We weren't shown any videos for a week due to chabashira's absence, but when she came back today, the class was hostile and untrusting of her. Homeroom went as normal and we were then escorted into the gymnasium where I saw someone I haven't seen for the last 9 months. Tsukishiro had already informed me of his departure before the videos started, but I hadn't expected the chairman to also be watching these videos.
I gave him a slight glance and he met my eyes and gave me a nod. After finding my seat the screen came on .
"Well, due to some errors, it took a while. How about we begin?"
He seriously needs a new hobby. I'd recommend gardening, it's much more peaceful than tormenting high schoolers.
"We won't have anything too heavy today, but since I thought these would be fun to react to I might as well show them."
The voice went away and the screen played a video.
After the morning roll call, we began to explore. Hirata provided roles to the more reliable students, starting his plan to save us points. Meanwhile, the less helpful students and the more independently-minded like Horikita and I did as we pleased.
"I think you were plenty helpful, Kiyotaka," Yosuke said kindly.
"I appreciate you saying that, but I didn't really help that much," I sighed.
"What the hell, you guys?!"
Ike's angry voice boomed throughout the campsite. I looked in his direction, and saw two male students wearing wide, smug grins. A pained expression flashed across Ibuki's face for a moment, but then she quickly ducked behind the tent to hide herself.
"Komiya and Kondou, huh?"
Like Ibuki, I recognized those guys. They were from Class C.
"Wow, you Class D rejects are really living frugal, eh? I guess that's what I'd expect from a class of defectives."
They were stuffing their faces with potato chips and drinking bottles of soda. Not water. Soda.
"I still don't understand why would you do that in an exam where you have to prioritise resources," Kanzaki looked confused.
"That's incorrect. The point in the exam is to do whatever you want and achieve the best results," Ryueen said smugly.
"Although I hate to admit it, he was right," Horikita thought.
"The teachers told us that the theme of the exam was freedom, so I'm free to do whatever the hell I want. I just happened to choose to spend it on snacks and having fun," Ryueen gloated.
"Looks like you're living the high life, Class C."
"Do you know Ryuuen?" Ibuki asked.
"He's a Class C student. I've heard various rumours about him. He's pretty crazy, I hear."
"Not just 'pretty' crazy. Everything that guy does is crazy." Ibuki sounded irritated, as if she were discussing a family enemy.
"So you consider me family, Ibuki? My cold and jaded heart is touched by such familial affection," Ryueen said with a smirk.
"Yep, next time I see this fucker outside of school I'm gouging his eye out," Ibuki thought.
"Those two are Ryuuen's friends. I'd say they're more like his underlings, though."
I recalled the time those two had fought with Sudou. It'd seemed like they were acting on orders from Ryuuen, rather than just looking for a fight.
"What did you even eat for breakfast? Grass? Or maybe bugs? Here, you can have some snacks."
They took a bag of potato chips and tossed it near Ike's feet as he drew nearer. Though it was obvious that they were trying to start something, we couldn't help getting irritated.
"You really love to provoke people," Katsuragi said.
"I have to give the real credit to my stellar actors here y'know. They were so good I actually wanted to reach into the screen and punch them," Ryueen chuckled, but the actors in question were sweating at Ryuuen's words.
"We have a message from Ryuuen-san. If you want to enjoy your summer vacation to the fullest, come to the beach right now. Don't hang back. If you're sick of living like idiots, then we're happy to share our luxuries."
They didn't leave, but continued snacking as if trying to harass us. Ike snapped at them, but they didn't seem to care. The provocation continued for at least ten more minutes, until Hirata's group returned and Class C decided to call it quits. They headed back toward their campsite.
"I don't think they were looking for me," Ibuki said.
"Yeah. Guess they wanted to harass us."
Their bizarre visit aside, we'd obtained valuable information about Class C: they had luxury items, snacks and soda and so on. They'd been burning through points. In a test like this, where frugality was crucial, what in the world were they thinking?
"They were being dumb. Even if they weren't breaking the core theme it's still unproductive to waste all of the points given because you wanted to have fun," Kanzaki berated.
"They said something about sharing their luxuries. Any idea what they were talking about?" I asked.
"I wonder if things are heading toward that worst-case scenario I imagined..." Ibuki said nothing more, but headed toward a tree on the camp's periphery. The worst-case scenario she'd imagined, huh? Telling Horikita about this seemed like a good idea.
"Hey, Horikita, you around?"
After breakfast, Horikita had immediately returned to the tent, and I saw no sign of her. I called for her in front of the girls' tent. Although she didn't reply, the tent shook slightly, and I heard the sounds of cloth rubbing together. Horikita slowly stepped outside.
"Did you hear those voices earlier?" I asked.
"The cheap provocation coming from Class C? Yes, I heard."
"I'm a little worried. I want to check out the situation. Care to come?"
"It's rather unusual to see you taking initiative. Are you feeling well?"
I'd have loved to throw those words back in her face.
"What did you mean?" Mii-chan asked.
"I was sick during the exam," Horikita answered bluntly.
"What? You should have retired if you were sick," Mori said shocked.
"If I did that it would have a similar reaction to Koenji," Horikita sighed.
