You're Still the Same Dragon Boy as Before

But then a different voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone, making the three of them pause for a moment.

"... yes."

"Your group leader, Kitagawa Ryo, was temporarily called up by the school tonight because of an incident, just like those third-year students you saw in the project today, so there's no need to worry."

"As for more details, well, there's communication over there, so I'll just transfer it over."

After a brief silence, the voice that reappeared was quite familiar.

"Hello, are you Ichinose?"

Shiina Hiyori asked softly. Based on her initial impression, when she received the task from her teacher to help contact Kitagawa Ryo's group to let them know that they were safe, she immediately chose to call Ichinose Honami, who was the most popular in the grade and was also recognized as the most gentle and kind.

"Shiina Hiyori?"

Being called by her full name directly, Shiina Hiyori was a little taken aback, but quickly replied:

"Yes, I am Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C."

Is it chilly on your end?

"Let's leave it at that for now."

Upon hearing Shiina Hiyori's readily admit it, even Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu couldn't sit still any longer and quickly stepped forward to ask:

"What exactly happened?"

Why is Ryo at Shiina?

"Wasn't it said that he was temporarily reassigned by the school?"

The three questions in succession left Shiina Hiyori unsure which to answer, so she could only give a simple yet concise account of what had happened, including Ryuen Kakeru's injury, Kitagawa Ryo's rescue efforts, and the emergency requisition of their group's camp as a temporary medical camp.

"Oh, right, since it's still raining, I won't be going home tonight because it's getting chilly."

"That's settled then. You don't need to worry. Get some rest."

After saying all this, Shiina Hiyori ended the communication quite decisively:

"Good night."

"Yes, that's right. I didn't say a single word more."

Shiina Hiyori, puffing out her cheeks, protested to Kitagawa Ryo:

"I also told them not to worry, to go to bed early, and even wished them goodnight."

"... I actually think these words are more sarcastic."

Kitagawa Ryo helplessly shrugged at Shiina Hiyori in front of him.

That's basically what it means.

Shiina Hiyori dropped her innocent expression and responded with a smile.

She's just a bit naive sometimes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't understand anything.

Aside from her close friend Karuizawa Kei, Shiina Hiyori finds it difficult to say that she can feel any closeness to other girls who are also attracted to her.

After all, she could refuse to read Arisugawa Arisu's mystery novels simply because of Sakayanagi Arisu name, even though he was hailed as Japan's Ellery Queen.

"By the way, Liang, did you see the message in a bottle I gave you this morning?"

Immediately afterwards, Shiina Hiyori Kitagawa Ryo this question. Although she didn't show any particular expression, her hands behind her back were twisted together in a coy manner.

Throughout her life, Shiina Hiyori had a very small social network, and others always perceived her as unapproachable, since girls who liked reading mystery novels were extremely rare among elementary school students.

Therefore, Shiina Hiyori also pondered why she liked mystery novels.

She finally found the answer in the twenty rules of detective novels.

[Rule number nineteen of the Twenty Rules of Detective Fiction: Murder in detective novels should be motivated by private interests; international conspiracies or killings between spies fall into a different category.]

[A murder case should feel realistic, allowing the reader to become involved and providing an opportunity to release long-suppressed emotions.]

From this perspective, there's no difference between mystery novels and the teen romance novels or even idol dramas that the girls in the class read.

They were simply investing their emotions into those plots and characters.

Some people find it easy to communicate with others, while others do not.

Therefore, she could only carry that feeling into the next book, the next case, until she met Kitagawa Ryo.

However, on the other hand, Shiina Hiyori did not choose a classic sentence from the mystery novels that the two usually discussed most as her Confessions.

She chose "The Tempest," a play inspired by the drama that Kitagawa Ryo loved and was involved in.

The reason is simple.

Shiina Hiyori had never been in a relationship, nor had she read any books or watched any films or TV shows on the subject. However, the very first chapter of the first mystery novel she read, the famous the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, taught her a very important Shiina Hiyori:

"If two people are living together, it's best to get to know each other first, including each other's likes and dislikes, and to be open and honest with each other."

Sherlock Holmes said this, and then he introduced himself as someone who smokes, frequently conducts chemistry experiments, and occasionally plays the violin.

Watson said he also smoked, didn't care about Sherlock Holmes's chemistry experiments, owned a small dog, hated noise but could appreciate a high level of violin playing.

Then.

They became the best roommates and partners in detective novels.

