Now That's Foresight

Watching the group of people howling and screaming as they boarded the Jet Ski, Kitagawa Ryo his head and smiled slightly. Shiina Hiyori went to the shower room to take a bath, while Ibuki Mio and Ken Sudō and the others rode the jet skis together. Only Karuizawa Kei was left with them, and the two of them walked together toward the school's tent.

Because area D9 is the school's main base, the number and size of the tents are much larger than those of a typical supply exchange point. The two of them searched left and right but couldn't find the watch repair shop. In the end, they had to ask a passing teacher to find the place.

"Ah... isn't this Megumi and Ryo?"

When the two arrived at their destination, they discovered that the teacher in charge, who was dozing off at the front desk, was Hoshinomiya Chie of Class 1-B. Upon seeing Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei, she suddenly perked up and stood up abruptly.

"Hoshinomiya teacher... hello."

Karuizawa Kei, seeing Hoshinomiya Chie's chest bulge with the force of her movements, instinctively stood in front of Kitagawa Ryo.

Why didn't I run into that uncle from Class D? He could have been from Class C too.

Although she was inwardly full of complaints, Karuizawa Kei still outwardly displayed great respect.

"My watch is damaged because it got wet. Do you repair it here?"

"That's so formal—didn't I tell Hui to call me 'Chie' on the first day of school?"

Hoshinomiya Chie quickly adopted a tearful expression, and Karuizawa Kei's lips twitched at her act of pretending to be young.

"But there's nothing we can do about a broken watch. Give me your hand."

Like a sudden change of expression, Hoshinomiya Chie immediately returned to her normal demeanor and beckoned to Kitagawa Ryo with her finger.

"What are you doing?"

Karuizawa Kei is on high alert.

"Of course, we should use professional tools to remove the watch first."

Hoshinomiya Chie rolled her eyes at her class president, feeling that when the other girl stood next to Kitagawa Ryo, she was like she was under a debuff, turning into a simple-minded idiot.

Kitagawa Ryo smiled upon hearing this, stepped forward, and offered his right arm.

"Thank you for your help."

"That's nothing. Speaking of which, even after being out in the wind and rain on the island for so many days, Liang is still as handsome as ever."

Hoshinomiya Chie took a screwdriver-like tool from the toolbox in front of her and started fiddling with Kitagawa Ryo's watch while making a teasing remark.

"It's not that exaggerated, is it?"

Kitagawa Ryo really didn't want to get involved with Hoshinomiya Chie any more; this woman's obsession was no less than Chabashira Sae's. He casually laughed it off.

Seemingly because there were other teachers nearby, Hoshinomiya Chie didn't say anything more outrageous after that. After taking Kitagawa Ryo's watch off, she waved her hand.

Come pick it up in an hour.

Thank you for your hard work.

After exchanging a few polite words, Kitagawa Ryo was pulled away by Karuizawa Kei, who knew a lot about her homeroom teacher's private life.

"We still have an hour... Shall we go take a shower?"

Kitagawa Ryo found Karuizawa Kei's pouty, jealous look rather amusing, so he let her pull him along and casually offered a suggestion.

Whether it was this slightly ambiguous remark that triggered some imagination in Karuizawa Kei's mind or not, Kitagawa Ryo immediately noticed that half of Karuizawa Kei's ears had turned red, her head was tilted, and her eyes kept glancing at her toes, revealing a profile that was breathtakingly beautiful.

"We've finally found you."

Just as Kitagawa Ryo was about to make a few more jokes, Shiina Hiyori, who had just come out of the shower, jogged over. She was a little weak; after enjoying a ride on Jet Ski, Kitagawa Ryo had urged her to take a shower and change her clothes.

"Hmm? Where's the cold watch?"

Upon noticing Kitagawa Ryo's bald right wrist, Shiina Hiyori also curiously leaned over to ask.

"It's broken and is being repaired now."

Kitagawa Ryo stretched and rubbed his right wrist, saying:

"You know what, after wearing it for so long, it feels a little strange to suddenly take it off."

"The repair will take an hour. I'm planning to take a shower first. What about you guys?"

"... I'm going to take a shower too."

Karuizawa Kei blushed slightly and quietly echoed her sentiment.

