Correction Underway

After Xia Mu got up and left, Ayanokoji's tightly shut eyes snapped open. His gaze was sharp as a hawk's, as if it could pierce the endless darkness.

After thinking for a moment, he ultimately decided to follow.

With Xia Mu's current powers of observation, he naturally noticed Ayanokoji's presence, but he didn't expose him.

He hadn't planned to hide it in the first place.

After crossing the stream and making his way through the trees, he arrived at the clearing on the other side. Karuizawa Kei was already waiting there!

When she saw Xia Mu, she felt as if a little rabbit were hopping around in her chest, and she was terribly anxious. She couldn't figure out why Xia Mu had messaged her earlier and told her to wait for him here at eleven tonight.

Did he get a thrill out of fighting in the wilderness?

Karuizawa Kei had no way of knowing, but she certainly wasn't going to do that sort of thing with Xia Mu in a place like this.

If anyone else found out, she'd be ruined.

The camp wasn't far away. If Xia Mu dared lay a hand on her, she'd yell immediately.

As she thought this, Xia Mu had already crossed the sand and stopped in front of her.

When she saw him, her fists, hanging at her sides, tightened slightly. She remembered how he'd shoved her against the railing without hesitation.

He really had no idea how to treat a woman gently.

"What do you want?"

Maybe she knew Xia Mu wouldn't dare do anything to her, because her tone had returned to its usual assertiveness.

But what Xia Mu said next left her dumbfounded.

"Hit me."

"Use the strongest move you've got. Hit me."

?

A question mark appeared over Karuizawa Kei's head. "W-what? Do you have some kind of mental illness?"

He'd called her out here in the middle of the night instead of sleeping just for this?

"Unbelievable." Karuizawa Kei muttered, then walked past Xia Mu, intending to leave.

At that moment, Xia Mu grabbed her wrist with a quick snap, then reached toward her buttocks.

Reacting almost instinctively, she raised a hand to slap Xia Mu across the face.

But Xia Mu caught her wrist with ease and twisted it slightly. "Crack."

"Ah!" The pain made her body twist along with her wrist. Without thinking, she swung her other hand at Xia Mu.

He caught that one just as quickly and twisted it too.

Her body turned completely around, until she was facing away from Xia Mu. The pain in her wrists drove her to her knees, leaving her in an extremely compromising position.

Xia Mu stood behind her as Karuizawa Kei knelt in front of him, both her hands caught and twisted in his grasp.

"What are you doing!?"

Even though it hurt terribly, Karuizawa Kei still didn't dare yell, afraid the other students by the tents might hear. She could only angrily demand an explanation from Xia Mu.

But at that moment, Xia Mu let her go.

She had just started to get up and run when Xia Mu kicked her hard in the buttocks.

"Thud!" She stumbled forward several steps, then braced herself with both hands and ended up on her knees, bent over.

"Did you learn it?"

Before she could berate Xia Mu, his calm voice came from behind her.

"Learn what?" Karuizawa Kei clutched her throbbing buttocks, completely baffled.

She turned around and met Xia Mu's eyes, glinting silver in the moonlight.

"Learn what?" The anger on her face vanished in an instant, leaving only vulnerability.

"Sigh."

Xia Mu gave a slight sigh. "You're so slow."

He reached out and tapped Karuizawa Kei on the head. "That's the most basic grappling technique. It won't work on anyone with even a little combat training, but it's enough to deal with people who only know how to bully others in groups."

"Huh?"

Karuizawa Kei blinked her wide eyes again and again, utterly confused. "You..."

"Didn't I tell you I'd help you?"

Xia Mu thought Karuizawa Kei was terribly clumsy. "So I'm teaching you how to fight back. I can't follow you around every second to protect you."

As Karuizawa Kei listened to Xia Mu, she didn't sense even a hint of deception.

She couldn't help asking the question every girl Xia Mu had corrected wanted to ask: "Why are you helping me?"

Kushida was the exception, of course.

Her way of thinking was different from everyone else's.

"I have my reasons. You just need to do as I say." Xia Mu couldn't be bothered to explain. He beckoned to her. "Again."

Karuizawa Kei clutched her wrist, which burned with pain as if it had been scorched. She understood that Xia Mu was no ordinary person and had genuine skill. She stood no chance against him.

Since he was willing to teach her everything he knew, how could Karuizawa Kei let this opportunity pass?

She had nothing to lose, and besides, she had no choice now.

All through the night, Karuizawa Kei was like a battered flower swaying in a storm, subjected to Xia Mu's cruel techniques again and again. Still, amid that inhuman ordeal, she managed, like a traveler groping through the dark, to grasp a few basic grappling techniques.

In seven days, she should be able to handle ordinary students with ease.

Ayanokoji saw all of it.

Xia Mu had let him see it on purpose.

He wanted to confirm a suspicion.

Early the next morning, Xia Mu got up.

To conserve supplies, they ate nothing but plain bread and some wild fruit they'd found outside the day before.

Xia Mu found the food bland, so he took the simple bow and arrows he'd made the day before and headed out.

Since no one was allowed to go alone, Xia Mu asked Sakura to come with him.

"Xia Mu, are you going hunting?" Sakura Airi asked curiously, holding one of the simple arrows he'd made.

"Yes. Yesterday, I spotted some birds on the island, and they aren't protected species." Xia Mu explained softly. "There are lots of them, and their droppings pollute the ocean in huge quantities every year. You could say we're doing the public a service by getting rid of them."

"Oh, then..." Sakura Airi started to say something, but Xia Mu raised a finger to his lips. She immediately covered her mouth.

She watched Xia Mu slowly nock an arrow and draw his bow, hardly daring to breathe.

She also noticed a black bird perched on a tree trunk, pecking at bugs inside a hollow.

"Whoosh!"

Xia Mu let the arrow fly, striking his target perfectly.

The black bird flapped its wings twice, then fell to the ground, struggling.

"That's amazing!" Sakura covered her mouth with one hand, turning into a devoted fan.

It was the first time she'd ever seen someone use a bow and arrow in real life.

Xia Mu walked over, picked up the black bird, and tossed it to Sakura.

She fumbled as she caught it. Seeing the bloodied bird, she felt a little sorry for it.

After that, Xia Mu shot several more. Then the two of them found an open area, removed the feathers and innards, and roasted the birds over a fire.

Watching golden droplets of fat slowly appear on the birds over the campfire, Sakura swallowed despite herself.

It was pitiful, sure, but it smelled delicious, too.