Uninhabited Island Exam

"Building a sandcastle? You bastard, I didn't know you had such a childish side." Ryuen watched Sawahara sculpting sand by the shore, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Even elementary school kids don't do that anymore."

"Really? I think it's pretty fun." Sawahara was enjoying himself. As he watched the fine sand gradually take shape in his hands, he felt something strangely satisfying.

"Want to give it a try?" Sawahara invited Ryuen, who responded with an eye roll.

"Ha? You think I'm as childish as you?" Ryuen turned to leave, but stopped when he heard the words coming from behind him.

"So you're not good at this, Ryuen?"

"Huh? When I was a kid..." In the end, Ryuen grumbled as he crouched down.

"What the hell am I doing, acting like an idiot?" Ryuen held his forehead. How had that bastard provoked him so easily?

He would never admit that he actually wanted to play, too. That would ruin his image completely.

The rising and falling tide carried away the works of art they had made by the shore, leaving not a trace behind.

"Tch. Let's go. The meat's ready." Annoyed as he watched the seawater wash away his sandcastle, Ryuen called to Sawahara, who seemed lost in thought. The class's feast was about to begin.

"So this is Class C's strategy: give up on the exam and earn as many Private Points as possible."

While the students faced the exam with excitement or seriousness, the teachers chatted among themselves. There wasn't much else for them to do.

They had to keep an eye on the students' health reports coming in on the computers to prevent any accidents. Beyond that, the teachers couldn't interfere with the exam, and simply watching the screens was terribly boring.

At least, Hoshinomiya found it unbearably dull, so she brought up a topic.

"I couldn't tell you. I've always believed it's enough to let the students use their abilities as they see fit," Sakagami replied blandly.

"Looks like Class D has no chance in this exam. Most of the students have already returned to the ship." At the thought, Hoshinomiya's smile grew brighter. "Hey, Sae, how are you feeling right now? Sad? Want to go for a drink after the exam?"

"Don't call me that. I don't care. Our class wasn't planning to move up anyway," Chabashira Sae replied coldly. That was her usual attitude, so it didn't seem strange.

"Is that so? Good. After all, only Sae doesn't have what it takes..." Hoshinomiya smiled as she stared at Chabashira. She would never allow Class D to rise to Class A.

Class B's campsite.

The students in their class were still working hard. Even though they had plenty of supplies, they hadn't let up. After exploring the island all afternoon, they had found a base with a cornfield, picked a great deal of corn, and brought it back.

"We found a new base. Let's go claim it together later," Kanzaki said, then paused and looked toward one part of the camp.

"Are you sure that's okay? To be safe, I think..."

"Yeah, it's fine." Ichinose knew what Kanzaki meant. She waved a hand to signal that he shouldn't continue. "We just have to be extra careful."

"All right..." Kanzaki still felt a little uneasy, but said nothing more. As Ichinose had said, they only needed to be careful.

Class A's campsite

"Is this what you call leading us to victory, Katsuragi? We suffered a huge loss on the very first day of the exam, and our opponents were Class C!"

The Sakagayanagi Faction immediately seized on Katsuragi's mistake. Of course, it wasn't exactly a mistake; Katsuragi had handled the situation as well as he possibly could.

But it didn't matter. If someone wanted to find fault, they always could.

"What are you talking about?" Totsuka shouted. "It was clearly—"

"Enough, Yahiko." Katsuragi interrupted him. Escalating the conflict would do Class A no good.

"This was indeed my mistake. I never expected Class C and Class D to respond to the exam this way." Katsuragi made no excuses and took responsibility.

"But Class B isn't doing much better. They also spent a large number of Private Points to buy Special Exam Points. In that respect, we have an advantage, since we have more Class Points. The two sides are now back on equal footing. I believe that, with Class A's abilities, victory will still be ours."

Katsuragi's speech calmed the unrest in the class.