The class wanted to retort, but they were unable to because they know that no matter what excuse Horikita had for dropping out, she would be seen as selfish for prioritising herself over the class.
Humans are quick to judge others and boast, but when it comes to their own flaws they can't retort. They usually judge someone even if they don't mean to because that's etched in their nature, so if Horikita dropped out she would be seen as selfish and would be judged by the class.
Things like 'She didn't even do anything and she's dropping out?' or 'What right does she have to drop out? We're all tired, but just because she's sick she's allowed to?'
These comments and other negative things would be spread around the class because humans band together under a common enemy or dislike and judge others so that their own flaws aren't discovered.
"Well, I'm free for a week. I don't have anything to do today, so I've just been killing time."
"I don't want to move too much. Since I'm the leader, if I stand out too much, we'll be in a bad spot."
"That's a definite risk." Even if someone didn't know a leader's identity for certain, they might guess correctly if they noticed suspicious behaviour. The more conspicuous a person, the more attention they would draw.
"I understand how you feel, but even if you stay in here, the situation probably won't change, right? You've got eyes on Ryuuen, and you've even been observing Ichinose. People will remember that you're the student council president's younger sister. No matter what you do, you'll be a target."
At any rate, the penalty for a wrong guess was fifty points. When we'd appointed someone as a leader, we'd taken a gamble, and precautions were necessary.
"You're right. I suppose I can't say what's correct. Fine. I'm rather concerned about the state of the other classes. Let's go."
Horikita and I set out for the beach, where Class C awaited. Her heavy footsteps seemed to belie her casual indifference.
As we neared the edge of the forest, we saw the beach, and the large group of Class C students on that beach. Horikita and I could never have imagined the situation we beheld.
"No way... All this stuff... Is it even possible?"
Even beholding the very real spectacle, Horikita kept repeating the word "impossible." I felt the same. They had installed temporary toilets and shower rooms. But they also had a tarp to protect against sunlight, a barbecue, chairs, and a parasol. They had snacks and drinks. Everything required for a good, relaxing time was here. We smelled the smoke of cooking meat, and heard laughter. Jet skis whizzed past the shoreline. Students were enjoying themselves in the ocean, screaming with joy. Based on a rough calculation, they'd likely spent 150 points or more.
"You guys actually lived like this in a special exam? I wish I was in your year," Amasawa said.
"Damn, you are good at maths," Sudo said.
"Not the thing to focus on dude," Ike said.
"What in the world is Class C doing? Do they not plan to save points?"
That was the sole explanation. This went beyond splurging.
"Let's check things out. I wonder what Class C is thinking?"
We came out from the bushes and walked to the beach. One of the male students noticed us, and called out to another male student nearby. We couldn't see his face too well, since he was leaning over in his chair. One of the boys rushed over to us.
"Um, Ryuuen-san has requested your presence," he said. Judging fromthe timidity of his voice, he was either frightened or naturally listless.
"It's like a welcoming ceremony for a king," Shinohara said in awe.
"He rules his classmates like a king. It's like a royal welcome. What should we do?"
"It's up to you, Horikita."
"Fine. I'm interested in learning his intentions. Let's go."
We accompanied the boy. As we approached the ocean, the delicious smell of cooked meat wafted by our noses.
"This is absolutely outrageous."
Our class didn't seem to know how to have a vacation. We approached the man in command of this hedonistic paradise.
"I thought someone was sniffing around. It's you, huh? What business do you have with me?"
"You seem to be doing well for yourself. This looks like quite the extravagant party."
Ryuuen, tanned and clad in his swimwear, laid back in his chair. He flashed his white teeth at us.
"Just as you see. We're enjoying our summer vacation."
The students weren't able to believe that such a thing could happen in a special exam..
Class D stared on in jealousy at what class C was doing while they had to have river water and shoddy tents.
He spread his arms wide, proudly showing off the extravaganza.
"This is a test. Do you understand what that means? You don't seem to understand the rules..."
Ryuuen didn't seem happy being told about his apparent ineptitude. Actually, he looked disappointed. "I'm shocked. Does that mean you're offering help even to an enemy like me?"
"If the person on top is incompetent, those below him will suffer. This is pitiful," Horikita said.
Ryuuen simply smiled, grabbing the bottle of water placed next to the radio.
"Why do you need a radio?" Amikura inquired.
"I simply wanted to play hyper-realistic cops and robbers. What else would I use a radio for?" Ryueen said as if it was obvious.
"Wait, did he need the radio to communicate with the class C people who were exiled," Matsushita remarked.
"Wait, so he communicated with the spies?" Ike said dumbfounded.
"Yes, he was," Horikita said.
Class D proceeded to glare at Ibuki for betraying their trust. I thought class B would at least have a few people glare or even a shady glance, but they seemed to be a little more mature about it.
"How many points did you use? To be able to enjoy this level of entertainment, I mean."
"Hmm. Well, I didn't make a precise calculation," Ryuuen responded guilelessly. "Tch. Already getting warm. Hey, Ishizaki. Bring me some cold water, right away."
Ryuuen poured out his remaining water on the sand, almost in provocation. Ishizaki, who'd been playing volleyball nearly, panicked and rushed to get Ryuuen another water. A mountain of cardboard boxes were piled up inside the tent, likely filled with food and water. Sakazaki peered into a cooler beside the boxes.
