The endless summer sea. The infinite blue skies. The perfectly clear air. Here, in the midst of the Pacific Ocean, we didn't feel the intense midsummer heat, and the gentle sea breeze kissed our bodies.
Yes, this really was an oceanic paradise.
"Whoa! This is the beeeeeeesssssst!" shouted Okitani, both hands raised high in the air. His voice echoed across the deck of the luxury liner.
The view from the "special seats" on the deck was exceptionally gorgeous.
The boys group had decided to hang out together, so here we are. Chilling under the sun.
I was wearing my shades with an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt, which earned me a lot of looks from the fairer sex.
"This view is incredible! I'm honestly super moved right now!"
A group of girls led by Kei came out from the ship's cabin. Karuizawa pointed out to the expansive ocean, wearing a radiant smile.
"Seriously, the scenery here is just amazing!"
Kikyou was also present among the group of girls. It looked like the extraordinary view had stolen her breath away.
After overcoming numerous hardships, midterms, and the final exam, we had welcomed summer vacation with open arms. The Advanced Nurturing High School had arranged for an extravagant three-week trip-a cruise on a luxury liner.
Although, for how long this vacation would last was debatable.
Due to the collective hard work of the class, we had gotten third place in class average. Barely, loosing to Class B for second place.
Without any previous years question paper to help. It was still an admirable result. From being in dead last in academics to nearly overtaking Class B was commendable.
Right now, the class points status was Class A leading with 1135 points, since they got first place in finals by a large margin earning them 100 points.
Followed by Class B, who got 95 points in the finals. So, there total stood at 735 points.
Our class had gained 90 points, so our new total was 585 points.
Finally, Class D got 85 points for coming in last place in the finals. Lifting their total to 260 points.
"I never dreamed that high schoolers could go on such a luxurious cruise. And it's for three whole weeks. Three weeks! When my mom and dad hear about this, they're gonna be so shocked!"
As Minami had stated, this was certainly no ordinary trip. At our government-sponsored school, there was absolutely no need for us to pay for tuition or other miscellaneous expenses-which, of course, included this trip. We received the best of special treatment.
The cruise liner and its facilities were of the highest possible quality. This ship was fully equipped with everything from prestigious restaurants to a theater, a fully equipped gym, planetarium, water slides and even an upscale spa.
On my own, this would probably have cost me about 100,000 yen, even in the off season.
Our trip, which promised the pinnacle of luxury, had started a week ago.
On the morning of 22nd July, at 5 am. We had boarded the buses and left the school campus for the first time since the month of April. We reached the Tokyo Bay in an hour, where we boarded this beauty.
Since then, students were permitted to move freely throughout the entire vessel. Best of all, we were able to use any of the ship's facilities free of charge. For those students who'd suffered daily due to a lack of points or don't like to spend their points at all, this ship was heaven-sent.
All of us were assigned cabins to sleep in, each of the cabins had 4 students. My cabin mates were Hirata, Kouenji and Yukimura.
The girls were allotted to the cabins on the upper levels. Whereas the boys got the lower levels.
According to the schedule, we would spend our second week staying at a fancy summer lodge on a deserted island. After that, we would enjoy the cruise ship for another week.
But I had an inkling that the desert island stay would be a lot different than we expect it to be.
The school owned a deserted island in the region of North Pacific. We were somewhere close to Hawaii. At least that's what the captain said when I had infiltrated the engine control room.
Although, it was a restricted area for the students, I had used my student council privilege to meet the captain of the ship.
"Where is Horikita? I haven't seen her for the last few days." asked Kikyou, as she and I had moved towards a more isolated place.
"I don't know, I am not her caretaker. Why are you asking?"
"You damn well know, why I am asking about her." she said with a glare.
"Don't worry about her Kikyou, she won't reveal your secrets. She doesn't even know if it was you. It's all under control."
"Still, it's too risky. We should just expel her."
"Kikyou, do you really think I would risk losing you or your secret. It wouldn't benefit me at all. So chill, if I decided that Horikita is a threat to my personal interests. She would be out of the school before she knows it."
Kikyou hesitantly accepted. I knew she wouldn't be satisfied until Horikita is out of the school but I am not going to sacrifice one of my knights to please my queen.
"What is the status of the other class leaders?"