Chapter 155: You're Still the Same Young Dragon You Were Before

"Yes, I've seen it."

In response to Shiina Hiyori's question, Kitagawa Ryo nodded and replied:

"I didn't expect you Hiyori still remember those lines from 'The Tempest'."

"If you hadn't had to go to London with your parents at that time, maybe our first play together would have been 'The Tempest.' Now that I think about it, it's been several years."

Kitagawa Ryo pondered for a moment, then contradicted himself:

"No, if we're talking about co-starring, I think we did co-star in 'The Little Mermaid' once during our auditions. I remember you played the Little Mermaid Hiyori Megumi played the princess."

Just as Sakayanagi Arisu predicted, Kitagawa Ryo cleanly and decisively dropped the flag of Confessions ahead of time.

He knew very well how small Shiina Hiyori's social circle was. Apart from Ibuki Mio, whom she met after entering Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School, her only close friends in the past few years were him and Karuizawa Kei. Moreover, given Shiina Hiyori's relationship with Karuizawa Kei, she would definitely be able to sense Karuizawa Kei's feelings for her.

Therefore, when Kitagawa Ryo mentioned Karuizawa Kei, Shiina Hiyori's movements stiffened slightly, because she was well aware that what she was about to do might actually damage the relationship between the group.

"Although it happened a long time ago, it's still quite interesting to think about now."

"I still keep the group photo from after the trial period, especially the one I took."

Finally, Shiina Hiyori skipped the original topic, and the two of them started talking about something else without any hesitation.

"If Hiyori had stayed back then, her physical condition wouldn't be this bad now."

Kitagawa Ryo glanced at Shiina Hiyori's calves; aside from Sakayanagi Arisu, she was probably the least physically fit girl he knew.

"Back when we were abroad, I couldn't make sure you exercised every day."

How was your time on the Uninhabited Island?

"... It's true that I'm a little behind Ibuki's pace."

When it came to the issue of physical strength, Shiina Hiyori also sighed. Starting from the second day of the Uninhabited Island Exam, apart from some very close-range tasks, most of the tasks that were farther away were handled by Ibuki Mio, while Shiina Hiyori, who was not physically strong, was arranged by Ibuki to rest at the campsite.

As a student from a martial arts school, Ibuki Mio was well aware of the physical challenges this 14-day Uninhabited Island survival test would pose to the students, especially girls like Shiina Hiyori whose physical strength was already below average. If they couldn't effectively control their physical strength and plan their goals in the early stages, it would probably only take three or four days before their muscles were so sore that they couldn't get out of bed.

"When we get back, let's do morning exercises together Hiyori."

Kitagawa Ryo could only shake his head. He couldn't improve Shiina Hiyori's physical strength in a short time. Training, like reading, is a long-term process.

"... All right."

Although she enjoyed spending time with Kitagawa Ryo, Shiina Hiyori undoubtedly preferred the time the two of them spent sitting at a small table having a tea party, so she agreed somewhat reluctantly.

After all, Shiina Hiyori's figure is perfectly fine; she's slim where she should be and curvy where she should be, so her motivation to exercise isn't as strong.

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to start talking about the Uninhabited Island Exam, the tent zipper was suddenly pulled open from the outside, and a face that resembled Danzo, wrapped in bandages, was revealed to be blowing in the cold wind.

"Ryuen?"

"There's no room inside. Just say what you need to say. You seem alright, nothing's wrong?"

Kitagawa Ryo was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized that this was Ryuen Kakeru, who had already received treatment and examination from the school.

However, Shiina Hiyori's single tent wasn't very big to begin with, and now that both he and Shiina Hiyori were sitting there, Kitagawa Ryo had to brace himself against the tent door and zipper with one hand and one foot.

At first, Ryuen Kakeru didn't take Kitagawa Ryo's words seriously, but he suddenly realized that he was not as strong as the other party. For a moment, the zipper was only half-zipped up, and only his head and half a shoulder were sticking out of the tent.

From an external perspective, Ryuen Kakeru is currently in a somewhat strange posture, bent over with difficulty, looking as if his head has been eaten by the tent 'monster'.

However, Ryuen Kakeru was quite adaptable. After glancing inside the tent and finding there was indeed little space, he didn't argue with Kitagawa Ryo any further, and simply answered Kitagawa Ryo's question dismissively:

"Nothing's wrong. I've had much worse injuries before, just a fall. It was only because my watch kept beeping that the school doctors thought something serious had happened to me."