"As you can see, we're enjoying our summer vacation. We're not your enemies. Do you understand?"
Horikita, finding his behaviour incomprehensible, pressed her fingers against her forehead and wrinkled her brows as if she had a headache.
"We're trying to warn you. You're an idiot."
"Which one of us is the idiot? Me? You?"
"Clearly you," Shinohara said.
"Oh, I guess you're right. After all, I lost to your genius leader," Ryueen said.
Ryuuen would accept no insults and threw them back at Horikita.
"You want to try surviving on this deserted island in this shitty heat? Don't joke. Class D, the lowest of all, has to put up with starvation, heat, and futility just to save a measly 100 or 200 class points. It makes me laugh."
Ishizaki ran over, dripping with sweat as he brought the water. He handed a cold bottle of water to Ryuuen. However, Ryuuen threw it back at Ishizaki.
"I said to bring me cold water. This water's warm."
"I... B-but..."
"Hmm?"
Ryuuen's pupils were just like those of a snake. Ishizaki's body stiffened. He picked up the bottle and ran back toward the tent.
"This test is about perseverance, ingenuity, and cooperation. It would likely have been impossible for you from the start. You can't even establish a satisfactory plan."
"The teachers said at the beginning that the theme is freedom, do you have memory loss Horikita? We can get you a doctor if you need it," Sakayanagi said.
Horikita ignored it, but I feel like she would get a lot angrier later on.
They couldn't possibly hold on for a week after having spent points so lavishly. Eventually, their lives would become hell. The tarps, parasols, chairs and other things would become obstacles.
"Cooperation? Don't make me laugh. People betray each other with ease. People lie. Relationships built on trust just aren't viable. You can only trust yourself. If you've finished your reconnaissance, leave. But if you wish, we'd welcome you here. You're free to enjoy yourself, whether it's to eat meat or play on jet skis. Or perhaps you would prefer to have a different kind of fun with me? I can prepare a tent for personal use."
The girls stared at him in disgust.
Ryueen's belief of the world is that humans aren't fundamentally able to work together and that the world is filled with desensitised. People are just apathetic, self-serving machines in his eyes. In my time at that place this held true, but outside humans can cooperate.
The concept of game theory states that humans who work together can get a higher payoff. Say there were 2 rabbits and 1 stronger animal and the rabbits didn't work together to beat the stronger animal, the rabbits would die, but game theory states that the rabbits who work together can reach a higher payoff because they have a higher chance to survive as well as taking down a predator.
Throughout history, it is always shown that two opposing sides who want something or have a common goal can work together. Cooperation on trust is debatable, but Ryueens's belief that cooperation is impossible was his ultimate weakness.
"That's not the kind of answer I'd expect to hear from someone who declared war on us."
"I absolutely loathe hard work. Patience? Saving? You must be joking."
Ishizaki returned once again and handed over another bottle of water.
Ryuuen opened the cap and chugged.
"This is the way I do things. No more, no less."
"Right. Well then, do as you please. It's convenient for us, anyway." Horikita had changed her mind. Class C wasn't going to be our enemy here, so they weren't a problem.
"Working up a sweat in order to evaluate other classes is such a pain."
Horikita turned on her heel to walk away but paused. "There is one more piece of business. You know Ibuki, of course?"
"Oh great, the person I despise and the person I want to beat the most talking about me," Ibuki thought.
"Yeah. She's a member of our class. What about her?"
"Her face is swollen. Who did that to her?"
While Horikita was nearly convinced he was the culprit, she purposefully asked in a roundabout way.
"Ah. She ran out of here rather suddenly. She went looking for help from another class in the end? Pathetic girl."
Ryuuen snorted in disgust, then laid back in his chair.
"There are helpless idiots in this world. A ruler doesn't need subordinates who disobey orders. We determined that I would use our class points to my liking. That's the fact of the matter. Besides, it's pointless to raise the banner of revolution against the ruling class."
"How cruel. I truly feel pity for your classmates," Sakayanagi chuckled.
"In other words, Ibuki-san clashed with you when you wanted to spend points."
"Well, you could say that. That's why she got a light punishment."
He made a gesture like slapping someone's cheek. Ryuuen had indeed hit her.
"Another boy defied me as well, so I had him driven out. I heard he didn't die, so he's probably off somewhere eating grass and insects to survive."
I couldn't imagine that was something you could say about a friend. But now I fully understood. Even if Ibuki were absent during roll call, Class C wouldn't care. That's why Ryuuen didn't care about his classmates or trying to find them.
"So that's why you retired," Hashimoto said surprised.
"What?" Ike said.
"You'll see at the end," Horikita said.
"You...used up all your points on the first day, didn't you?" Horikita asked.
Even if you used all of the 300 points you were given, there wouldn't be any penalties. The effect was nonexistent.
"Yes, as you said. I used all of our points."
His strategy was to be at zero points to negate negative elements. It was certainly unexpected, but it came at a high price. With no points, Class C would have the lowest rank. Even if they managed to guess every other class leader's identity, they could only achieve a maximum of 150 points.
