reason for us to carelessly lose thirty points. I stood straight and stared at him.
"Give me the card and I will forget this ever happen," I spoke as firmly as I could.
He sighed again.
"It seems like my lesson didn't pass through," he said.
Lesson? Just what got into him?
"Stop your gibberish and give me the key card."
"So, you won't retire willingly?"
Another shiver. I gulped. Calm down Suzune, there's no reason to feel intimidated by him.
"Give me the card," I commanded.
"I see. You know... It would've been easier if you'd just retired of your own free will."
"Huh?"
"Please, know, I'm sorry it came to this."
The next thing I knew was that I was falling to the ground losing consciousness.
Akabane Karma POV
After roll call, Shibata and I left the cave to reclaim the spots for the last time.
It'll only gives us six more points, so it wasn't really worth it, but I had managed to convince my classmates – mainly Ichinose, Ryuji, and Matsuo – that every point was important. As for Shibata, he didn't need any convincing.
For some reason, yesterday morning when checking on the spots again, we noticed that Class D hadn't reclaimed any of those spots, so we didn't waste any time and got a supplementary 12 points thanks to those four spots since then.
Of course, my intention wasn't to gain six more bonus points, but they needn't to know that. If they knew my real intentions, they would protest and prevent me from carrying out my plan.
If my calculations were right, then we would win with almost 500 points thanks to this exam and we would become Class A in an instant. That's why I had to make sure our leader's identity wasn't discovered. We not only would lose those fifty points from another class guessing our leader but all the bonus points from spot occupation will be nullified.
We first went to the hut while conversing about the exam or making jokes about this and that. Even if Shibata was one of the most obvious choices for the leader, I had chosen him because of his physical abilities, moving always in the same group of five, I had taken care when moving between spots.
Yet, what concerned me was Shiina Hiyori, she was definitely a Class C spy, and I could confirm it when I learned that Class D had also taken in a Class C student. I suspected that Shiina had found out our leader's identity, Shibata wasn't exactly the most discreet and Ichinose and I scolded him at least three times for forgetting his key card in his bag on the cave.
That girl really had integrated in our class as if she had always been a member of it. She had tried to approach me several times since I was a friend of Mikoto and Kiyotaka like her, I tried to refuse her but eventually resigned myself. I found that she was even more sweet than Ichinose, literally all our classmates adored her. As far as I could tell only Shinobu, and I had suspicions about her.
I wasn't particularly annoyed by Class C discovering our leader, though. All I needed to do was change it and Class C would lose fifty points.
I was a little glad in fact. Knowing that Mikoto had retired on the very first day after her dispute with Ryuuen and having confirmed that Ryuuen was still on the island thanks to Nao, I knew who Class C's leader was. He just wouldn't make Ibuki or Shiina the leaders.
Shibata was a great guy in all honesty.
I always found it was very easy to talk to him. And him being part of the football club was good for the class. He was probably the most childish of the guys in our class, but that wasn't a bad thing. He'd always made up for what Matsuo, Ryuji and I couldn't do. Mainly making the class laugh. That was an important element to keep the unity in Class B, after all.
After reclaiming the tower, we began to make our way back towards the third spot. When we started walking on the hillock of the mountain, I decided to make my move. I could allow myself to give up on three bonus points.
Looking down the knoll I pretended to see something interesting and called Shibata.
"Hey! Shibata!! Look at this!"
"What is it Karma-kun? Did you find something?" he inquired looking in the same direction as I and leaning over the hillock to get a better view.
Not wasting the opportunity, I put my hand on his back pushing him slightly.
"Ahhhhh!!"
He fell rolling down the hillock yelling, stunned by his fall.
He rolled over till the end covering his head trying to minimize the damage. Good reflex, I suppose.
"Shibata!"
When he finally stopped, I waited for a moment before calling his name. I called him with worry printed in my voice. Even if no one was here and Shibata was, in all likelihood unconscious, one could never be too cautious.
I ran down the hill to where he was and searched over his body for wounds.
I found a slight steam of blood on his front and a clearly broken leg. I did some first aid, my goal was to make him retire, not to give him a permanent wound.
Good.
Now I have a justifiable reason to retire him and change leaders.
It was a pity though. If Ichinose and my other classmates hadn't let Shiina stay in our camp this wouldn't have happened...
Probably...
I hope he'll recover for September; Shibata will be a great asset during the sports festival. But that didn't really matter now. The priority was to protect the leader's identity at all costs.
"You have to be kidding me!" I exclaimed arriving at the beach, Shibata on my back.
Inside the tent at the beach, I found Kiyotaka showing an unconscious Horikita Suzune to the staff member that was there.
So, Horikita was the leader, huh?
