Ibuki, Horikita, Shiina

Once he entered the densely wooded forest and the scorching sun was no longer beating down on him, Aoyama wiped away his sweat and quickened his pace.

To survive six days away from Class A's Base, he naturally needed somewhere to sleep and rest.

And on the island, there was a place very, very well suited for people to live.

That was the island caretaker's staff dormitory.

The artificial island belonged entirely to the school. To prevent outsiders from wandering in and damaging things, having a caretaker was essential.

Also, to prepare for the Special Exam, crops like corn and various uncommon wild fruits were grown on the island. Those needed people to tend them, too.

After wandering around for over half an hour, Aoyama finally found the Wooden Cabin beneath the cliff.

Even though he had roughly figured out its location during the cruise around the island, finding it hadn't been as easy as he'd imagined.

The only way to reach the Wooden Cabin was a metal ladder bolted to the rock face.

Only by leaning out and looking down could he spot the cabin beneath the cliff.

"Hellooo? Anybody home?"

After calling out for no particular reason, Aoyama pushed open the door and entered the Wooden Cabin, which was less than thirty square meters.

Judging by the amount of dust, he figured someone had lived here not long ago.

The cabin was tiny but had everything: there was even a bathroom and a kitchen, though both were small.

It had a bunk bed, and several brand-new fishing rods hung on the wall of what served as both bedroom and living room.

Just inside the door, on the right, was a device that clearly let people check in. Its screen showed that the place was unoccupied.

Nice.

After taking everything out of his backpack and tidying up a little, Aoyama lay down to rest. A portable fan beside him blew out a steady stream of cool air.

After resting for a little over ten minutes, he got up, switched off the fan, and headed out with his now-empty backpack.

Once he shut the door, the U-lock he'd bought especially for this came in handy.

"Perfect. Anyone who touches it is dead."

The Guidebook listed one absolutely forbidden act: damaging school property. Anyone caught doing so would get their entire class disqualified.

So Aoyama wasn't worried at all that someone would break into his Base, check in, and kick him out.

"La la la, I'm a little expert at picking mushrooms."

Humming his cheerful, modified tune, Aoyama climbed the cliff and entered the woods, searching for edible wild fruits and crops.

He wanted a hot meal but didn't want to cook, so he planned to trade with the other classes and mooch off their food.

Taking food for free wasn't acceptable.

"Oh, you adorable little corncobs. How did you get spotted so easily by a creepy old man?" Looking at the small cornfield in front of him, Aoyama wore the grin of a creepy old man.

One, two.

Counting as he went, Aoyama cheerfully stuffed the corncobs into his large backpack. Before long, he'd filled nearly half of it.

"Ah, it's that awful Aoyama!"

"Looks like you still haven't had enough of my head-patting, little Shiranami."

Hearing a familiar, somewhat childish voice, Aoyama looked toward the sound.

Alongside the cute Shiranami was Amikura, with her long hair tied back in a ponytail and an awkward look on her face.

But when Amikura spotted the cornfield, her awkwardness turned to delight.

When classes bought food and drinking water from the school, one meal cost ten exam points. Two meals a day cost twenty.

That was an unacceptably high price for students.

"I'm not little." Shiranami puffed out her cheeks.

"You can have this whole cornfield. In exchange, little Shiranami, whenever you see me from now on, you have to call me Aoyama, the Great Good Guy."

Seeing Amikura look disappointed again after her initial delight, Aoyama realized she intended to follow the first-come, first-served rule.

After thinking it over, he decided to tease Shiranami and give Class B a hand.

There was no way he could keep an eye on the cornfield by himself all the time. Even while carrying the corn back and forth, other classes could discover it, just like Shiranami and Amikura had.

"I...I..."

Faced with the creepy old man's offer, the cute Shiranami hesitated.

Her sense of duty to the class told her she couldn't refuse something that would help them in the exam.

"Then just say it once, and you can have this, too." Aoyama walked up to Shiranami and opened his backpack. The golden corn immediately captivated her.

"A-A-Aoyama, the Great Good Guy—"

"Sorry, I don't know anyone named Aoyama Aoyama Aoyama, the Great Good Guy."

"Aoyama, the Great Good Guy. There, happy now?"

As if she'd finally crossed the threshold of embarrassment, Shiranami shouted and reached out with both hands, snatching Aoyama's backpack.

But the backpack, half full of corn, was probably much heavier than she'd expected.

She didn't have the strength to lift it, and her petite body pitched straight forward.

"So you know I'm a great good guy. You don't have to throw yourself into my arms." Aoyama stepped forward, wrapping one arm around Shiranami's waist and putting his other hand on her back.

The half-full backpack lay quietly at their feet.

"Are you all right, Chihiro?"

Worry appeared on her cute face as Amikura hurried over to Shiranami.

As she took Shiranami by the shoulders and pulled her away from Aoyama, she saw that Shiranami's eyes had turned into spirals. Her cheeks were red, and even her ears were burning.

"...I...I'm...fine." Stammering, Shiranami ducked behind Amikura and wouldn't even look at Aoyama.

"Go back and get some people. I'll wait here."

Seeing how embarrassed Shiranami was, Aoyama stopped teasing her and spoke to Amikura about business instead.

The sooner someone came to take over, the sooner he'd be free. He still planned to explore the Uninhabited Island for the rest of the day.