"If Ibuki is with you, you're better off chasing her away. If you shower her with your awkward sympathies, you'll have one extra person to prepare water, food, and bedding for. Anyway, if you can't deal with it, she can return here. If she grovels on the ground, I'll forgive her. I've a tolerant heart."
"You're nothing but a dictator," Kanzaki ridiculed.
"I guess you're right," Ryuuen responded with no remorse whatsoever.
He'd forgive her defiance if she returned to being under his control. He seemed pretty sure that she would. It would be difficult for Ibuki to live alone on a deserted island for one week.
"What short-sighted thinking. You're happy right now using your
points, but what are you planning to do after the party's over?"
"Ha haha. What should I do, I wonder? Well, I suppose that plain,
ordinary people can only engage in plain, ordinary thinking. You're desperate to protect the points you were given. Looking around for the leaders, desperately holding spots, working up a sweat running through the forest. Absolutely worthless."
Even though we'd confronted him with facts, Ryuuen laughed and showed no sign of panic.
"Fine. Let's head back, Ayanokouji-kun. If we stay here any longer,
I'm only going to start to feel ill."
"See you later, Suzune."
"Hey, how'd he know that? I didn't even know that until a few days before the exam," Sudo thought.
"I don't know where exactly you found that out, but do not call me by my first name so casually."
Ryuuen had clearly done some investigating.
"Well, I rather like forceful women. I'll make you submit to me eventually. When that time comes, it will be the ultimate pleasure."
When he said that, Ryuuen touched his crotch under his bathing suit, clearly to provoke Horikita. Horikita, eyes full of contempt, turned her back and walked away. As I started running after her, I stopped to look at a passenger boat anchored by the pier. I saw students swimming in the ocean, playing volleyball and beach flags on the shore, and celebrating with barbecues. Also, I saw the tent where they were stockpiling food.
Ryuuen seemed content to mock the school rules, apparently.
"Class C is irrelevant. Their self-destruction will help us."
"Your year really is something,"Kiryuuin smirked.
"I have to agree. There are plenty more capable people in that year compared to mine," Nagumo said.
You expelled every capable person.
"Seems that way. They've used up all their points, anyway."
Even if they had some saved, it could only be a few dozen at most. The two students' absence at roll call would swallow those.
"I can't wait to see what they'll do once trouble hits."
"Unfortunately, Class C probably won't face any trouble during this test."
"Huh?" Ike exclaimed.
"I don't get you either, even if they retired and had fun in the short term, the long term is detrimental for them," Kanzaki sighed.
"I guess you'll have to see what I meant."
"Why wouldn't they? How can they endure this test without any points?"
"That was Ryuuen's original goal. We were given 300 points as funds to enjoy our vacation for one week, which is not at all impossible. No matter how much we economize on our food, we have to give up on luxury items. The school made these rules accordingly."
Horikita nodded.
"So, we should try to save where we can," she said.
"Yeah. But Ryuuen's different. He can't see past the end of his nose, much less a week."
"He can't see past what now?"
"Suppose the test ended today. What then? Do you think this trip would transform into a perfect vacation?"
"You're talking about possibilities that would never happen. I don't see what you're talking about," Kiriyama mocked.
"That's... Well, okay. So what? If you have zero points—"
"That's simple. He'd just do what Kouenji did."
"Huh?"
"His physical condition was poor and he was mentally unstable. In that case, it's better to just retire. If everyone did that, they could return to the passenger boat and go about their lives. That's what they meant by fully enjoying their summer vacation: without hardship."
Granted, the school might turn us away if we feigned sickness. 300 points were enough to use freely for a one-night, two-day vacation. But sooner or later, the bill would arrive.
"So he really gave up on the test from the very beginning?" Horikita murmured.
"So they retire because they had no intention of winning," Matsushita surmised.
Maybe this was just a theory. Perhaps Ryuuen simply hated troublesome things, or perhaps he wanted to avoid mental exhaustion and preserve his physical strength. Or perhaps he wanted to improve morale.
"The test is literally about freedom. Ryuuen's way of thinking is one way to approach it. It seems like Ibuki and another student rebelled, and because of that Class C will lose twenty points a day. Since he knew he'd be losing that many points every day no matter what, he came up with a drastic strategy."
Since I didn't know when Ryuuen had decided to spend all of Class C's points, I could only guess.
"We ought to think of a way to get points back without giving up. Ryuuen is most definitely wrong. I cannot possibly understand him," Horikita said.
I suppose that was true. It was certainly true that we couldn't predict the actions of Ryuuen, whose plans were likely geared to a very unusual purpose if his words earlier were true. Any rational person would regard Ryuuen's bizarre schemes with some anxiety. After we passed the beach, I turned back and scanned the shore once more.
"Are you saying you see something logical in it?" Mori asked.
"I guess you could say that."
"A zero-point strategy, huh? I see. That's really interesting."
If we could simply shut down dissenting views from our classmates, it'd be a rather interesting method. After all, this test wasn't just about saving points within our own group. We had to strategize if we wanted to win.
The screen faded to black.
"That was a little boring, but I want to see some chaos now so let's have some fun,"
There was only 1 form of chaos this early on in the island exam and that was the underwear incident.
(A/N I'm skipping Ichinoses interaction since it's boring and nothing interesting happens)
While I was sleeping, I could hear girls' voices from outside the tent. They sounded like they were in a bad mood.