The member of the Sakagayanagi Faction still wanted to say something, but Hashimoto Masayoshi held him back. Enough was enough. Continuing would only lower the others' opinion of the Sakagayanagi Faction. Besides, the seeds of discontent had already been planted. If Class A won after the exam, it wouldn't matter. But if they lost...

Hashimoto looked at Katsuragi, a faint smile appearing on his face.

Class A still had the advantage? That was just something he'd said to steady everyone. Katsuragi knew perfectly well that the situation in this Special Exam was unfavorable to them.

They had been short-handed from the start, so they were already lacking points. They had also spent some of their points, leaving the class with only 250.

Even if both classes had enough supplies, Class B already had a 50-point advantage.

As for the Class C student named Sawahara, even if he had signed a contract, his reliability was still questionable.

Still, the exam had only just begun. There was still a chance.

After putting an end to the argument, Katsuragi closed his eyes and considered what to do next.

"Everyone in the class has returned to the ship?" Ryuen asked Sawahara.

"You're the only one who hasn't gone back." Sawahara nodded, then looked at Ryuen.

Ryuen laughed when he heard that. "You bastard, you haven't gone back either."

He knew Sawahara wouldn't just let the exam end like this. That guy was full of schemes, and those few points wouldn't come close to satisfying his appetite.

"Don't think about going off on your own. This is too much fun for me to go back just yet."

Seeing the excitement in Ryuen's eyes, Sawahara took a small step back.

"Sorry, Ryuen. I'm not interested in that."

Ryuen's face darkened at Sawahara's words. He wasn't interested in that kind of thing either!

"What are you pretending not to understand for?"

"I was just joking. Wasn't it funny?" Sawahara asked, looking confused.

"..." Ryuen's mouth twitched. Why would you think the butt of a joke would find it funny? "Never tell another joke as long as you live."

"That was a pretty good joke." Sawahara smiled. "I'm glad you're willing to help, Ryuen."

"This place is actually on the island?" Ryuen looked at the wooden cabin in surprise.

"Of course it is." Sawahara scanned his Leader Card to confirm that he had claimed the base. "It's an uninhabited island, but it can't literally be uninhabited. That's common sense, Ryuen."

After all, the island belonged to the country, so naturally someone would maintain it. An uninhabited island wasn't the same as a deserted island, so it was perfectly normal for there to be a cabin.

"Hah, what kind of common sense is that?" Ryuen didn't think it was common sense, but Sawahara's reminder quickly helped him understand the logic.

"Of course it's common sense. Just like how instant noodles aren't instant, there's no wife in a wife cake, and an uninhabited island isn't 'uninhabited,' Ryuen." Sawahara began making the bed as he spoke.

"That's not the same thing at all. And I've been meaning to ask—what's with the way you call me? It's creepy." Ryuen looked at Sawahara with disgust. Having "-kun" tacked onto his name made his skin crawl.

"Isn't that what you call someone you're close to?" Sawahara replied. After Shiina had changed the way she addressed him, he'd learned what it meant and started using it for Ryuen, too.

"...Who said we were close, you bastard?" Ryuen felt a throbbing ache in his forehead. Where did you get such a good impression of yourself? "If you want to change how you address me, just call me Ryuen."

"Sure, Ryuen-kun."

"Don't call me that!"

The cabin was rather noisy that night.

"You're later than I expected," Sawahara said, narrowing his eyes at the person who had arrived.

Hashimoto gave a faint, bitter smile. "I couldn't help it."

Because of Class A's current point deficit, they had to either score a decisive victory by guessing the leaders or rely on the points awarded for claiming bases to win. As a result, Class A's exploration duties were extremely demanding. Meanwhile, several of the Sakagayanagi Faction's core members always had someone from the Katsuragi Faction following them.

This time, only because Kamuro had helped draw the others away had he gotten the chance to come.

"Are you the only one from your class still on the island?" Hashimoto sized up the wooden cabin in front of him. There were bases like this on the island?

