The VIP Special Exam Begins
Karuizawa Kei recalled, swinging her pale legs:
"If I could swim, I'd love to go for a swim too."
"Hmm, hasn't Hui ever been in a swimming pool?"
After listening to Karuizawa Kei's enthusiastic talk about being a "Karuizawa Kei," it turns out she's just someone who's observing from the poolside.
"... I'm just a little embarrassed."
Karuizawa Kei scratched her cheek a little embarrassedly:
"Anyway Airi doesn't want to change into her swimsuit and go swimming either, so I'll go with her, hmm."
Having found herself a vague excuse, Karuizawa Kei quickly steered the conversation away from there:
"Does that mean Ryo is a very good swimmer?"
"No."
"Pfft."
Karuizawa Kei burst out laughing at Kitagawa Ryo's righteous words, and lay down on Kitagawa Ryo's bed, asking with a smile:
"So that's why Ryo doesn't want to go to the swimming pool?"
"Let's just say that. It always feels weird for someone who can't swim to go to the pool."
Kitagawa Ryo looked at the quilt cover and sheets, now a mess after being torn apart by Karuizawa Kei, and pouted, saying:
"Since we're both landlubbers anyway, neither of us will laugh at the other."
"It's not that I can't swim, it's just that I don't want to."
At this moment Karuizawa Kei became quite smug.
"Oh right, actually it's not that I can't swim, it's just that I don't want to."
"I really can swim!"
Karuizawa Kei sat up straight in bed, gritting her teeth.
"Yes, I really can swim."
Kitagawa Ryo nodded in agreement.
"Then let's go to the pool, and I'll show you whether I can do it or not!"
Karuizawa Kei angrily put on her sandals, grabbed Kitagawa Ryo's arm, and dragged him to the floor where the swimming pool was located.
"I never expected to see Karuizawa and Kitagawa-san here."
Standing by the pool, Hirata Yosuke, who seemed to have just finished swimming, was drying himself with a towel. Water droplets streamed down his muscular upper body and dripped down. A few strands of hair stuck tightly to his forehead gave him an impression that was different from usual. The sunny, cheerful, and handsome young man smiled and greeted the two of them. Kitagawa Ryo could understand why this guy was so popular among the girls.
"Oh, so Hirata is here too."
Kitagawa Ryo nodded. He still had a pretty good impression of Hirata Yosuke. As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face. Hirata Yosuke's kind-hearted personality has contributed a lot to the fact that Class D can continue to operate stably. Kitagawa remembered that Karuizawa Kei told him that on the first day of the Uninhabited Island Exam Hirata Yosuke took the initiative to take on the most tiring task in the class: moving tents. He slept the latest, got up the earliest, and did the most work throughout the seven days.
Objectively speaking, his psychological problems are somewhat similar to those of Ichinose Honami, as he always acts with a sense of atonement. However, unlike Ichinose Honami, if Hirata Yosuke is pushed to his Ichinose Honami, he would be in much greater danger.
Honami... in the end, he will only keep hurting himself.
Kitagawa Ryo suddenly remembered the ending of the second simulation and glanced at Karuizawa Kei beside him with a complicated expression.
I have a feeling that it's best for these two not to meet.
"Are you two here to swim too? I feel like your outfits... well, how should I put it, are quite unique."
Hirata Yosuke, of course, had no idea what Kitagawa Ryo was thinking; he just looked at the two of them with some curiosity.
The male students at the swimming pool were mostly wearing swim trunks, while the female students wore various swimsuits, since they were all there to swim. However, Kitagawa Ryo and Karuizawa Kei were both covered up more than the other. If Karuizawa Kei's sleeveless dress could barely be considered summer attire, Kitagawa Ryo's shirt with a jacket over it was hardly appropriate, even with the air conditioning on the cruise ship.
Hirata Yosuke had seen classmates like Sotomura who were too fat to come to public swimming pools, but Kitagawa Ryo's physique didn't seem like something to be ashamed of, and he couldn't come up with a solution after thinking about it.
"Oh, I didn't come here to swim, I came to watch Karuizawa swim."
Kitagawa Ryo explained with a smile.
"Karuizawa insisted on proving herself to me."
"Is that so?"
Hirata Yosuke clapped his hands as if he had suddenly realized something:
"Then I won't bother you two any longer. Have fun!"
Before leaving, Hirata Yosuke secretly gave Kitagawa Ryo an encouraging gesture, though it's unclear what he was thinking.
After Hirata Yosuke left, Kitagawa Ryo crossed his arms, looking completely at ease.
"Benefit?"
"Forehead."
She had just been in the room preparing to demonstrate her swimming skills, but once they arrived at the poolside, Karuizawa Kei's expression froze once again.
She merely touched the water's surface with her toes, but made no further movement.
"It still doesn't quite work."
Karuizawa Kei finally looked up and smiled.
"I think I'm still more afraid of water; my impression of it is only cold and suffocating."
"Does Liang know what I'm talking about?"
"Know."
Kitagawa Ryo sat down next to Karuizawa Kei, and nodded.
He could easily guess what Karuizawa Kei went through during her three years of junior high school: being doused with water by girls in her class in the bathroom, having her lunchbox carelessly overturned, and being forced to eat it by picking it up with her mouth while lying on the ground.