"Hey, boys. Can you all gather around?"
The voice sounded rough, like she'd meant to say, "Hurry and wake already!" I'd just gotten to sleep at dawn, so I rose slowly and rubbed my eyes.
"What the hell? God, I'm so goddamn tired..." An irritated Sudou appeared from the tent and looked around.
"I'd be pretty annoyed if I was woken up with no warning so early in the morning," Shibata said.
"What's wrong?" Hirata asked.
"Ah, Hirata-kun. I'm sorry, but can you please wake all of the boys? It's serious," said Shinohara, sounding apologetic.
Whether she was flustered or angry, the issue didn't seem to be hers alone. A little further away, the girls glared at us.
"They really seem to hate you guys," Kondou said.
Shinohara got quiet remembering her past actions.
"I understand. I think if I shout, they'll come."
Within two minutes, the boys came out of the tent rubbing their sleepy eyes. When the half-asleep boys looked around, they inferred that this situation was especially alarming. The girls all looked unusually scared.
"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 gave everyone except Hirata a look of complete contempt.
"Well, this morning...Karuizawa-san's underwear went missing. Do you know what this means?"
"U-underwear?"
Karuizawa was currently looking at the screen, but she had a grimaced expression remembering this.
"That was so much worse than I was expecting," Ishizaki said.
"Did a boy steal it or was it a girl trying to play a prank?" Amikura asked.
"You'll find out eventually," Horikita said.
Even Hirata, usually calm and collected, appeared visibly shaken. Speaking of Karuizawa, she was missing, along with some of her friends.
"Karuizawa-san is crying inside the tent right now. Kushida-san and others are comforting her right now, but..." Shinohara 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, 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."
"Great unity you guys have there," Ryueen said with a thumbs up.
Normally, the boys would have banded together to oppose this, but since they had all just woken up and weren't able to think properly, they resorted to their natural instincts and tried to save themselves.
"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.
"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, 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, proclaiming their innocence.
"He has a point. I understand why you would think the boys would do this, but there really isn't any evidence to support it," Asahina said.
"I don't want to think there's a criminal among us." Doubting our classmates seemed wrong.
"I know that you're not the culprit, Hirata-kun. But for the time being, let's check the boys' luggage."
"That seems unfair."
"Yeah, they're just insisting a boy did it when there is no evidence."
"Why is he excluded just because he's trustworthy? They all need to be under suspicion."
There were several complaints about Shinohara's actions, but they were mostly from the boy's side.
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."
"You're acting like a spoiled brat," Hashimoto said.
"Excuse me?" Shinohara was taken aback.
"Well, you have no evidence to accuse the boys, but you insist on them anyway and try to search their bags without permission. It just seems like you're trying to push your own narrative and it's completely unfair," Hashimoto said calmly and most people agreed with him including me.
With that, everyone scattered. Hirata quickly gathered all the boys in front of the tent.
"Let's just ignore what the girls said. I hate being treated like a suspect. I'll fight it!"
Ike had managed to get some degree of trust from the girls on the first day, but apparently it wasn't meant to last. It was only natural that the boys would be unhappy about being unjustly accused.
"Exactly. It's not like we stole Karuizawa's underwear or anything."
Yamauchi exchanged looks with everyone individually. It wasn't as though Karuizawa wasn't cute or anything, but since Karuizawa was Hirata's girlfriend, it would've been a much better idea to go after Kushida and Sakura.
"I guess it would be dumb even for him," Ishizaki said.
Kushida looked disgusted and Sakura was a little pale thinking about what would have happened if Yamauchi acted on his desires.
"I don't doubt you guys, but we won't solve the problem like this."
The girls, who were talking together in their cliques, looked like they were about to jump on us.
"It might be better to just accept the baggage inspection with dignity and prove your innocence." With that, Hirata brought out his own bag.
"As miserable as this might be, I think you guys'll have to do it. Are you okay with that?"
"B-but..."
"Of course. I'll open up my luggage first," Hirata said.
In order to get us all to move, he had no choice but to take action. Still, there probably wasn't even one person here who thought Hirata was the culprit. Besides, you could say that stealing his own girlfriend's underwear made no sense. However, if one person opened his luggage, then the rest of us couldn't help but follow. Inevitably, the students who wouldn't open their bags would be suspected. Hirata's bag naturally didn't have the underwear.
"I didn't think about it like that. I'm sorry guys if I pressured you all into doing something you didn't want to do," Yosuke bowed his head slightly.
The guys awkwardly said it was okay. I suppose it was because most of them hadn't interacted with Yosuke that much.
"Guess we don't have any choice..."
All the other boys began pulling bags out, one after another. Ike and Yamauchi hated it, but couldn't resist being pulled in. The three of us were the last to go. I reluctantly headed into the tent, following after Ike andYamauchi.
"Damn, I'm so pissed. Men are always being suspected of stuff. It's way too unreasonable."
Most people, even girls agreed with him.
"Well, let's prove our innocence." Ike grabbed his bag, but suddenly froze.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing..."
He turned his back on Hirata and the others, checked the inside of his bag, and frantically closed it back up.
"Kanji?"