"Yeah, I'm the only one left. So, what do you say? Want to report this? It would greatly increase Class A's chances of winning the exam." Sawahara displayed his Leader Card without hesitation, his voice laced with temptation.

"..." Hashimoto fell silent. He hadn't expected Sawahara to do that. "I can't. If Katsuragi wins, I'll be in trouble."

Hashimoto had already figured out Sawahara's plan. Let Katsuragi win this exam, keeping Class A divided and causing even more internal strife? What a formidable character...

"I almost feel sorry for Katsuragi." Sawahara sighed, then returned to the point. "So, who's Class A's leader?"

"Totsuka Yahiko." Hashimoto gave him the answer directly.

And just like that, he had obtained the information about Class A's leader.

"Oh, you've recovered from your cold? Ichinose, you really are impressive."

Another day passed. Horikita Suzune came to the cabin and stared at Sawahara with a complicated expression.

After the deal with Class B that day, Sawahara had approached Horikita Suzune and made a deal with her.

"Help me find out who Class B's leader is. What do you say? If you cooperate with my plan, I think your class can earn some Class Points, too."

Unable to let go of her obsession with moving up, Horikita Suzune gritted her teeth and agreed.

Joining Class B's group had gone much more smoothly than she'd expected. Ichinose had agreed without hesitation, and the Class B students had quickly welcomed her.

Faced with Class B's warmth, Horikita Suzune had often felt guilty during that time. She'd wondered if she should give up being a spy, but...

"Class B's leader is Shiranami Chihiro."

Even if her methods were despicable, even if she was condemned for it, she had to reach Class A. Having realized what she truly wanted, she answered without the slightest hesitation.

"Who's Class D's leader?"

Horikita Suzune fell silent for a moment, but still gave him the answer.

"This is Class D's Leader Card. Take a look, Katsuragi."

On the second night before the Uninhabited Island Exam ended, Sawahara provided Katsuragi with the final part of their agreement.

"Class B's leader is Shiranami Chihiro, though of course there won't be any proof of that." Sawahara wore a smile.

Katsuragi carefully examined the Leader Card in his hand, then returned it.

"That completes the agreement... You're Class C's leader, aren't you?"

"Yeah, that's right." Sawahara nodded and held up his Leader Card. "You can write down my name, too, if you like."

"...I understand." Katsuragi gave Sawahara a long look, then turned and left.

"We're tallying the exam results now. Please wait a little longer."

After the exam ended, the students who had remained on the uninhabited island gathered on the beach once more, waiting for Mashima to announce the results.

The numbers of students from Class A and Class B hadn't changed. As for Class C, Ryuen stood there alone, visibly dirty and disheveled. It looked like he'd had a very hard week.

"As expected." Katsuragi wasn't surprised by the sight. He'd known Sawahara wouldn't reveal his Leader Card so casually unless he had a backup plan. Now he saw what it was.

Class D also had only one student left, but it wasn't Horikita Suzune. It was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

"Did Class D change leaders, too?" Katsuragi felt relieved.

Mashima soon finished tallying the results and began to announce them.

"Fourth place in this Special Exam: Class D, 69 points."

On the cruise ship, Sawahara frowned when he heard the score. It wasn't what he'd expected.

"Third place: Class A, 130 points." Katsuragi closed his eyes in pain when he heard the result. He'd already guessed why they'd gotten that score.

The students in Class A clearly couldn't accept the result.

"What the hell is going on, Katsuragi?"

"Second place: Class C, 160 points." The Class C students on the cruise ship erupted into loud cheers. After all, they'd gotten this result after playing around for just one day.

"You're amazing, Sawahara!"

"First place: Class B, 195 points.

This concludes the Special Exam."

Even though Class B had come in first, its students weren't excited at all. Had they really won with this result?

And so, the Uninhabited Island Exam officially came to an end.