"Then I'll wait for you outside, and let my hair dry in the meantime."

Shiina Hiyori nodded, her right hand holding her still slightly damp hair as she spoke.

So, the three of them agreed on a meeting place and then went their separate ways.

Just as Shiina Hiyori and kill time, she hadn't taken two steps when she saw a third-year student who seemed to be the Student Council secretary waving at her from a corner.

As Shiina Hiyori some doubt, another figure suddenly flashed in from the other side. It was none other than Horikita Manabu, who was hailed as the strongest Student Council President in the history of Tokyo Advanced Nurturing High School and who had intimidated all the new students with his imposing presence at the club recruitment fair at the beginning of the school year.

"May I ask you a question, classmate?"

A remarkably composed statement.

For a fleeting moment, Shiina Hiyori recalled Kitagawa Ryo's stories about the power struggles and infighting within the Student Council. Could she, like the detectives in those stories, have become embroiled in an urgent incident?

"Where's Suzune? What's she doing?"

Whether it was my imagination or not, Shiina Hiyori could actually detect a hint of heartbreak in her voice.

Chapter 186: This is Foresight

When Horikita Manabu asked her that question, Shiina Hiyori suddenly remembered that the third-year student opposite her was not only the Student Council president, but also Horikita Suzune's biological older brother.

While thinking about how good the relationship between the two siblings was, Shiina Hiyori organized the information she had gathered and said lightly:

"The last time I saw Horikita was on the third day of the Special Exam. She's in much better physical condition than me and adapted to the Uninhabited Island environment very well. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

Horikita Manabu twitched the corner of his mouth; that wasn't what he had originally planned to ask.

Just as Horikita Manabu was about to press Kitagawa Ryo about why he had left his original group and was now acting with them, another teacher walked over from the other side, noticed the situation, and frowned, saying sternly:

"Horikita, third-year students who have been temporarily recruited are also under the jurisdiction of the school during this exam. They are not allowed to discuss topics unrelated to their work with the First Year students taking the exam."

"Sorry, I'll be more careful."

Thinking he could avoid being seen by hiding in the corner, Horikita Manabu lowered his head, immediately apologized, then glanced at Shiina Hiyori before quickly leaving with Tachibana Akane.

In truth, this is a happiness that Suzune should have grasped herself.

Turning his back, Horikita Manabu sighed quietly and shook his head slightly.

He knew his younger sister well; ever since they were little, Suzune had been a child who was prone to getting stuck on things or who wanted to do everything perfectly.

If Suzune is truly determined, she will never give up easily; she won't turn back even if she hits a brick wall.

Horikita Manabu felt the salty sea breeze on his face, and a sense of melancholy inexplicably crept in.

He didn't have much time left at the school, and he didn't know if he would be able to see the two of them officially confirm their relationship before graduation.

"Should we play it again?"

"It seems like less than three minutes have passed since the last time."

After Kitagawa Ryo went missing for thirty-six minutes and made thirteen phone calls to no avail, Horikita Suzune, Ichinose Honami, and Sakayanagi Arisu decided to stop walking and set up camp in the C8 area.

She had been hoping that Kitagawa Ryo would come back and cook the ingredients she had received from the "Draw and Guess" project, but under these circumstances, Horikita Suzune put on an apron anyway.

Although Ichinose Honami can cook, considering her mental state, Horikita Suzune had already pictured a rather horrific scene in her mind, and ultimately made the strong decision to cook alone.

"After thinking about it carefully, the only possible reason for this loss of contact is that Liang's watch is broken."

While removing the shrimp veins from the prawns, Horikita Suzune calmly offered her opinion.

"Yes, if something really happened, the school wouldn't have waited until now to issue an emergency notice."

Sakayanagi Arisu took small sips of mineral water to replenish her energy, licked her lips, and then said:

"This morning, someone got sick after drinking untreated water, and we even issued an emergency notification."

"So don't worry too much, maybe Ryo is enjoying a vacation with other girls right now."

At this point, Sakayanagi Arisu also curled her lip:

"How come you all seem to have suddenly forgotten that Liang cost our group nine thousand points?"