"So, you involved yourself... again," I affirmed more than asked in an annoyed tone.
Can someone explain me why he doesn't just stays put?!
He shrugged in response and asked for a changed of leaders. The staff members sent me a glare, probably asking himself if it was a good idea to do that with a member of another class listening.
Obviously, I asked for the same thing handing them Shibata so they could take care of him.
When the staff member asked us the name of the new leader, neither of us spoke it out loud. Instead, we took a paper and wrote it down. We then handed the paper to the responsible.
We walked outside the tent.
"Kiyo," I said as we waited for the new key cards.
He looked me in the eyes, waiting for me to continue.
"Why are you doing this?"
"Who knows?"
Right... and I expected an answer.
I sighed.
"I won't write your name if you don't write mine."
It was useless to pretend not to know who our new leaders were.
"Is that your favour?"
"No," I shook my head slightly. "I'm just telling you. You don't want to break our alliance, do you? I wonder how Ichinose and Matsuo would react if you betrayed us like this..."
He stared deeply into the forest. I followed his gaze but only saw the trees. I wonder what drove his attention like that. No one was spying on us, after all, Mikoto and Nao were the only ones that could keep their presence hidden from me and they had retired.
"I won't write Class B's leader," he finally said shifting his gaze in the direction opposite the forest, towards the ocean.
I nodded satisfied with his response.
"I like it here, you know..." I mentioned.
"Yeah, me too, it's peaceful."
I chuckled.
"Not the beach. Well, it is. But I mean the school. I enjoy being here."
"You enjoy everywhere that isn't that place."
"And you enjoy everywhere that's peaceful," I retorted.
I laughed sincerely and I noticed a small smile on his lips. It was barely noticeable, but it was there.
"Say, Kiyo," I said calming down and in a more serious tone. "Do you think being here will help us be more huma?"
He pondered my words. It wasn't exactly an easy question, but I knew what my answer was.
"Do you want to?" he asked. "To be more human, I mean."
His question took me by surprise. I thought that being here would certainly help us be more human. It was inevitable, finding ourselves in a new environment such as this one, with a lot of different people and different ideologies. It was a simple question of adaptation and exchanges of ideas.
But. Do I want that? To be more human?
I couldn't really tell. What would I lose if I accepted that? What would I gain? That kind of questions stormed my mind. That place had made me. I feared I would become more normal f I accepted to lose some of the things that made me.
The staff member came out and handed us our respective key cards. I smiled.
"It seems our time is up, Kiyo. I'll answer your question next time."
He nodded and we parted ways.
Ryuuen Kakeru POV
I yawned.
Arriving at the meeting place, I saw a bald man waiting for me.
"Yo," I greeted.
He looked at me with a serious expression.
"You're late Ryuuen. Twenty minutes late."
I raised my hands dismissing his comment.
"Yeah, well, it's not easy to move around with this rain."
This guy had a curious way to show his discontent. Well, Katsuragi was the calm and reserved type after all. At first, it surprised me to see that he accepted the offer I had sent with Ibuki. But you just don't refuse what fortune drops into your lap.
And now, with how the situation in his class progressed, he needed to know the leaders more than ever. Shiina had done a magnificent work with Class B and even if Ibuki had been forced to abandon Class D's campsite, one of those defects had turned traitor and given the key card to Ibuki. Of course, after giving me the card and I had taken the picture, she took the card again and returned it to the guy. I made her retire after, no need for her to be here more than necessary.
"Do you have them?" he questioned.
I nodded and handed him the camera. See the two pictures he nodded and glanced at me.
"It seems right."
"You've got your proof, satisfied now?"
His stern expression didn't change, but even if he wasn't satisfied it didn't matter. Considering the state of Class A, he hadn't any other choice but to accept the pictures as true.
"You really accomplished your part. Weren't you suspected?"
"At all. But as for my methods. That's a secret."
There was no need to enter in specifics.
Seeing that he still was reticent, I smiled.
"You need this, Katsuragi. Your poor leadership during the exam already lost you half of your faction. Ever since you got rejected from the student council you have been accumulating failures."
His expression turned annoyed. I continued.
"If you manage to get out of this then you can be certain everyone in your class will gather under your banner. Or perhaps you prefer to have me as an enemy? I wonder what'll happen then."
The terms had already been set. Now, it was the time to sign the contract.
"I accept your proposal, Ryuuen."
Stretching out his hand, I grabbed it, a wide smile on my face. I had my deal.
If this alliance with Class A worked out as I planned, then it would be easy to counter the alliance between Class B and D.
"I'll be heading back now. I don't want to risk things by lingering for too long." Katsuragi returned the camera to me and disappeared into the darkness.