Ike's face was pale, his body stiff. He was completely paralyzed. "Hey, come on. Let's hurry and get going."
The people in class D who knew which person the real culprit was weren't surprised.
"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?!"
"No, I'm not saying that. Show me what's in your bag."
"Ah, wait!"
Yamauchi snatched Ike's bag to check inside. When he did, he saw... white underwear, definitely not a man's, balled up and hidden.
"Th-that's not mine! Someone put it in my bag or something, somehow!"
"Come on, don't give me that excuse..."
Yamauchi looked at Ike with pity.
"I'm telling you, I don't know how it got there! Why would there be underwear in my bag?!"
"This is shameful. Let's go explain things to Hirata and the others."
"Huh?! But if I do that, they'll make me out to be the culprit!"
"There was no culprit...right?"
Why was Yamauchi asking Ike? Ike had Karuizawa's underwear in his bag, making Ike the culprit, right? Putting aside when and how he stole the underwear, the thief likely wouldn't have hidden the stolen goods in his own bag. It was obvious that in the case of an uproar, a search for the criminal would begin. If Ike was really guilty, he should've been panicking when he was told to open his luggage. But I hadn't seen the slightest hint of that.
I concluded that someone other than Ike was the culprit, and that person had planted evidence to frame Ike. Unless Ike really was that stupid and simple...but he couldn't be, right?
"If you thought that, why didn't you just vouch for him?" Onodera asked.
"Well, the girls were deadset on the boys being the culprit and since Ike and I were friends I would just be seen as sticking up for my friend," I explained.
"I'm uh- sorry that I accused you guys without any evidence," Shinohara had been very quiet this entire time and it seems like she was mustering the courage to apologise.
Most of the guys nodded since although her actions were wrong, they weren't deeply affected by them, so they had no problems with forgiving her.
"Ayanokouji, you believe me, right? That I didn't steal them?!"
"Well, if I think calmly, no solid evidence suggests you're the culprit, Ike."
"Ayanokouji!" he cried.
"It's unlikely that Ike is the culprit. If he were, this would be far too stupid of him."
"Well, that sounds right, but... Wait, what? You mean someone put the underwear in Kanji's bag?"
"We just have to figure out who!" Ike cried.
"Hey, hurry up!" one of the boys by Hirata cried.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what am I gonna do? I'm in serious trouble!"
If the stolen item were found here, the girls would probably determine that Ike was the culprit.
"We have no choice but to hide them. Now."
"Hide them? Where?! We can't hide them!"
It was certainly true that we currently lacked storage options. If the girls saw us hurry to the toilet or into the tents, they'd become suspicious and demand to search that area. Most importantly, we were spending too much time in here. It wouldn't be surprising if we were already under suspicion.
"We have no other choice. You have to put it in your pocket."
That was the only advice I could give. There wasn't any time to hide the underwear anyplace else, and we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves.
"I-I can't do it! I-I'm already panicking!" Still, hiding the underwear was our only option.
"I'll leave it to you, Ayanokouji!" Ike removed quickly thrust the balled-up underwear into my hands.
"Ha! You're the only one believing him and he tries to put the blame on you," Nagumo chuckled.
Ike had an annoyed expression, but he didn't say anything because he probably knew that he couldn't go against the student council president.
"Huh?"
"If you think it's better to hide them, you can do it. Right?"
"Well, that's..."
"Hey, hurry up!" someone called.
"I'm coming now!"
Ike muttered, "I'm counting on you," and scurried off. Yamauchi, not wanting to get dragged into it, quickly apologized and hurried away.
"Hey, are you serious?"
I broke out into a cold sweat. The longer I stayed, the worse this would get. If I'd had a minute, I'd have hidden it someplace difficult to find, but there was no time. Impulsively, I stuffed the underwear into my back pocket, took my bag, and headed back to the others.
"Sorry, sorry. My bag got a little dirty, so I cleaned it off." With that excuse, Ike tossed over his luggage.
"Search it if you gotta. I'm innocent. Right, Yamauchi?"
"Y-yeah."
The two proudly placed their bags down. Hirata, after lightly declining the duty, inspected the inside of the bags. I also set my bag down and moved away. After everyone's luggage had been inspected, Ike called over Shinohara, who was waiting with her arms crossed.
"We searched everyone's bags. None of us did it."
"Really?"
"Yeah. There's no doubt. None of the boys are the culprit."
"Wait a moment."
Shinohara drew nearer and checked the inside of the tent. She seemed suspicious, as though we'd hidden something. Of course, there wasn't anything there. After inspecting the two tents, Shinohara went back to the girls once again and discussed the situation.
There were plenty of annoyed and disapproving faces, but because Shinohara had already apologised no one said anything.
"Hey, Hirata-kun. Could they have hidden it in their pockets? Ike-kun and Yamauchi-kun, and even Ayanokouji-kun were whispering a little earlier. It's got me curious."
Of course we were being sneaky. The girls had demanded to check every nook and cranny.
"Jeez, enough is enough!" Ike cried.
The girls began to attack him.
"Wasn't Ike-kun acting all suspicious earlier? Maybe he is hiding something after all?"
"Huh?! I-I'm not hiding anything! Search me if you gotta!" He spread his arms wide as he proclaimed his innocence. Hey, Ike... Ifyou tell them to do that, then...