"None of them expect anything to happen, Baldy will be leading Class A as the cripple wasn't able to come. Goody two shoes is leading Class B and there is not much information about Mr.Dictator."
"You have some interesting nicknames for the class leaders, you gave me one?" I asked lightheartedly.
"Yes, Emotionless Bitch."
"Okay, Two Faced Bitch."
She tried to kick me in the shin. But I dodged it and tripped her. She fell on me and I caught her.
"What is going on here? Is this a secret meeting? Oh! Are you actually dating but don't want anyone to know, so you are meeting in secret." shouted Mori. How is she always present at the right place and right time to tease me.
Due to her more of our classmates joined us. But Kikyou intervened before this got out of hand.
"Mori-san, you're misunderstanding the situation. I was asking Ayanokouji-kun about Horikita-san. We haven't seen her for days." she said in her usual voice, all of her hostility gone.
"Attention, students. Please assemble on the deck. You will be able to see the island soon. This is a good time to take in some rather significant scenery."
The announcement grabbed everyone's attention.
The island appeared on the horizon a few minutes after several students had gathered. Ike who had just arrived with his friends, let out a gleeful cry.
Other students noticed, and began assembling on the deck. After a crowd had gathered, some particularly domineering boys showed up and began pushing us out of the way in order to get the best position.
"Hey, you're in the way. Move it, you defects."
One of the guy tried to intimidate me and tried shoving me. But he himself got pushed back by Sodou.
"What do you think, you are doing?"
Sodou hounded him. Seeing Sodou's pissed face, he backed off. But he still didn't leave.
"You do understand how this school is structured, right? Class D doesn't get any human rights. Defects like you are just that-defective-so you should submit. We're all in Class A over here."
"Do you have any brain cells, we are Class C. Learn the difference first." said Akito.
"But you were Class D. You guys are the original defects. You reached Class C by a fluke." the guy said.
"Your name is Yahiko Totsuka and your OAA rating is even worse than the OAA ratings of an average student in our class. You're basically carried by your superior classmates. I wouldn't take much pride in that." I replied.
Everyone from Class C were glaring at him, from the girls to even the idiot company.
The whole of Class C was standing united against him. It was truly a sight to see.
Unable to come up with an argument, he left to join his other classmates.
A little while later, the crowd started getting riled up and making noise. The students' enthusiasm increased by leaps and bounds as we sailed closer and the island became clearer.
I'd thought that the ship would have gone directly to the island, but for some reason we passed the pier and started circling around.
The island, had a surface area of about 0.5 square kilometers. The highest point of the island reached 230 meters.
In comparison to Japan's total area, the island was tiny, but when seen by one hundred-odd people on a cruise ship, it looked unbelievably massive.
Eventually, the boat made a complete pass around the island. The ship continued to circle without changing speed, barely making a splash as it moved almost unnaturally fast through the water.
"Guys, I think we should go back to our rooms and get ready for deboarding." suggested Hirata.
Most of the class went back to their rooms. But I stayed back and stopped Kikyou from leaving as well, we were taking in the scenery. I also saw Katsuragi from Class A do the same.
The first ones to return were Ike, Yamauchi and Sodou.
"I've decided, Haruki. I...will confess my feelings to Kushida-chan on this trip!" Ike proclaimed in a low voice.
Kikyou had moved away from me to not cause any problems with the idiots.
"A-are you serious? If she rejects you, it's gonna be crazy awkward, though. You gonna be okay?" Yamauchi said.
"This is just my own selfish reasoning. Kushida-chan is really cute, right? That's why most of the boys want to ask her out. But she's just on a whole other level, so no one can get the courage to confess to her. That means she's not used to being confessed to, right? I think Kushida-chan's heart could be shaken by my declaration of love. It's like, you know, not entirely hopeless."
Yeah right, at this point I could have stopped him but I just wanted some good entertainment.
"I see. So, you've already made up your mind."
"Yeah!"
Normally Yamauchi would have gotten fired up and opposed Ike, but this time he didn't. Instead, he looked out over the deck as if searching for something.
"What's the matter?" Ike asked.
"Ah, nothing really,"
Yamauchi responded absent-mindedly. In theend, he never brought up the subject of Kushida.
"Hey, hey, Kushida-chan. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Ike asked.
"Hmm? What is it?"
Ike immediately approached Kushida, who had been looking at the sea. This was obviously a suspicious move.