That's why Karuizawa Kei is so reluctant to go swimming now, and that's why she said she didn't feel hungry even though she ate little on the island.
"It feels really unfair."
Karuizawa Kei said this in a low voice, her tone carrying a strange undertone:
"Liang knows everything about me."
"But as for the cold, I know nothing about it."
"Maybe it's because I've known you for a long time, but you've only known me for a short time."
Kitagawa Ryo explained it this way.
"But Ryo has never told me about his past. If he doesn't tell me, no matter how long we've known each other, I'll never know."
"Didn't Hui come to this school with the idea of starting over?"
Kitagawa Ryo stared directly into Karuizawa Kei's eyes:
"The past isn't that important."
He asserted this with absolute certainty.
"If she only thought about the past, Hui wouldn't have grown into the person she is today."
"... Um."
However, Karuizawa Kei was still a little emotional; she moved her toes a little faster, creating ripples on the water's surface.
Perhaps it was because she only learned today that Kitagawa Ryo also had a hobby of going to the theater, Karuizawa Kei felt a strange pang of sadness whenever she thought about it. Perhaps at the beginning, she relied on a shadowy image constructed by Kitagawa Ryo, but now she wanted to understand Kitagawa Ryo himself.
Even though their relationship seems quite close now, the thought that he and Kitagawa Ryo had never been a part of each other's past still leaves him with a sense of loss. On one hand, he feels that this sense of loss is a desire to take advantage of others, but on the other hand, this sense of loss is real.
Just as the atmosphere between the two fell silent, a figure quietly crept up behind Kitagawa Ryo then mercilessly kicked him in the back.
"Plop."
Completely caught off guard, Kitagawa Ryo was kicked into the pool. He surfaced somewhat disheveled, wiping the water from his face before recognizing his attacker:
"Ryuen, what's wrong with you now?"
"I simply think someone should go into the water and calm down."
Ryuen Kakeru pulled his right foot back, and was about to say a few more jokes when he saw Karuizawa Kei jump down with a thud.
"?"
Just as Ryuen Kakeru slowly typed out a question mark, Kitagawa Ryo watched as Karuizawa Kei was either too anxious or had genuinely forgotten how to swim, choked on two mouthfuls of water as soon as she entered the water. He could only swim over with a wry smile and pick her up again.
"It's amazing that someone who can't swim went to rescue someone who can swim."
Ryuen Kakeru looked at Karuizawa Kei, who was coughing and feeling nauseous, and then glanced at Kitagawa Ryo:
"I'll talk to you later, go back to your room early."
"Okay, get lost."
Kitagawa Ryo gave Ryuen Kakeru Sho a curt reply, and then patted Karuizawa Kei on the back:
Are you alright?
"No... it's nothing."
After coughing a few more times, Karuizawa Kei managed to answer. Her white dress, soaked with water, clung tightly to her body, highlighting her youthful figure while also revealing a layer Kitagawa Ryo due to its slight transparency.
Although I had already seen some of it in the room, it is now much more obvious.
Karuizawa Kei wore a school one-piece swimsuit under her dress, which looked like a rather strange combination. However, considering her intentions, it wasn't entirely incomprehensible; she was probably preparing it for when she actually needed to go swimming.
"Liang Mingming can swim..."
Having barely recovered her senses, Karuizawa Kei let out a small protest.
Kitagawa Ryo nodded helplessly:
"I did say I could swim."
"I clearly asked you that."
"But you asked if I was good at it, and I answered no. You didn't ask if I knew how to do it."
Borrowing a dry towel from a school staff member nearby, Kitagawa Ryo casually dried Karuizawa Kei's hair, after all, he was the one who caused her to jump into the water.
"They're actually playing word games in a place like this."
Karuizawa tilted her head and Kitagawa Ryo:
"And how come the way he used the cold-making technique seems so skilled?"
"Um, would it be okay if I said I used to have a cat and I bathed it regularly?"
"Ryo has reappeared from a past I didn't know about."
"Yes, yes, it's my problem."
Karuizawa Kei looked at Kitagawa Ryo's chest; the water-soaked white shirt clung to his skin, giving it a slightly transparent appearance, and she clearly saw something.
"You have to tell me everything about Liang, don't miss a thing."
"Um."
I am feeling unwell and need to take one day off.
When sleeping with the air conditioner on, remember to cover yourself with a blanket, at least cover your stomach!
When sleeping with the air conditioner on, remember to cover yourself with a blanket, at least cover your stomach!
When sleeping with the air conditioner on, remember to cover yourself with a blanket, at least cover your stomach!
When sleeping with the air conditioner on, remember to cover yourself with a blanket, at least cover your stomach!
Here's a picture of Hiyori holiday as an apology.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: The VIP Special Exam Begins
"Eh? So Kitagawa-kun doesn't know that Horikita from Class D has been sick these past few days?"
Ichinose Honami, biting her straw, asked with some confusion, "It's been three days since the Uninhabited Island Special Exam ended. After being dragged out to the swimming pool by Karuizawa Kei yesterday, Ryo Kitagawa was invited out again today by Kitagawa Ryo Ichinose Honami from Class B."