"Aw shit, sorry about that Ayanokouji," Ike bowed his head.
"It's fine."
"Let's search him. Hirata-kun, can you do it?"
"Okay. If it convinces the girls, fine. However, if I don't find anything, I want you to stop investigating the boys."
This was the worst possible outcome. While the girls watched Ike, Yamauchi, and me, the pat-down commenced. Of course, they wouldn't find the underwear on either Ike or Yamauchi. They kept still throughout Hirata's careful search, and he checked them thoroughly. Finally, it was my turn.
"Wait, Hirata said that he didn't find the underwear on anyone, did he just miss it?" Matsushita said. It appears that she was trying to gauge my relationship with Hirata.
It was already too late to escape. Perhaps it was better that it was me. No, that wasn't true. There wasn't anything I could do now. Hopefully Hirata might overlook it, even if there was only a one percent chance he would. I decided to be perfectly still, like a dead fish.
"I'm sorry. It'll be over soon," Hirata said.
Hirata, who didn't doubt me whatsoever, slowly started to search me, starting with my upper body. Then, Hirata put his hand into my back pocket, where I'd stuffed the underwear.
It was all over, wasn't it?
"So he didn't miss it," Miyamoto said.
"Hirata, why didn't you say anything?" Sato asked.
"I didn't believe that Ayanokouji did it," Yosuke said.
"You place a lot of trust in classmates who you barely interact with," Himeno said.
"Yeah, I trust them all not to do something as bad as this, but I also didn't want to divide the class if the culprit came out because the students would be more distrustful of each other," Yosuke proclaimed.
"If you found it in one of the perverted boy's pockets would you still have said nothing," Himeno pushed further.
"It wouldn't matter who it was, I would still do the same thing," Yosuke steeled his resolve.
Yosuke was confident that he would defend whoever had the item. I believe him simply because he wouldn't risk breaking the class over the dispute, his mindset wouldn't allow him to do something like that.
I resigned myself. I felt Hirata's hand touching the underwear. Well, I couldn't be completely sure Hirata was touching was the underwear, but I suspected he was touching that rolled-up piece of cloth in my pocket. Hirata's body stiffened, and he looked me in the eyes. After a brief glance, Hirata examined my jersey without taking the underwear out of my pocket. Finished, he turned back toward the girls.
"Ayanokouji-kun doesn't have them either."
He walked toward Shinohara. Ike and Yamauchi exchanged shocked looks.
"Those three didn't take them."
"That's weird... I thought for sure it was one of them. But if you say so, Hirata-kun..."
If the overwhelmingly honest Hirata said something, Shinohara had no choice but to believe him.
"It should be fine once I tidy up the luggage. We can discuss it more after."
After the inspection had come to an end, I hurried back inside the tent. Hirata followed me.
"Hirata. Why didn't you tell them?" I asked, straight out.
"That was the underwear in your pocket, right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you...take Karuizawa's underwear, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"No. I didn't."
How would this fine young man respond to my denial?
"It's like you're testing him," Akito remarked.
"I believe you. You're not that kind of person. But why did you have them in your pocket?"
There was no way I couldn't tell him the truth after he said that he believed me. I told him they came from Ike's bag. Hirata looked momentarily lost in thought.
"You quite underestimate how easy it is to lie towards overly trusting people," Sakayanagi sighed.
"That may be true, but there's no reason to lie here," I said.
"So you would lie if there was a reason too," Sakayanagi stated.
"Yeah, I guess I would."
My statement got me a few shady glances from the people around me, but I didn't pay them any attention..
I'm not the type to make any unnecessary actions, so if I lied when there's no positive for me, it would be detrimental.
"I see. So it definitely wasn't you. But I don't think Ike-kun or
Yamauchi-kun did it, either. If they were the culprits, they probably wouldn't put the underwear in their own bags. They would have hidden it in another place." Hirata's usual quick-wittedness had saved me. I didn't need to go to the bother of trying to explain.
"If it's all right with you, may I hold onto the underwear?" he asked.
"That underwear is like a trading card," Ryueen chuckled.
"Sure, but...is that really all right?"
Holding the underwear was exactly like holding the Joker in a deck of cards. They were both trouble to deal with.
"In the worst-case scenario, if I'm made out to be the culprit, I would take the least amount of damage. I am her boyfriend, more or less."
After saying that, he took one of the vinyl toilet bags and put the underwear inside. I wondered if it would be painful for Karuizawa to know people were touching her underwear with their bare hands.
"It's not like any of you did anything bad with it," Kei seemed quick to try to move past this situation.
"But we did find out one piece of bad news here. If the underwear came out of Ike-kun's bag, then there's a high chance that the culprit is someone in our class."
"Yeah..."
No matter how you looked at it, if a student from another class had been loitering around, we would've seen them. After exiting the tent, I scanned my surroundings. Our bags were individually wrapped in vinyl and placed in front of our tent. The girls' tent was a few meters away, where Karuizawa and the others slept. Until this whole incident, the girls' luggage had been piled up out front, unprotected, like ours. If you wanted to steal something, you easily could do so. I was easily able to rifle through Ibuki's bag on the first day.