"So, it's like this... It's been about four months since we met, right? So...I was wondering if it might be okay for me to call you by your first name now. I mean, it makes me feel like we're strangers when I call you by your last name."
Wow, what a let down. It would have been funny to see how Kikyou would have responded if Ike really had confessed to her. Now, my day is ruined.
"Come to think of it, I guess you and Yamauchi have been calling each other by your first names for a while now, huh?" Kushida said.
"So... I can't, huh? C-call you Kikyou-chan, I mean?"
In response to Ike's inquiry, Kushida simply smiled. Yep, she is thinking of ways to kill him.
"Of course it's okay for you to call me that. Should I call you Kanji-kun, then?"
"Whooooaaaaa! Kikyou-chaaaaaaan!" Ike cried out and posed like he was reaching out to heaven, kind of like the guy on the poster for the movie Platoon.
Kushida chuckled. Oh, I can literally feel her inner cursing. We are telepathically connected.
"First names, huh? Hey, speaking of, I wonder what Horikita's first name is? Huh?" Sudou asked me as if I was the one who'd know.
"Really? Horikita? Onodera has a crush on you. I literally put you in the same group as her, so you could spend some time with her at the amusement park."
"I know and I think Onodera is a really good friend but Horikita is just, you know more beautiful."
Nah, he's just biased.
"But how did you even like Horikita? Have you seen her attitude." I asked.
"She's not that bad. I think you wouldn't know this but whenever anyone else teaches me everything goes above my head but whenever Horikita is teaching me, everything just makes sense. It's the reason I got better grades in finals than mid terms."
Horikita is teaching Sodou without notifying me? Why? Is she actually trying to help Sodou or does she have some other motives.
"Hey, would you just tell me her first name? Come on man. Help me out here!"
"Manabu. Horikita Manabu."
"Manabu, huh? That's a cute name. Just like I'd expect. It feels perfect for her. Although, why do I feel like I have heard it before?"
"Maybe Chabashira-sensei called Horikita with that name in the class. Or else where? Are you saying that Horikita's name is just a common name that everybody has? Are you saying she is not unique?"
"No! No! It is a rare beautiful name."
Yep, call her that you simp. I would like to see Horikita's reaction to it.
He doesn't even remember the name of student council president. Although, he only heard it once during the club festival.
This idiot didn't even think about using the OAA app to check Horikita's name, so he deserves what's coming his way.
I mean just the level of simp this guy, even if Horikita's first name were Adolf or Joseph or whatever, he probably would have felt it was perfect.
"I'm going to call her by her first name during our summer vacation, too. Manabu. Manabu..."
You know what would be more entertaining, if Manabu is present during this conversation between Sodou and Horikita.
"Oh, hey. Let me practice with you, Ayanokouji. Practice saying Manabu's name, I mean."
Okay, now you are just being weird. I am the class representative, have some respect.
"Practice? What do you mean, practice? That's not a normal thing to do."
Moreover, it was pointless to practice saying someone's name unless you were saying it to the person in question. Sudou glared at me intently. He wasn't planning to make me his imaginary Horikita, was he? It was probably because he was imagining me as someone of the opposite sex, but the look in his eyes really creeped me out. In my mind, I started breathing heavily.
"Hey, Horikita, do you have a minute? There's something I want totalk to you about..." Sudou murmured.
"I'm not Horikita."
Disgusted, I averted my eyes.
"Come on! Help a brother out. It's just practice! I don't wanna do it, either, but I gotto practice, you know? It's like I have to practice basketball if I want to get good. In either case, I need to take my shot."
I saw Kikyou watching the whole scene with interest. That sly fox, she is taking revenge. I could literally feel her laughing at my situation. I told you, we're connected.
I really didn't want to listen to this, but I didn't have much of a choice. I can't just leave Sodou's development half way, my plans regarding him would be ruined if I pushed him away. I had to grin and bear it.
"Horikita. Isn't it weird that we talk to each other like we're strangers? We've known each other for a while now. Other people are calling each other by their first names. Isn't it time we did, too?"
"......"
I wanted to hit Sudou on the head, but I tried to endure it like an adult.
"Say something! Why aren't you practicing?!"
"What do you want me to say?"
"Answer like how Horikita would. You've known her for a long time, she sits beside you in class, so you'd know how she'd answer, right?"