Judging by his watch, there were only a few hours left before sunset.

"So you weren't joking? Class A doesn't need these supplies?" Amikura asked uncertainly, not sure whether she should accept them.

"I'm a lone wolf. I plan to get through this exam by myself, and I have no intention of helping Class A."

After explaining so Amikura would feel comfortable accepting the offer, Aoyama had no intention of continuing to pick corn once the two girls thanked him and left.

Half an hour later, Amikura returned with several Class B boys. Each of them carried two sports jackets, apparently intending to use them as bags.

Luckily, no students from the other classes interrupted them on the way. Aoyama handed the cornfield over to Class B without a hitch.

"Thank you so much, Aoyama. I'm Watanabe Norihito." A boy with long bangs covering only half his forehead stepped forward to thank him.

"Don't mention it. It's no use to me anyway."

Waving goodbye, Aoyama slung his empty backpack over his shoulders and set off again.

Chapter 72: Ibuki, Horikita, Shiina

"Horikita, did you learn some kind of martial art?"

Kushida Kikyo, who'd been assigned to Class A, had used her excellent social skills and her friends in Class A to easily put an end to their hostility toward her.

Of course, they still kept their guard up.

Onodera Kayano, who'd gone to Class B, hadn't done anything on her own initiative, yet the well-behaved students there had accepted her and treated her kindly.

When she pitched in and helped them with their work, the students of Class B grew even friendlier toward her.

For a moment, Onodera even wondered if she should switch classes.

Compared with the atmosphere in Class D, Class B was on an entirely different level.

As for Horikita Suzune, who had deliberately chosen Class C, she was now being watched constantly by Ibuki Mio, an unusually energetic tomboy.

Ryuen hadn't gone easy on Horikita Suzune at all. If she wanted to eat, she had to work to earn her meal.

"What difference does it make whether I did or didn't?" Horikita replied coolly to Ibuki as she continued hammering the tent stakes into the ground.

"Then you must have. How about we have a fight and see how we match up?"

Ibuki's eyes lit up as she tossed aside the rock she'd been using to hammer in the stakes.

Last time, Ryuen had sent her to follow Ayanokoji, who was supposedly pretty strong. But after tailing him for days, she hadn't found anything about him worth noticing.

She'd even pretended to bump into him by accident, and he'd staggered from the impact.

After that, she'd lost interest in Ayanokoji altogether.

"An absurd provocation. Do you think I don't know that violent behavior will get me disqualified from the exam?"

Assuming it was one of Ryuen's pointless tests, Horikita Suzune didn't even bother looking at Ibuki again.

Did Ibuki really think Horikita Suzune would fall for such a stupid provocation?

Did she take her for a fool?

"We can just not tell the teacher. What's there to worry about?" Ibuki pressed on. She'd been looking for a worthy opponent for a long time.

The fact they were both girls was nice, too. It didn't feel good to be overpowered by a boy.

In terms of height and weight, Horikita Suzune was a suitable opponent for her.

"That won't do, Ibuki."

Smiling helplessly, Shiina Hiyori came over to the two of them.

She'd guessed that the combative Ibuki might challenge Horikita, so she'd been keeping an eye on them.

She couldn't help finding it amusing that Horikita Suzune had mistaken Ibuki's invitation for a provocation.

"Violence is strictly forbidden. Ryuen is taking this first Special Exam very seriously."

"Then how about we ask Teacher Sakagami? We can just get his permission."

"Can you guarantee you won't get hurt, Ibuki? That it won't affect the rest of the exam?" Shiina gazed at Ibuki kindly, but didn't give an inch.

"If you can beat Horikita without getting hurt, Ibuki, would this fight really mean anything to you?"

When Ibuki tried to argue back, Shiina continued, leaving her speechless.

Shiina did have a point. That would make it completely pointless.

Thinking that, Ibuki pouted unhappily and went off to the side, abandoning even her task of keeping watch.

"I'm sorry, Horikita. We haven't been very good hosts." Shiina took a close look at Horikita Suzune and couldn't help marveling that she was truly a favorite of the gods.

In other words, she was so cute it was against the rules. No one could dislike Horikita Suzune just by looking at her.

Shiina was beginning to think it was perfectly natural that Aoyama kept going to Horikita Dormitory.

But this time, it seemed Aoyama had put Horikita through a lot.

Looking at Horikita's sportswear, soaked with sweat, Shiina found her own feelings complicated.

She couldn't tell whether she was happy or unhappy.

"It's all right. I expected as much."

Horikita glanced at Shiina, then lowered her head and went back to work.

There were six days left before the exam ended. She hadn't planned to start playing tricks as soon as she arrived in Class C.

Anyone with any common sense would understand that Class C would be most on guard during the first few days.

"Aoyama said you liked reading, too, Horikita. He mentioned you'd read Farewell, My Lovely." Shiina didn't retreat in the face of Horikita's coldness and kept the conversation going. "I really like that book, too."

Aoyama said that, huh...

Hearing Aoyama's name from a Class C girl made anger and sadness rise in Horikita Suzune's heart once more.

She knew it had been her own mistake to trust an enemy. Aoyama had only done what made sense for his position.

But she'd trusted him so much, and had gradually come to see him as a friend.

How could he betray her trust without feeling even the slightest bit guilty?