The 4th day of the exam began, and I managed to snatch the early bird bonus on my first designated area. I was acquiring points at a steady pace. Nanase kept up with me much easier after actually eating yesterday, we also ate before heading out this morning, so she was in a way better condition overall.
On my way to my second area, I noticed Ryuen and Katsuragi camping. I decided to give up on the early bird bonus and speak to them instead.
"Where are you going, Senpai?"
"Let's rest here. I want to speak with someone."
She nodded and followed me.
"Ryuen. Katsuragi."
They noticed my presence and looked somewhat surprised. Ryuen turned his attention to Nanase and laughed.
"And who's that? Are you sick of Karuizawa already?"
"Karuizawa?"
Katsuragi didn't seem to understand, but Ryuen ignored him.
"The hell you want Ayanokoji?"
He was still smirking as usual.
"I just thought I'd help you out."
"Help me?"
"Yes. Two of your classmates got eliminated yesterday. They were attacked."
His smile faded instantly. Ryuen used to be a tyrant who didn't care about his class one bit, but now he actually protected his classmates. Unless they disobeyed his orders, of course.
"What?"
"Komiya and Kinoshita were attacked yesterday. Shinohara is staying with three of my classmates. They wanted to combine groups, but I'm not sure if they've managed to do so."
"Any idea who the hell did it?"
"No clue. I just saw you and thought I'd warn you."
Katsuragi looked troubled this entire conversation but listened without saying a word.
"Thank you for your help, Ayanokoji."
He was grateful. I nodded at him and then turned my attention to Ryuen.
"If I had to guess, then I'd say it was a first year."
I had no doubt that the person who attacked Komiya and Kinoshita was the agent sent by that man. No regular student could be skilled enough to pull something like that off without being seen. When I returned to Sudo, he said that Komiya didn't see anyone push him.
The strange detail was the fact that Shinohara claimed the attacker was a male, but Nanase claimed that the stalked was a female. So, were they not the sane person? If that was the case, I'd be dealing with two different insanely skilled students. But there's also a chance that either Shinohara or Nanase were mistaken.
Ryuen scoffed at my response and pulled something out of his bag.
"Here. I don't owe you shit Ayanokoji. You got that?"
He threw a box containing multiple pieces of jerky at me. I suppose this was his way of thanking me.
"Good luck on your test. Make good use of my card."
Ryuend laughed, and Katsuragi nodded. I left their campsite, and Nanase followed closely.
We managed to make it to the second area in time, but due to us being late, we were forced to head to the third area immediately and skip out on any tasks or we'd miss the bonus.
We made it to the third area without any problems and grabbed the first place bonus. I checked my tablet to see what tasks were around and noticed a task on a nearby mountain. It was tug of war. The task gave you point and food for simply participating. It was a generous offer but made sense considering it was on a mountain. Nanase agreed to my idea, and we headed there. It should've been an easy win, but unfortunately, Koenji of all people was here.
"Ayanokoji boy! I suppose it is to be expected that only someone like you could arrive to a task in such a ridiculous location!"
Koenji had his arms crossed and laughed to his own words. I signed up for the task and headed towards him. I decided to lose on purpose, fighting Koenji now was going to be a waste of time and energy even if I win. Besides, I didn't want to interfere with my plan for him. I'd only deal with Koenji during the latter half of this exam.
I grabbed the rope and didn't pull at all, but unsurprisingly, Koenji did the same.
"Do you dislike winning, Koenji?"
"Is it a win if my opponent doesn't even try?"
Koenji had a wide smile on his face. I pulled suddenly to catch him off guard. He noticed instantly and pulled back with all his strength. As soon as he started trying, I let go, allowing him to win.
He laughed in amusement at what I did.
"I suppose you got me there."
"Do you plan to win Koenji?"
"As long as this exam remains fun, then of course I do."
"And what if you were offered something more fun?"
He looked back at me and smirked. Koenji knew my plan. No. He arranged the events with Horikita in order to lead me into using this plan. He was truly a genius in his own way.
Koenji ran down the mountain and left us behind. I checked my tablet once more to see my next area. It was very close to the starting area, which was beneficial to me. But considering we were standing on a mountain, I doubt we could grab the early bird bonus this time. It was better to complete tasks for the rest of the day and arrive at the area right before it expired.
"You won by default, right Nanase?"
"Yes, Senpai, there wasn't any girl competing, so I got first place. I suppose I was lucky."
I nodded at her.
"Who was that Senpai? He's intriguing."
"That's Koenji. He's indeed intriguing. He'll probably make it to the top five during this exam. He's trying to achieve first place."
"Do you think he could pull it off."
"Probably. But I won't let him."
Nanase was confused at my statement but didn't pry any further.
Koenji could still be useful. If he won the bet and had total freedom until graduation, no one would be able to control him. Although I guess no one can control him now either.
Nanase and I made our way to five more tasks before finally arriving in our fourth area of the day. We barely made it before it expired, and we were lucky enough to have a task nearby. It was a swimming competition. Nanase managed to join, but unfortunately, for me, Koenji took the final spot.
He was behaving just as I thought. He was completely ignoring any task he didn't deem entertaining. What an interesting man.
I watched the competition from afar. Koenji got first as expected, and Nanase got second. She lost to Onodera from my class.
"Why did you hold back this time? You could've beaten Onodera. "
"Onodera-senpai is in the swimming club, right? It would be disrespectful to beat her at her own sport. I can't do such a thing."
Nanase was illogically kind-hearted. I wanted to understand her strange mindset.
