The Deal

For Class D's students, after more than two months of grueling life without any points, these past few days aboard the ship must have felt wonderful. After all, the school covered every expense on board, so they could finally indulge themselves a little... Though things would be even harder once they returned to school.

Kushida Kikyo, the most popular girl in Class D, had probably been quite busy these past couple of days. At school, her friends might have taken her financial situation into consideration, but on this ship, they wouldn't. After all, when two people were close, they even went to the bathroom together, let alone doing their makeup, eating, or watching movies.

The more friends you had, the more social engagements you had.

"Thanks for making so much time for me." Sawahara looked at Kushida Kikyo. They'd parted only seven hours ago, but she already seemed tired... and perhaps a little irritable. Was he imagining it?

"No, I was the one who asked you to meet." Kushida shook her head, looking at Sawahara with a complicated expression.

At first, she'd thought Sawahara was just a boy who had a crush on her, someone she could make use of. Then she'd suffered a major setback during the midterms. But she hadn't suspected Sawahara at the time; she'd assumed it was Ryuen's plan, since Ryuen had been the one to show up in the end.

But in the last exam, it had been obvious that Sawahara was the real core of Class C. She had to wonder whether she'd been wrong all along, and whether Sawahara was the one who'd backed her into such a corner.

"Kushida, what did you want to see me about at this hour?" Sawahara asked. In truth, he'd already guessed she wanted to talk about the VIPs.

"Sawahara, what do you think about this exam?" Kushida didn't state her purpose directly. Instead, she asked for his opinion.

"This exam?" Sawahara raised an eyebrow. "I think we should just ignore it. As long as we do nothing, none of the classes will lose anything."

"I think so too, but if things continue like this, only the VIPs in the Dragon Group will get points. That hardly seems fair." Kushida sounded as if she were complaining.

Unfair? You're just being greedy. Sawahara had already figured out what Kushida wanted, but he didn't say so outright.

"It's fine. It's just a little money."

"..." Kushida's face stiffened at his words.

There was no way to continue this conversation. A little money? This was 500,000 Private Points! To him, that was just a little money! The damage the rich could inflict on the poor was truly astonishing. Even Kushida's ever-present smile couldn't hide the deep wound.

So Class D's little angel wasn't quite as sweet as she seemed.

"Kushida? Kushida?" Sawahara's voice finally brought her back to her senses.

"Ahaha, but wouldn't it be better if everyone could get more points?" Kushida gave an awkward laugh and composed herself.

"I see. You want to achieve Result One, don't you, Kushida?" Sawahara put on a look of sudden realization. "But why should I help you?"

"I know something about the VIPs in the Dragon Group." Kushida nodded. She was fed up with living without points. It was hard to maintain normal relationships with her "friends," and some of the boys' thoughts made her feel sick. On top of that, she was carrying a large debt. She had to get more points in this Special Exam.

She also had another goal...

"I'm afraid I can't help you, Kushida," Sawahara said with a smile. "Not because I lack the ability, but because you haven't offered me a bargaining chip I'm satisfied with."

"..." Kushida's expression darkened and shifted for a moment before she added another bargaining chip. "I know about more than one VIP in Class D."

"So you're not going to keep pretending?" Sawahara smiled as a gloomy, irritable air began to gather around Class D's little angel. "Unfortunately, my answer hasn't changed."

"Why—" Before Kushida could finish, Sawahara spoke again.

"Group Dragon: Kushida Kikyo. Group Horse: Minami from Class D. And Group Rabbit: Karuizawa Kei. Does that sound familiar?" Sawahara calmly named the three VIPs from Class D.

Kushida Kikyo stared at Sawahara in utter shock. Even she only knew the identities of two VIPs in her class: herself and Minami from Group Horse.

"How is that...?"

She couldn't understand it at all. Why had Sawahara figured out all the VIPs on the very first day of the exam?

"Why would you do this? The exam is still—"

"That has nothing to do with you." Sawahara didn't answer. After reaching agreements with Classes A and B, he'd planned to end the exam for the groups that contained Class D's three VIPs. But Koenji's appearance had forced him to put his original plan on hold.

"So, Kushida, what other bargaining chips do you have to trade?"

"..." What else could she use? Kushida thought in silence for a long time. "I have one last bargaining chip..."

"Then we have a deal." Sawahara gladly accepted the final offer she made.

Not long before Sawahara and Kushida made their deal, a fierce conflict had erupted within Class A.

"How far are you going to take this before you're satisfied?" Katsuragi shouted at Hashimoto Masayoshi, nothing like his usual serious, meticulous self.

"I already agreed to give up my position as leader. Why are you still doing this? Do you really want Class A to fall before you'll be satisfied?"

"What are you talking about, Katsuragi?" The students in Class A were startled by his reaction.

"Katsuragi, did something happen?" Hashimoto furrowed his brow, unable to understand what had provoked Katsuragi's sudden outburst. He hadn't even been this furious after the Uninhabited Island Exam.

"Phew. The C class has figured out every VIP in our class for this exam." Katsuragi took a deep breath, forcing down his anger as he told Class A what had happened.

"Hashimoto, you leaked the leader information to Class C during the last Uninhabited Island Exam too, didn't you? How far are you going to take this before you're satisfied?"

He'd originally planned to bury the matter and never speak of it, but he could no longer tolerate Hashimoto and the others repeatedly betraying the class's interests.

Katsuragi's words caused an uproar in Class A.

"What? Katsuragi, is that true?"