When had the underwear been stolen? Since there were no problems up until it was time to take a shower, the crime had happened sometime between eight o'clock last night and seven o'clock this morning. If that were the case, anyone in our class could have done it. However, I doubted that the crime had been carried out in the middle of the night. If the culprit were rifling through luggage with a flashlight, someone would have noticed.
In that case, it was very likely that the crime had been carried out around sunrise, after five o'clock in the morning. Even if I'd narrowed down the crime's timeframe, it was still difficult to narrow down the list of culprits. What if I tried changing my perspective? Say Karuizawa stole her own underwear and hid it in Ike's bag. But what reason would she have for doing that?
"There isn't a reason to do that," Okitani said.
Plenty of boys nodded, but I could see a few reasons why someone would do something like that. It may be a way for Yosuke and Kei's relationship to appear stronger on the front because he played the role of the comforting boyfriend or it could be simply for attention and sympathy.
"It's like you're a detective Kiyopon," Haruka said
"I believe you're not the culprit, Ayanokouji-kun. That's why I saved you."
"O-oh. Thank you."
"But that's not all I want to say. I want you to help me find the real culprit, Ayanokouji-kun."
Plenty of sceptical looks came toward Yosuke for trusting me to help find the real culprit just because he believed me. It was an irrational decision because he essentially let the prime suspect go into the crime scene with no restrictions and let them do whatever they wanted.
Hirata took my hand as he made his request.
"You want me to find the culprit?"
"I think people, both guys and girls, will be uneasy until the thief's found. To be honest, it would probably be best if I found the culprit, but it looks like it'll be difficult to get everyone together..." A class star like Hirata had certain restrictions.
"I don't think it'll be easy to find someone who would hide things in Ike's bag."
Hirata should have known that finding the criminal would be difficult.
"Well, I'll do what I can. Just don't expect too much of me."
"Thank you! Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun!" said Hirata, almost hugging me and bowing his head deeply. I understood Hirata was thankful but felt his reaction was a bit excessive. Perhaps the underwear theft was really bothering him, in particular. As a leader, he had to respond seriously to the crisis and try to find a resolution for the class.
"Working as a leader is hard because they have to appear trustworthy and strong on the front. If he had help from someone who didn't need to appear trustworthy to the class, it makes sense why he was happy." Horikita seemed to understand Yosukes worries and actions.
"If you do happen to find the culprit, I want you to tell me first. I definitely do not want you to tell anyone else."
His ability to widen his eyes while making such a sincere appeal pretty much destroyed my ability to say no. He looked almost too calm. It was a little eerie.
"If that information becomes public knowledge, our class will suffer a huge blow. I want to avoid that. That's why I want to find a peaceful method of settling things with the culprit. If it's coming from me, I think that we'll be able to resolve the issue through talking."
"So, in other words, you're going to hide the truth?"
"Maybe you and I are more similar than I thought," Ryueen grinned.
"Why would you hide the truth? Every classmate might have been with a pervert who could steal people's belongings without them knowing," Kamuro disagreed.
"That's why I wanted to talk it out with the culprit and reach a peaceful solution. If I displayed the culprit out to the whole class the class would be divided simply because there's a mutual distrust between them. If the girls realised that there was a boy who stole their belongings they would be skeptical of other boys even if they had no intention of doing something as bad," Yosuke defended himself and Kamuro backed down.
"Hide it? That's a poor choice of words, but there's nothing I can do about it if people take it that way. Even if one of the guys turns out to be the culprit, I think it's better that the truth be concealed."
He focused on me. It was almost as if he meant to protect the culprit.
"I understand. I'll report to you first. Is that good?"
"Thank you. Well then, I'll be getting back to work."
Upon exiting the tent, Hirata called out to the other students. I saw multiple silhouettes on the other side of the sheet begin to recede.
"Hirata Yousuke. Are you Class D's hero?"
"What?" Yosuke himself was questioning this.
There was one contradiction in Hirata's story. Right after he said he believed in me, he immediately said the truth ought to be concealed even if the culprit was one of the guys. In other words, even if someone had the underwear, we'd hide it from the girls.
Hirata didn't have complete trust in me. He probably assumed there was a high chance I was the culprit. That was only natural, of course. From an outsider's perspective, I was the one holding the underwear, and I'd offered up Ike's name as the culprit. Hirata assigned me, a potential suspect, the role of detective to offer me a lifeline. At the same time, he'd issued a warning not to commit the offense a second time.
"I guess you weren't lying. You would do anything to protect the classes unity even if it meant concealing the truth," Himeno said as she crossed her arms.
Thinking this way, I was able to get a grasp on the story. I was certain that he just wanted to cover up the truth. I had also tentatively considered that Hirata might be the culprit, but...well, I supposed we would know soon enough.
The video faded to black.
"Well that was interesting. We had some interesting revelations happen,"
That was one way to put it.
"Next time we'll show the end of the island exam,"
The voice's words were selective. He used 'show' which would mean that perhaps the literal end of the exam is shown which meant the results.
Or maybe I'm looking too deep into it.
Authors notes:
Nothing too big this time, but the next chapter will be Horikita and Ibukis's fight, the island exam results and Chabashiras's talk with Ayanokouji on the ship after the island.
Anyways hope you enjoyed the chapter