"We'll camp nearby. I'll just talk to someone and meet you after alright?"
She nodded her head as aggressively as ever and started looking for a good spot to set up camp.
I walked up to the person I wanted to meet, and she immediately noticed me.
"How nice of you to come visit me, Ayanokoji-kun. Did you miss my company, perhaps?"
"Why would I ever miss you, Arisu?"
"That's quite rude of you. I can't believe you'd speak to me in such a tone."
My tone was the same as it always was. She chuckled at her own remarks and turned towards me.
"Whatever do you need Ayanokoji-kun? I can see it all over your face."
"Nothing. Not yet anyway. I just want to ask you a question."
"A question?"
"Are you bored?"
"Yes. Quite bored, in fact."
"Then I have an opponent for you. I suspect you'll have more fun towards the end of this exam."
I told her about my suspicions and what I needed her to do. She readily accepted for her own entertainment. I thought of buying a radio in case I needed to contact her later, but they were quite expensive, so I passed.
I saw Mashima sensei and decided to approach him and see if he had anything to report.
"Ayanokoji. Tsukishiro is definitely planning something. For some reason he has an extra bought on the island. Please take care."
He passed the important details and moved away so he doesn't attract attention. I had to watch out for Tsukishiro.
I made my way over to the Nanase, and she looked somewhat excited. She walked me over to a spot she found. It was a good place to camp, and she seemed to be quite proud of herself.
"Good job, Nanase."
I patted her head, and she was satisfied.
We set up our tents and decided to relax for a while. It wasn't nighttime yet, but our tasks and areas were all over. However my plans of relaxation all ended when someone walked towards our campsite.
It was Matsushita.
Kei and Satou were following her, and they all spotted me quickly.
"Ayanokoji-kun? What are you doing here?"
"I'm camping. What else would I be doing?"
Matsushita knocked her head and smiled, realising her how silly her question was.
"Ayanokoji-kun! It's so nice to meet you here. I really didn't expect that."
Satou seemed excited, but Kei had her attention elsewhere.
"Wow, Ayanokoji, are you spending the night with this beautiful underclassmen?"
She purposefully skipped out on using the honorifics. How harsh.
"Hello. My name is Nanase Tsubasa. I'm Ayanokoji-senpai's travelling companion."
She bowed to them and then showed them a warm smile.
Kei was glaring at me while Satou and Matsushita were still confused at Nanase's excessive formality.
"Is it okay if we camp with you Ayanokoji-kun?"
Matsushita asked in an innocent manner, but I could tell she had an ulterior motive. Maybe deducing how many points I have?
"Sure."
Satou and Matsushita both gave me a smile while Kei angrily started setting up their tents.
When they were done setting up, we started a fire, and all sat around it. It was quite uncomfortable with not a single guy around. I just sat down and listened to them speak without getting involved too much. I suppose this is how Nanase must have felt when we met Sudo and Ike.
"So Ayanokoji-kun, how is the exam going? I mean, you're alone, right? Do you have enough points."
"Nope. I'm definitely getting expelled. This school was nice while it lasted, I suppose."
Matsushita was baffled by my response. Satou looked worried, but Kei was holding back a laugh. I suppose she caught on.
"But you confidently said you'll go it alone??"
"It was a mistake. If you'll excuse me, I'll go cry in the woods."
Matsushita couldn't even respond. My replies were completely illogical. When facing someone like her who understood how humans operate, you could either beat them at their own game or simply play an entirely different game.
I walked off into the woods and rested my back on a tree. The person I was waiting for finally made it.
"Why did you call me here, Kiyotaka?"
"I don't remember calling you."
"You did! You did the thing with your eyes, you know!"
"Did I?"
"Shut up."
She sat down next to me and huffed.
"How are you doing? Is your group performing well?"
"Better than I expected, actually. I've been doing good myself, too. I managed to score highly on some written tests, so thank you."
She blushed and looked the other way. I didn't expect Kei to get expelled. After analysing the rules, I came to the conclusion that her group could pull this off. They might even score in the top 25%
"What about you, Mr I made a mistake?"
She laughed, probably remembering the look on Matsushita's face.
"I'm doing fine. Nanase has been keeping me company."
"I noticed! Mind explaining yourself?"
"She's cute."
I decided to tease her.
"Huhhh??!"
She didn't expect that response.
"Do you disagree?"
"No! But you're not supposed to think so!"
"Why not?"
"Because! I'm your girlfriend!"
"Fake girlfriend actually"
"You're such a jerk!"
She punched my arm. It hurt.
"I was joking. I'm letting Nanase tag along so I can observe her."
"You know that makes it worse, right? You sound like a pervert."
I suppose she wasn't wrong. My wording was misleading.
"She's one of the people who tried to expel me. I want to observe her and see if she's a threat."
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll try."
She got up in my face and looked me in the eye.
"Try? That's not good enough. I'm worried, you know."
I leaned forward and kissed her lips for just a second.
"Trust me."
Kei screamed, and her face was completely red. She didn't expect this at all.
"Karuizawa-san, are you okay?"
Satou heard her scream and called out to her. Kei avoided looking me in the eye and ran away.
"I'm fine, Satou-san. I just fell!"
This was a new experience for me. It was my first kiss. I understood how others could view this as an enjoyable action. But I didn't feel it. However, I understood one thing. The reason I didn't feel anything was due to how unnatural it all was. I planned everything in advance and knew exactly what to expect. But how can I do it naturally? I didn't have an answer. I hope I can find one before I leave this school.