"Hashimoto, were you behind the leader business last time?" The members of the Katsuragi Faction and the neutral students all turned pale and looked toward Hashimoto.

"Katsuragi, don't go around biting people without proof."

"You're the one who failed to lead the class properly."

The Sakayanagi Faction stood its ground against Katsuragi.

"Katsuragi, I knew nothing about the VIPs," Hashimoto said, his expression grave.

"Do you think I'll believe you?" Could someone who had betrayed them once really be trusted again? Katsuragi didn't know whether the others could trust him, but he knew he couldn't.

"It seems my original judgment was right. Handing Class A over to you was a mistake."

And so, Class A split apart once again.

Class B

"Once again, Sawahara got there before us." Ichinose heard the news from Kanzaki and wore a troubled expression. "Sawahara is just too capable. How did he manage to figure out the VIPs this time?"

"...Ichinose." Kanzaki hesitated, but still decided to voice his concern. "There may be a traitor in our class."

"...I still believe our classmates wouldn't do something like that. There must be something about this exam that we don't know." Ichinose shook her head, still unconvinced by Kanzaki's judgment.

"But... what if there really is a traitor?"

"Then we'll work twice as hard for that person too and make Class B even better. They'll come back to us, won't they?" Ichinose's smile remained bright, calming her unsettled heart after the mention of a "traitor."

"Yeah, you're right."

At eight o'clock that evening came the second discussion of the first day. The atmosphere in Group Dragon was even more awkward than before.

Class A sat in silence, Class C played on their phones, and Kanzaki from Class B looked dispirited. His classmates were all worried about him, leaving Class B just as quiet.

The strange situation made Horikita Suzune feel particularly uncomfortable. Why weren't the other classes discussing anything? Had that guy done something again?

As she thought this, Horikita Suzune couldn't help glancing at Sawahara. He noticed her gaze, looked up slightly, and smiled back before lowering his head to chat with Shiina again.

Shiina had just messaged him to ask about Kushida, and Sawahara was busy replying.

Time passed, and soon the hour was up. The first day's discussion ended in a muddle.

"So Group Dragon didn't have any real discussions yesterday?" Ayanokoji pondered the situation as he listened to Horikita.

"How did things go in Group Rabbit?" Horikita asked about his group.

"Much like your group. In the morning, Classes A and C didn't participate in the discussion at all. Only Class B kept trying to break the deadlock under Ichinose's lead, but nothing came of it." Ayanokoji recalled what had happened during the day's discussion. "In the evening, the students from Class A started arguing among themselves, while Ichinose tried to break it up... Other than that, nothing was different."

"Nothing useful, then." Horikita Suzune sighed.

"But Karuizawa acted a little strangely." As soon as Ayanokoji said this, Horikita's gaze shifted.

"Seriously, what are you thinking about during an exam? You're paying attention to a woman? Is your head full of dirty thoughts? And she has a boyfriend, too. Your tastes are really disgraceful."

"...No, I wasn't thinking anything like that." Ayanokoji tried to defend himself, but Horikita had already swiftly changed the subject.

"What exactly happened with Koenji? You're roommates, aren't you? Why didn't you stop him from acting recklessly?"

"There wasn't much I could do. Even if I tried to stop him, he wouldn't have listened." Ayanokoji sounded helpless. He didn't have any good way of dealing with Koenji.

"So you didn't even try to stop him, right?" Horikita Suzune was very good at getting to the point.

"Just think of it as getting bitten by a dog and drop the subject... But do you think Koenji chose at random?"

"What else could it be? You don't think he saw through the hidden VIP on the very first discussion, do you?" Horikita Suzune didn't believe anyone could do that.

"Well, I guess that's true." Ayanokoji didn't say anything more. He couldn't tell what Koenji's motive had been for ending the exam. Maybe he'd simply done it for the sake of his freedom.

"Did that student from Class C, Sawahara, do anything either?"

"If I knew what he'd done, I'd be able to relax." Horikita sounded frustrated. This exam was getting stranger by the minute.

After receiving a message from a classmate confirming that Koenji had gone alone to bathe in the large communal bath, Sawahara immediately set off to meet this wild card.

"Koenji from Class 1-D, you certainly caused quite a stir earlier." Sawahara sat down in the bath and looked at the blond man across from him.

Though steam drifted above the bath, Sawahara could still see Koenji's muscular physique.

"Oh, I've heard of you, the scheming boy from Class 1-C." Koenji opened his eyes and looked over at Sawahara. "Would you be interested in working for me after graduation?"

"That's quite a nickname..." Sawahara was at a loss for words. What schemes had he ever plotted? "Let's talk about after graduation when the time comes. I'm more curious about something else."

Sawahara paused, staring intently at Koenji. "Koenji, was your answer earlier correct?"

"Ho, so you've already seen through the truth of this exam. No wonder I took a liking to you. My judgment is as excellent as ever. I really am beautiful." Koenji sat up and looked at Sawahara with interest, then began praising himself.

"...I really can't underestimate any opponent." Sawahara let out a long breath. Class D really was full of talented people. Had his earlier judgment about the class assignments been wrong?

"Could you keep quiet until this exam is over, Koenji?" Sawahara looked at the man who might throw the exam into chaos.

"Heh heh heh, my hush money is very expensive." Koenji readily agreed. He hadn't planned on telling anyone anyway, and there was no reason to refuse free money.

He had considered using this rule to make a deal, but he had some idea of his reputation at school, and knew it wouldn't be easy to sell. And contributing to his class? Don't make me laugh.

"500,000."

"One million."

"700,000."

"750,000."

"Deal."