First Night

After everyone discussed taking in Ibuki, Hirata purchased the necessary food and water for the night from Teacher Chabashira, along with two tents for the boys.

"Ibuki-san, here." Kushida approached Ibuki, who was keeping her distance from Class D, and handed her some food and a bottle of mineral water.

"What's this... why are you giving it to me?"

"You must be hungry, right?"

"I remember the food sets are rationed by class. There shouldn't be any extras."

"Well, there aren't, but it's fine. The four of us in our group don't have big appetites, so splitting three portions is enough."

As she spoke, Kushida gestured for Ibuki to look at the three girls in Class D's camp, who smiled and waved at them.

"Hah, how foolish. Your class sure has a lot of do-gooders. Not counting that scheming one, of course."

"Huh? Scheming?" Kushida looked puzzled.

"No, nothing. Thanks."

Kushida didn't press further, smiled, and said, "Don't mention it. Come chat with us later—we'll be waiting in the tent."

With that, Kushida returned to her group.

"Hey, look at that—girls really do form their own little cliques, don't they?" Yamauchi said while eating, pointing at the various groups in the class. There was the empress clique led by Karuizawa, the friendly and united group centered around Little Kushida, and Shinohara's arrogant girls' group. Then Horikita and Sakura were both alone.

The boys all ate together, but the girls' groups kept their distance. The exception was Kushida's friendly group, which got along with everyone.

"Horikita and Sakura are pitiful—eating alone must be lonely," Yamauchi said, half-heartedly.

"They're used to eating alone. Bothering them out of nowhere would just come off as rude," Takahashi said, using his chopsticks to knock away Ike's as they reached for his box. There weren't many pieces of meat in the lunchbox to begin with, and Sudo had already taken two. Still, Ike managed to snag a shred.

"Little Kan..." Just as Takahashi was defending his lunchbox from Ike and Sudo's raids, Hasebe's voice came. "I can't finish this. Here."

Takahashi paused and looked at Hasebe's lunchbox—it was still half full. "Aren't you hungry if you don't eat?"

"I ate quite a bit of fruit earlier, and suddenly living outdoors is a bit hard to adjust to. I don't have much of an appetite."

Since she put it that way, Takahashi didn't hold back. He shoved his own lunchbox into Sudo's hands and took Hasebe's offering. Then he glanced over at Sakura—the silly girl was indeed staring at him. When she noticed Takahashi had caught her, she panicked, then seemed to make up her mind and stood up to walk over.

"You don't have an appetite either?" Takahashi said with a hint of resignation.

"Mm..."

"Fine, give it here. Don't blame me if you're hungry at night."

"I won't... be hungry."

"Come on, don't rush off. Take a bite." Takahashi picked up a piece of meat and fed it to Sakura. Seeing all the boys in the class watching, her face turned even redder, but she didn't want to refuse Takahashi's offer. So she quickly opened her mouth, ate it, and ran back to her original spot, occasionally stealing glances at him.

Under the envious gazes of the other boys, Takahashi said smugly, "Ah, what can I do? It's not like I really wanted this." He took another bite and added, "So delicious."

"Eww~"

"Get your chopsticks out of here!" Sudo angrily tossed Takahashi's chopsticks back at him.

"Huh?" Takahashi looked at the chopsticks in his hand. He'd handed his own chopsticks and lunchbox to Sudo, so the ones in his hand now were Hasebe's. And he'd just used Hasebe's chopsticks to feed Sakura. That meant... heheh, no wonder they tasted so good.

"By the way, hasn't Takagahara-kun come back yet?" Hirata asked the group.

Only then did everyone notice Takagahara was missing.

"It's already dark. If Takagahara hasn't come back, could something have happened?" Yamauchi said.

"Mm... I'll go report it to Teacher Chabashira first." Hirata thought for a moment and replied.

"As for Takagahara, he reported feeling unwell about an hour ago and has already returned to the ship to rest. Of course, since he withdrew from the exam, you've lost thirty points. There's no helping it—everything follows the exam rules. Takagahara's withdrawal means he'll stay on the ship for treatment and standby for a week."

"Aaaaaaah~" Many of the boys let out pained groans. The girls weren't as vocal, but they frowned and muttered complaints about Takagahara to those nearby.

"Damn it, what kind of joke is this! That Takagahara! What was he thinking! He didn't even consult us—if he really wasn't feeling well, we would've understood!"

The usually calm Yukimura shouted loudly, clenching his fists, stomping his feet, and making other gestures to vent his anger.

"Damn it! Losing thirty points just like that—this is terrible!" Ike said angrily.

Both boys and girls were furious at Takagahara for withdrawing from the exam without any discussion, but since he wasn't present, there was nowhere to direct their anger. The usually loud laughter of Takagahara in class now echoed in everyone's minds.

Suddenly losing thirty points left everyone feeling somewhat uneasy, and no one had the mood for post-meal chatting. After washing up one by one, they went into the tents to sleep.

Early morning. Ayanokouji woke up very early. He tried not to make any big movements as he left the tent, and then Takahashi also opened his eyes.

From inside the tent, Takahashi saw Ayanokouji heading to the spot near the tent where the class's luggage bags were stored. He knew exactly whose bag Ayanokouji was about to search.

Yesterday, he'd already had Hasebe and Sakura check it out. Inside were just towels, a change of clothes, underwear—basically the same stuff everyone had in their luggage. But... one item stood out—a digital camera.

Under the digital camera was a rental sticker, indicating it had been borrowed from the school with points. This was part of his deal with Ryuuen to help Ibuki find out who Class D's representative was.

Sigh~ Ryuuen didn't have to send Ibuki. In the end, he still doesn't trust me! Takahashi let out a quiet sigh in his heart.

"Takahashi-kun, you're up early." Hirata beside him rubbed his eyes and sat up.

"I was going to use the bathroom. Sorry, Hirata, for waking you."

"No, I can't really sleep well in this environment anyway. My neck... and my back hurt. Without a mattress underneath, my body just can't take it."

No pillow, no mattress, and crammed in with a bunch of boys—especially the strong smell—sleeping soundly was quite a challenge. But even in these conditions, aside from Takahashi and a few others, some classmates were still snoring. They must have been too tired.