We had only known each other for four months, so I wouldn't necessarily know that.
Even so, Sudou had asked me to play his imaginary Horikita.
Kikyou was red from trying to control her laughter. Oh, just you wait. I will have my revenge.
I had enough with Sudou, it was time to make him realize that I am his leader. Plans be damned! I clenched my fist in a threatening manner.
"I'm one step ahead on the path to adulthood. You want me to practice this with you instead of Horikita? Feel free to practice by yourself." I said and left.
Ike jumped in to substitute for me instead. Sudou seemed kind of weird when he started talking.
"Horikita...is it okay for me to call you by your first name now?"
"Huh? Well, you're not exactly a hottie, are you, Sudou-kun? And you don't seem to have any brain, so, like, you're not my type at all, are you? Or it's, like, sorry, sorry, but no thanks, you know?!"
Despite looking nothing like one, Ike was trying to play the part of a gyaru high school girl. Sudou put him in a chokehold until he writhed in agony on the deck.
That was the last thing I saw before I left for my room.
An announcement came over the PA speakers. "We will disembark in thirty minutes. Please assemble on the deck. All students should have changed into their jerseys. Make sure to check your designated bag and your luggage, and do not forget your cell phone. Please keep all other personal items in your room. There is a possibility that you will not be able to visit the bathroom for some time, so please do so now."
I was packing the necessities items required for the week stay on the island. But apparently personal items were not allowed.
I put on the jersey that I used for gym class, returned to the ship's deck, and waited until we reached the island. As the island drew closer and closer, the first-years' enthusiasm reached its peak.
"We will disembark now, beginning with the students from Class A. Cell phones are prohibited on the island. Please hand your phone to your homeroom teacher as you leave."
No cell phones either!
Following the loudspeaker's command, the students went down the stairs in an orderly fashion.
"Come on. Hurry up! Even though we're wearing thin clothes, we're all sweating!"
There was no place to hide from the sun on the ship's deck. No surprise that people were complaining. The Class C students waited on standby in the heat.
Horikita 'Manabu' finally joined us. At first glance, it didn't appear as though anything had changed, but there was a slight difference-something felt out of place. Even Horikita, normally so meticulous, was concerned about her appearance.
Right now, though, her hair was disheveled. She seemed a bit cold, unconsciously rubbing her arms as we waited to disembark and set foot on the island.
"What were you doing until now?" I asked.
"I was just reading a book in my room. For Whom the Bell Tolls. You wouldn't know it."
Hey, I am in a book club!
That book was arguably one of Ernest Hemingway's definitive works, an unquestioned masterpiece. I'd long been impressed by Horikita's hobby of reading such acclaimed books.
But I had to wonder what her priorities were, since she was reading while on a luxurious cruise. In such a case, I found it a little suspicious that she would shut herself off in her room to read. She wasn't saying anything, and it would be silly to investigate further. Best just to drop it.
"I'm anxious about what's coming, but since we're prohibited from bringing personal items along there's nothing I can really do," she grumbled, seemingly dissatisfied.
Unusual for someone headed to the beach to say. Disembarking took longer than I thought it would, probably because the teachers guarded the students on both sides as they got off the ship and checked their luggage.
"Hey. Does it seem like they're being strangely cautious right now? On their guard? I mean, they didn't even confiscate our cell phones during the final. They're really cracking down on the personal items. Could it be......"
Horikita looked at me knowingly, she remembered my warning that I gave in the restaurant.
"It certainly seems that way. I mean, if we're just playing in the ocean, I can't imagine they'd need to go this far."
Speaking of unnatural, there was a helicopter parked on the stern of the boat. While my theory was looking more and more solid, I could also be overthinking it.
If students did bring their cell phones to the beach, someone's phone might get wet and break. And maybe they didn't want personal items because they were worried about people polluting the beach with garbage. And if someone suddenly got ill, the helicopter was there for dispatch, right? Right?
Soon, it would be our turn to be examined and get off the ramp. I had yet to realize that this place was going to be the boundary between heaven and hell.
But hell for me or my enemies, that would be decided in a few days.
______________________________________
Here we are, the beginning of the first special test. What's your predictions?
Comment on what do you think will be the results in terms of how many points will each class have by the end.
From now on the updates would be slower for a month. Maybe two per weeks.
Anyways that's all for now
Have a wonderful day