Karuizawa

After the students from Class C left, Ike hurried over to Takahashi, but he was too late. The girls who had been closer to Takahashi had already surrounded him.

"Takahashi, you were so cool just now. So manly!"

"Takahashi, have you studied martial arts?"

"..."

"Haha... thanks... I know a little!"

It took a long time, and only with Hirata and Kushida's help, to calm everyone down.

"Phew~ thanks," Takahashi said, exhaling and pressing the back of his hand to his forehead, as if he'd just been through a huge battle.

"No problem, Takahashi. And you really were cool just now," Kushida said, generous with her praise.

Then she turned to Takahashi and Hirata.

"Well... if there's nothing else, Onodera and the others and I are going to pick some more fruit from the place we went yesterday."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Kushida," Hirata replied with a warm smile.

"Kushida, do you carry the fruit back in your arms?"

"Yeah. Is there a problem, Takahashi?" Kushida asked, touching her index finger to her lips and tilting her head slightly.

"Hmm... nothing. You can ask Teacher Chabashira for some of those bags they use for the portable toilets. The school provides them for free, with no limit."

"Oh, right! That way, we won't have to carry the fruit in our arms and get our clothes dirty," Onodera said excitedly. "And those absorbent cloths, too. Ask the teacher for a few more. If we put them under us at night, sleeping won't be so uncomfortable."

It seemed the girls were also fed up with sleeping on the hard ground.

"Then I'll go ask Teacher Chabashira now." Happy that they might be able to solve the problem of uncomfortable sleeping, Hirata headed toward Teacher Chabashira.

Nothing else noteworthy happened during their life on the island, until the third day...

Holding a half-empty bottle of mineral water, Takahashi stood with Ayanokouji and looked at Class C's campsite. The barbecue, soda, and various entertainment equipment they'd had before were now gone, and so were the students. They'd probably run out of points and used feeling unwell as an excuse to return to the ship.

As the two gazed around without much interest, Ichinose's voice came from behind them.

"Are you two here to scout, too?"

Takahashi turned around. Ichinose and Kanzaki were walking toward them.

"No, we just came out for a walk, to see if there were any edible wild plants or anything. We saw that nobody was at Class C's campsite anymore, so we came to take a look," Takahashi replied.

"I see. There really isn't anyone from Class C here now. Just like Kanzaki said, they went with the strategy of giving up partway through." Ichinose sighed, pressing her index finger to her cheek, then continued, "I was going to try to guess who Class C's representative was, but I guess I can't do that now. If the whole class has left, we don't even have any clues."

"Ha~ Doesn't your campsite still have a Class C student named Kaneda? Our campsite has Ibuki. Just keep an eye on them." Takahashi yawned and turned toward the forest. As he walked away, he added, "Ayanokouji, I'm going to look for food. I'll head back to camp and catch up on some sleep later. What are you going to do?"

"Hmm... I'm going back to tell Hirata about what happened at Class C's campsite," Ayanokouji replied, watching Takahashi's back.

Takahashi, how did he know there was a Class C student at Class B's campsite?

After the others left, Takahashi returned to the beach and headed into the forest again, this time in a different direction.

"Hey, I have to say, you're really going all out," Takahashi said, handing over the mineral water.

"Heh. As long as I win, that's all that matters." Ryuuen took the water. When he saw Takahashi about to kick the cardboard by his feet, he said, "Hey, that's where I sleep."

"Hmm... sorry." Takahashi pulled his foot back, but his gaze fell on the snacks and drinks beside the other end of the cardboard.

"You plan to live on this island for four days with just those chips and drinks? Ryuuen, you're unbelievable."

"Cut the crap."

"Fine. Horikita's been planning for Class D's living arrangements during the exam at the lower reaches of the river. She'll probably expose herself as the representative there, so you can have Ibuki check it out. Sigh, Ryuuen, you still don't trust me. Would I lie to you?" Takahashi said as he turned to leave, deliberately—or perhaps not—stepping on the cardboard twice.

The morning of the fourth day of the Special Exam.

Having slept for a long time during the day yesterday, Takahashi hadn't slept much last night and was resting with his eyes closed when he heard Shinohara shouting outside.

"Hey, you boys! Hurry up and get out here!"

A few girls then shouted angrily, telling them to hurry up and come out.

Noticing Hirata rise beside him, Takahashi stretched and slowly got up as well. The other students in the tent also began to rise, asking what was going on.

"Sorry... Hirata, could you please gather all the boys?" Shinohara asked Hirata, her tone pleading. She seemed apologetic for disturbing his sleep.

"You don't have to apologize. Can you tell me what happened? They've all been up for a while, so they should be coming out soon."

Takahashi figured it had nothing to do with him and sat down against the tent. He yawned and looked toward Hasebe, who was among the group nearby. When she gave a slight nod, he closed his eyes and continued resting.

"What's all the noise so early in the morning? Can't a person get some sleep?" Sudo shouted as he came out of the tent. The boys followed one after another.

Once they were all outside, Shinohara said to Hirata, "I'm sorry, Hirata. This has nothing to do with you, but there's something we need to confirm, so we had to disturb your sleep."

Then Shinohara shot a contemptuous look at the boys other than Hirata. Takahashi wasn't included; he was sitting off to the side, where Shinohara hadn't noticed him.

"This morning... Karuizawa found that her underwear was missing. Do any of you know what happened?"

"Ah... her underwear?"

Hirata, who was usually so calm, looked surprised by this unexpected situation. He turned toward the girls and saw that Karuizawa, her friends, and Kushida weren't there.

"Karuizawa's crying in the tent right now, and Kushida and the others are comforting her..." Shinohara said, gesturing toward one of the girls' tents.

"What the hell? Why wake us up just because her underwear went missing? And why are you talking to us like that?" Ike said, apparently annoyed at being woken up so suddenly.

"Why do you think? Someone among you boys must have rummaged through Karuizawa's things last night and stolen them. Her belongings were left outside, so anyone could've taken them!"

"That doesn't mean you can just accuse us right off the bat!"

"Who's accusing you? Ike, was it you who stole them?" Shinohara said, glaring at Ike.

Seeing Ike's reaction, Yamauchi spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Come to think of it, Ike, you went to the bathroom last night, didn't you? And it took you quite a while to get back."

"N-no! That's because it was so dark, so it took me longer!"

"Really? You're sure you weren't the one who stole Karuizawa's underwear?"

"I-I wasn't! I'd never do something like that!"

The boys began pointing fingers at one another over the despicable accusation.