"Damn it, if they disqualify me from the exam because of this, that would be a real problem."

After a brief outburst of rage, Ryuen Kakeru quickly calmed down and turned to look at Shiina Hiyori:

"You two have a good relationship?"

"We've known each other before."

Kitagawa Ryo replied first.

"So, is it even possible for you to come to our Class C just for Shiina?"

Ryuen Kakeru suddenly made this suggestion, which sounded somewhat familiar to Kitagawa Ryo. It seemed that Kanzaki Ryuji from Class B had also made the same invitation to him a few days ago.

"Putting aside whether I want to or not, your class doesn't have enough points to let me transfer classes, does it?"

Kitagawa Ryo shook his head speechlessly, feeling that someone from Class A might try to recruit him in a couple of days.

"There's no need to be so definitive. Our Class C might actually be able to come up with that amount of money."

Ryuen Kakeru appeared confident, but considering that their Class C only had 300 Class Points, and given the current state of their group and class rankings in this Uninhabited Island Special Exam, it seemed difficult to be convincing.

"I'm not kidding. If Kitagawa could come to Class C, our class would definitely have a chance to make it to Class A."

He added confidently, watching Ryuen Kakeru 'Kitagawa Ryo reaction with great interest. In fact, his injury tonight was, in a way, related to Kitagawa Ryo.

Although he was confident in his wilderness survival skills, Ryuen Kakeru wasn't stupid. He didn't initially plan to brave the Tempest alone. However, the school had assigned him two nearby campsites, one of which was Kitagawa Ryo's group, and the other was Shiina Hiyori Group.

Even though he was closer to Kitagawa Ryo's group's camp at the time, Ryuen Kakeru was clearly unwilling to squeeze in with Kitagawa Ryo. He was still thinking about how Tokito Yuya Kitagawa Ryo incident. It was from that time that Ryuen Kakeru realized that the Leader of Class D was not Horikita Suzune and Ichinose Honami as they appeared, but Kitagawa Ryo in front of him.

Therefore, Ryuen Kakeru decided to move towards Shiina Hiyori Group. It has to be said that in such bad weather, Ryuen Kakeru managed to walk quickly to Shiina Hiyori's side by himself, although he eventually stumbled and rolled down a small hill.

That's why Ryuen Kakeru was shocked that Kitagawa Ryo was able to find him by following the emergency call alone. He had walked this road by himself. Judging from this alone, Kitagawa Ryo already possessed courage and physical strength equal to or even exceeding his own.

All things considered, he's brave, resourceful, and has a flirtatious relationship with a girl in his class—he's definitely someone worth trying to win over.

Despite being stared at so intently by Ryuen Kakeru's gaze, Kitagawa Ryo showed no change in emotion. He simply raised his eyes and suddenly spoke:

"The points you're talking about, you're not referring to that deal you made with Katsuragi from Class A, are you?"

The smile that had been on Ryuen Kakeru's face vanished immediately upon hearing those words. He frowned, looked Kitagawa Ryo over again, and then grinned once more:

"It seems he was right, you do indeed have someone in Class A passing on information to you."

"Him? Ayanokoji?"

Ryuen Kakeru nodded in slight surprise:

"It seems you do know a lot."

"Yes, including your entire plan, such as having all the students in the class with [Free Ride] cards bind to Class A, and then secretly providing supplies to Class A, while also helping your own students or those in Class A who might encounter unexpected situations in advance, because you have a Resurrection card, and Class A will pay you a lot of Private Points as a reward afterward, right?"

"That's true, but it doesn't matter if you know, because it's a completely open conspiracy, and all actions are in accordance with the rules."

Ryuen Kakeru nonchalantly twisted his neck.

The Katsuragi Kohei group from Class 1-A still holds the top spot in the group rankings. They don't need to spend points on resources, and their scoring efficiency is astonishing.

"Because I always reserve spots for them."

After the exam on the Uninhabited Island began, Ryuen Kakeru's actions closely overlapped with those of Katsuragi Kohei's group. If there was a task with a limit on the number of participants per group, he would directly sign up and then deliberately underperform to improve Katsuragi Kohei's group's ranking.

Most of the top three finishers in a project receive a points bonus. Ryuen Kakeru's Malice addition not only reduced a potential competitor for Katsuragi Kohei, but also directly improved their ranking.

This is one of the reasons why Katsuragi Kohei's team has such a high scoring efficiency.