I walked in the opposite direction, to where I had installed my little camp. With this contract sealed, the last piece that my plan needed to succeed had been set. All my classmates except for Shiina and I had retired, I knew all the leaders and this contract with Katsuragi would give me long-term benefits in terms of private points. Having a regular and stable source of income would be quite beneficial during this competition.
Sure enough, Katsuragi and Class A would have no choice but to honour the contract. It didn't matter who hold the reigns of that class. The contract would stand.
As I approached my camp, a noise coming from the bushes put me on alert. I scanned my surroundings and found nothing.
Just as I was going to disregard the sound, another one came. This time, more distinctive. It sounded like a chuckle.
It seems someone had found me out. Had they listened to my conversation with Katsuragi? But why reveal their presence to me.
"He he..."
Again, the chuckle reached my ears. I was clearly moving since not a single one came from the same direction. I tried to pay more attention to see if I could find out who the person was. The problem was that if it was someone from another class, I wouldn't be able to know who the person was until they revealed themselves fully.
"That's an interesting deal you made, Ryuuen-kun~" a distorted voice that I recognized immediately spoke.
"What are you doing here, Chikujoin?! You were supposed to have retired."
"He he~"
"Why don't you come out?" I instigated her.
"Tell me, Ryuuen-kun~ Do you think our class will win with your strategy?"
"Of course," I answered, a smirk on my face. "Everything's going according to plan. And answer my question, why didn't you retire?"
She chuckled again.
"Oh, but I feel so happy when I watch people. Especially when they do what they're supposed to. This island is like heaven, don't you think?!" there was a brief pause, then her voice became more serious. "Besides, what you said about your plan's a lie."
"How can it be a lie? One of the defects even betrayed his class. Everything's going according to script."
"Now, that's another lie, Ryuuen-kun. Is bad to tell lies. But you know? When things proceed without a hitch..."
"... That's precisely when you get the rug pulled out from under you," a voice behind me finished the phrase.
Turning slightly, I saw from the corner of my eye that the person behind me was Mikoto. What's she doing here? She retired the first day. I saw her walk to the teachers tent to retire.
As I thought about it, Mikoto grabbed my neck and with a quick move of her leg threw me to the ground. I fell forcefully and Mikoto positioned herself on top of me, hitting me twice with two crosses at the jaw.
"Now, now, Misaka, no need to go so hard on him. Hello!" Chikujoin said standing next to my face putting her right fight on my chest.
"What's this supposed to mean?! Chikujoin! Mikoto!" I bellowed; this whole situation was ridiculous.
"Oh, nothing much, Ryuuen-kun. You're just going to retire," Chikujoin commented cheerfully addressing me a huge smile.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because Class B and D know you're our leader of course."
I stared at them both. I could take those words for granted. There was no way the other classes knew I was still on the island. Unless someone like Hashimoto sold me out to them. But why do something that would benefit Class B? Had I miscalculated something? I had taken everything into account even Mikoto's warning on the first day. That's precisely why I send Shiina, she was the best option to gain Class B's trust, and even if that guy Karma knew she was a spy, he couldn't do anything against her. Unless...
"Oh~! Look at that Misaka, he's catching on!"
"So, Class B changed leaders?"
I ignored Chikujoin's statement and decided to ask that. It was true, I had completely overlooked the rule that allowed you to change leaders. But to do that, a justifiable reason was needed. Had something happened to their leader? Shiina would have contacted me with her radio if that was the case. Except if she herself had no idea about the change of leaders.
"Class D too changed leaders."
I glanced at Mikoto. Chikujoin had taken away her foot and I was sitting on the ground now. So, Class B had helped Class D even with that...
"It's not because of their alliance..." Mikoto stated.
I narrowed my eyes at her comment and waited for her to continue but she said nothing else.
"Oh~ right, you're speaking of Class D's mastermind!" Chikujoin said applauding lightly.
"Class D's mastermind?" I asked.
Why I wasn't aware of this? Staring at Mikoto she looked uncomfortable. It seems someone have been holding information from me.
I stood up. Now I was all muddy.
"Fine then. I will retire and one of you will be the leader. You already know the identities of the new leaders, right?"
They nodded at my words.
"I don't think I should be the leader. Someone might guess me..."
"Does that mean that you were discovered?" I inquired.
"Perhaps."
This was annoying, she couldn't even manage to pass the week unnoticed.
"Tch... you come and spoil my plan just to speak with uncertainty."
"You're one to talk. If we hadn't intervened, we would've ended with no points at all, because of your strategy," Mikoto accused me. "At the end of the day, all we do is clean up your mess."
I didn't reply. It just wasn't worth it.
I left Mikoto there and began walking towards the beach to retire. As long as we get those 150 points...