Sakayanagi Arisu shook the mineral water bottle in her hand:

"Nine thousand points... If we exchange them for two automatic water purifiers, we'd be throwing away every bottle of water we drink."

"Liang must have his reasons for doing this."

Ichinose Honami rested her chin on her hand, as if trying to comfort herself.

"This line feels so familiar."

Sakayanagi Arisu originally thought that Ichinose Honami's emotional problems had been resolved after the Truth or Dare that day, but unexpectedly, a [Draw and Guess] assignment this morning and the news of Kitagawa Ryo's disappearance at noon directly plunged Ichinose Honami back into a state of unease.

"Don't think too much about it, let's try it first and see how it tastes."

Horikita Suzune was very efficient. In no time, she had made three dishes and a soup using the ingredients she had on hand. After a long morning of work, she was too tired to divide the food into smaller portions, so she simply put everything on the table, took off her apron and hung it aside, and invited the two of them to come and have lunch.

"I still acknowledge Suzune's cooking skills."

Sakayanagi Arisu clasped her hands together and winked playfully at Horikita Suzune:

"I'm starting to eat."

"Hmm... I'll start eating too."

Not wanting to continue playing the role of someone with a low mood, Ichinose Honami took a few deep breaths, turned her head to look at Horikita Suzune, and said:

"If Liang isn't here next time, I can help with the cooking."

"While the taste may not be as good as Suzune and Liang's cooking skills, they probably won't make any weird or strange food."

What are "strange and unusual foods"?

Horikita Suzune picked up a large shrimp for herself, carefully peeled it, and casually asked Ichinose Honami a question.

"I guess I mistook salt for sugar, and then I frantically searched online for ways to fix it. The online answer suggested adding vinegar to neutralize it."

"Then a minute later I started searching for how to fix it if I mistook soy sauce for vinegar."

Amused by the funny little story told by Ichinose Honami, Horikita Suzune and Sakayanagi Arisu both burst out laughing.

"If the rest of the class knew that Honami used to be such a kitchen killer, I think they would find it hard to believe."

Horikita Suzune chuckled and made a joke.

"I wasn't some perfect superhero to begin with."

Ichinose Honami chewed her food slowly and deliberately.

"It's terrible to have unrealistic expectations and then be disappointed without them."

"Indeed, lowering your expectations might just bring a pleasant surprise."

Sakayanagi Arisu shoveled a mouthful of rice into her mouth. She was exhausted this morning, and her appetite was much larger than when she first arrived on the island.

"Just like Class D now, although it seems hopeless, there might be a turning point."

"Compared to the beginning of the semester, Class D has indeed made a lot of progress."

Horikita Suzune nodded. She was the kind of person who didn't interact much with the specific students in the class, but she wouldn't neglect any class-related matters. She was in charge of reviewing the key points of knowledge before the Midterm Exam and Final Exam.

"However, if we don't get good results in this Special Exam, the team that Class D has finally managed to come together will fall apart."

Ichinose Honami sighed. She was one of the most popular students in the class and even the grade among the three, so she saw things more clearly.

Compared to Class D at the beginning of the school year, although six students dropped out, the atmosphere and cohesion of the class have unexpectedly improved. However, this is also thanks to the presence of the Mashima Tomonari. According to information that Ichinose Honami found out, many students in the class have received Private Points from Mashima Tomonari under the guise of 'scholarships'.

In fact, there was no such setting in the school at all; all those points were sponsored by Mashima Tomonari with his own salary.

The Class Points at midnight for Class D has always been a nightmare that plagues the entire class.

Homeroom teacher Mashima Tomonari can't keep supporting the students like this for three years. If the situation doesn't improve in the short term, the momentum that the homeroom teacher's efforts have built up will soon dissipate.

"Actually, Class D's results so far haven't been bad, but they do have an inherent disadvantage."

Ichinose Honami herself couldn't help but complain at this point:

"At the start of the exam, Class D had five fewer students than the other classes, which is equivalent to a fully-equipped group of four plus a single-person group."

Unlike other Special Exam, the Uninhabited Island Special Exam is simply and brutally based on the number of students in a class. Eliminating more than one group not only means losing five points, but also indirectly reduces the competitive pressure on other classes.