After learning the situation, Ichinose felt sure Yi Chen had his own reasons.
She should just go back and keep an eye on her class.
Day Three.
Members of Ryuen's class gradually returned to the cruise ship, and everyone began to leave.
Yi Chen was still working on his little construction project.
Yi Chen set up a small chair on one side and a little stool on the other.
He gathered some palm leaves and banana leaves.
He went to pick some fruit and catch some fish.
That afternoon, Yi Chen spotted a new claiming point on the mountain.
No other class had claimed it yet.
Yi Chen looked to the left and sighed, then looked to the right and sighed.
Unfortunately, he wasn't the leader, and he had no idea how many points Class D had claimed by now.
After thinking it over, Yi Chen decided to call Hirata and the others over to claim the spot.
On the way back, Yi Chen saw Ibuki Mio collapsed beneath a tree.
Yi Chen looked around. There was no one nearby.
The Class D camp was not far away.
He went over and checked her pulse. She was still alive.
Yi Chen tried greeting her, but Ibuki Mio didn't respond.
He pinched Ibuki Mio's cheek, but that didn't work either.
It looked like she was really unconscious.
Yi Chen left her alone for the moment and headed to Class D's camp.
Ken Sudō and the others warmly welcomed him back, while many of the girls lowered their heads in shame.
Yi Chen looked at the awkward atmosphere.
This was why he didn't like arguing with people. If things went too far, it ended up like this.
Extremely awkward.
Hirata came forward and asked eagerly:
"Yi Chen, you're back! That's great. Everyone made you some grilled fish, too."
"Come and eat. It's everyone's way of showing how much they care."
"While you were gone, everyone thought things over. A class really shouldn't be like this."
Kushida came forward, putting on an act:
"I'm sorry, Yi Chen. It was my fault for talking to Ryuen and the others before the exam."
"I didn't know you had a bad relationship with them."
"If only I'd known sooner."
Kushida walked up and took Yi Chen's hands, pulling them toward her chest.
"I'm sorry, Yi Chen. It was my attitude that was the problem."
"You can do whatever you want to me. Will you forgive me?"
Yi Chen looked at Kushida, whose performance deserved an Oscar. He knew what was going on.
His toes were cringing so hard they could dig through the Earth.
Most of the boys were green with envy.
"Yi Chen's got it made."
"Being handsome sure has its perks."
Yi Chen turned to look at the other classmates. Karuizawa was hiding behind everyone.
The others chimed in:
"Sorry, Yi Chen. We went too far. Come back."
Yi Chen looked at Kushida again.
He laughed inwardly:
"This face is so ridiculous, I can't hold it together!"
"What do I do? Help me out here! This is urgent!"
Yi Chen forced down his feelings and spoke calmly:
"I'm sorry, Kushida."
"I'm sorry, everyone. I was at fault, too."
"What's in the past is in the past. I came here because I found a new spot, and no one's claimed it yet."
"Let's go claim it first."
The awkward atmosphere began to dissipate. Ken Sudō and the others happily hugged Yi Chen.
Airi watched Yi Chen with a beaming smile.
Horikita thought it was childish, too, and smiled.
Hirata spoke up as well:
"It's not dark yet, and Yi Chen is back."
"Let's put the past behind us."
"Then let's get ready and set up camp at the new spot."
The classmates replied:
"Sounds good!"
Everyone was full of energy. All the other spots had already been claimed by other classes.
They kept spending points, but weren't getting any in return.
Then Yi Chen suddenly turned to everyone and told them there was someone unconscious outside.
He asked them to go take a look.
Yi Chen led the class over to where Ibuki Mio was lying.
The class began openly discussing whether to help Ibuki Mio and what to do with her afterward.
But the most important thing was to help her first.
Hirata told everyone to leave a few girls behind to look after Ibuki Mio.
The rest would go claim the new spot.
Everyone split up and got to work.
Soon, Yi Chen led everyone to the new spot.
Everyone looked around. It was much better than their current spot.
It was beside a stream, and the ground was fairly level.
Hirata thanked Yi Chen on everyone's behalf.
Yi Chen said he still wanted to live alone. Hirata tried to persuade him to stay.
Yi Chen said he'd found a cave and liked the idea of surviving on a deserted island.
After some more persuasion, Hirata eventually let Yi Chen go.
While the classmates were still getting ready to build their new camp, Yi Chen quietly slipped away.
Yi Chen returned to the cave.
He'd improved his simple bed, making it much softer.
He'd added more palm leaves to the bedding and made a pillow out of banana leaves.
He'd also collected a lot of pine needles and wild chrysanthemums.
Burning them in the fire would produce smoke that could effectively drive away mosquitoes and other insects.
After doing the Primordial Flower Hand routine that night, he lit a fire and went to sleep.
Day Four.
Heavy rain began to fall.
Yi Chen had no food, so he quietly watched the rain pattering outside.
His fire had gone out a while ago.
As Yi Chen listened to the soft patter of the rain, gradually—
A figure drew closer, heading toward the cave.
Yi Chen hid in the darkness inside the cave and peered outside.
Yi Chen thought:
"By rights, it shouldn't be a wild animal. I've looked around here, and there doesn't seem to be much wildlife on the island."
"There's even less sign that any large animals live here."
The person reached the cave. Yi Chen saw that it was Ryuen.
Yi Chen didn't bother hiding. He walked out and looked at Ryuen.
Ryuen assumed a fighting stance and stared at Yi Chen with a wild grin.
Yi Chen looked at Ryuen in confusion and said calmly:
"I got here first. Take a look for yourself."
Ryuen said arrogantly:
"What are you doing here, Angela Yi Chen?"
Yi Chen looked at Ryuen, speechless.
"You're the reason I'm stuck here."
Ryuen relaxed his fighting stance.
"Oh? Interesting."
"Why's that?"
Yi Chen said calmly:
"Kushida's helping you, isn't she?"
Ryuen took off his wet clothes.
"You really are clever."
"So this is where you've ended up?"
"Looks like Class D isn't as united as it seems."
Ryuen smiled.
Yi Chen said:
"Not exactly. I left a few days ago."
"I thought this cave was pretty nice, so I couldn't be bothered to go back."
Ryuen said calmly:
"You really take things as they come. It's just the two of us here now."
"Are you not afraid I'll take you out here?"
Yi Chen looked at Ryuen as if he were a child.
"Ryuen, did you not hear what the teacher said?"
"Fighting is grounds for a point deduction."
Ryuen looked at Yi Chen with ill intent.
"Our class has no points left to deduct."
Yi Chen said:
"Oh? Then you're pretty impressive."
"Come on, let's see what you've got."
Yi Chen looked at Ryuen provocatively.
Ryuen smiled instead of getting angry.
"Why don't you come work for me, Yi Chen?"
"Help me get into Class A, and I'll give you points."
"You know you can transfer classes, right?"
Yi Chen looked completely bewildered.
"???"
"What are you talking about?"
Ryuen stared at Yi Chen, his face dark.
"You're capable. As long as we work together, there's no problem with graduating from Class A."
Yi Chen looked at Ryuen.
"Then why did you send people to beat me up before?"
Ryuen saw that recruiting him wasn't going to work.
His eyes widened.
"Don't push your luck."
"Angela Yi Chen."
Before you continue