A Different Kind of Girls' Tent

Then the girls fell into silence.

"I only made a concession for Hirata-kun's sake," Karuizawa spoke up first.

"I have no problem with it," Horikita said.

And so the final result was that Hirata, Ayanokouji, and Takahashi could enter the girls' activity area.

"If everyone's done discussing, may I say a few words?" Hirata began. "I understand what you're all thinking... but I oppose suspecting classmates without any evidence. Like suspecting Ayanokouji just because he's bad at defending himself, or suspecting Takahashi just because he spoke up for Ayanokouji. I don't want anyone in our class to go that far."

"Hirata-kun, you're too gentle and kind. But then who else could it be besides those disgusting boys?" Shinohara asked.

"I don't know that either... but I don't want to casually suspect my classmates."

"Hey, could it be..." A boy suddenly looked at Ibuki sitting in the distance. "That girl from Class C, the one named Ibuki?"

The moment they heard that, everyone zeroed in on Ibuki like they'd found prey, directing all their suspicion at her.

"Ibuki-san is from Class C, so it wouldn't be strange for her to sabotage Class D's unity, right? And what reason did she have to stay on the island after Class C left? Maybe she pulled some trick to make us suspect each other!"

"Don't go too far, you guys. The most suspicious ones are still you boys."

Shinohara still treated the boys as the panty thief suspects, waving her hands in a shooing motion to drive them away.

"Until we find the panty thief, we won't believe a word you boys say. Right, Karuizawa-san?"

"Of course. The panty thief is definitely among you boys!"

"Sorry for making you guys work so hard too."

The other boys were either wandering around the forest or fishing for food or killing time—pretty laid-back all around.

"It's no big deal," Takahashi said, then went back to hammering in tent stakes.

"Ah... no, Hirata, you don't need to apologize. If you did everything yourself, I'd feel bad instead," Ayanokouji said, then thought of something and asked Hirata again: "Hirata-kun, can I ask you something that might sound strange?"

"What do you want to ask, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Why do you try so hard?"

"Try hard? I don't think I'm trying hard. I'm just doing what needs to be done." He wiped the sweat off his face with the towel hanging around his neck and continued: "I don't think this special exam is a competition. It's an opportunity to deepen everyone's bonds. So I want to cherish this chance and unite the whole class. Even if the work is tough, I'm happy to do it."

"He's really a superhero," Takahashi, who was listening nearby, said.

What had Hirata been through before, to make him so obsessed with class unity?

"Alright, there's just a little left. Let's finish up quickly."

"Hirata-kun! Come here!" Karuizawa's group called out from the side.

In an instant, Hirata was surrounded by Karuizawa's queen clique.

"Hurry up, over there!"

"Ah, the tent's not set up yet!"

"Don't worry about that. Takahashi-kun and Ayanokouji-kun are still here. I'm sure they'll get the tent up."

The girl said this and tried to drag Hirata away by force.

After finishing the remaining work with Ayanokouji, Ayanokouji went to find Ibuki, and Takahashi headed to the beach with Sakura, who had been waiting nearby.

On the evening of the fifth day of the special exam, Ayanokouji and Takahashi sat around the campfire making small talk, while in the distance, some girls were arguing with the boys again over something.

"What a headache."

"Yeah... really."

Then footsteps approached. Shinohara and a few other girls stormed over angrily. "Ayanokouji-kun, Takahashi-kun, please move the tent over that way."

(Takahashi) →→ ←← (Ayanokouji)

"Didn't we already move it?" Ayanokouji replied.

"Move it further. It's still too close to those boys." Shinohara's voice was loud—clearly, she'd been seriously pissed off.

Takahashi didn't look up at the girls. Instead, he casually tossed a piece of firewood into the campfire and said flatly, "Get lost."

"Takahashi-kun, what did you say? Get lost?" Shinohara's face showed disbelief as she demanded an answer.

"Do I need to say it twice?" Takahashi met Shinohara's accusing gaze.

"Um... Shinohara, let's go." One of the girls tugged at Shinohara's clothes and whispered.

Then the girls left. Not far off, words like "And I thought he was such a gentleman" drifted back.

"Sigh. Any further and we'd be out of the campsite."

"Yeah... really."

"You guys have it rough." Horikita's voice came from behind.

"You've got some nerve saying that," Ayanokouji replied.

"There's no helping it. Since even Hirata can't be trusted, I'm at a loss too."

"Among the girls in the class, it seems like you're the only one who doesn't trust Hirata, right?"

"Speaking of which, Ayanokouji, you seem to trust Hirata quite a bit."

"Yeah, because he's reliable."

"Reliable?" Horikita's lips curled into a faint smile. "Do you really think he can bring a positive influence to the class?"

"Well, no one's perfect. Hirata isn't perfect either—he can't perfectly resolve disputes between boys and girls. But he does step up and take on responsibilities that other students can't handle. I think he's trying hard."

"Indeed. He never shows displeasure when taking on major duties, and that behavior itself is admirable. But if it doesn't yield results, it's meaningless. No, depending on the situation, it could even lead to a very terrible outcome. Let me ask you—do you know how many points Class D currently holds?"

"You say that as if there's been an unexpected expense."

"Heh. As expected, the Hirata you trust is keeping something from you."

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me."

Horikita turned and walked toward the girls' tent. Noticing that only Ayanokouji had followed, she turned back to look at Takahashi and said, "Takahashi, aren't you curious?"

Takahashi wasn't really interested—he already knew what was in the tent, since Hasebe and Sakura had told him.

"Hold on, let me add some fuel to the fire."

Horikita opened the girls' tent, then stepped aside so Ayanokouji and Takahashi could see the situation clearly inside.

Unlike the boys' tent, which only had water-absorbent cloth spread on the ground, the girls' tent was a completely different scene. There were comfortable cushions on the floor, inflatable pillows, and even a battery-operated radio fan.

"The other tent has exactly the same things. Twelve points in total. Anything you want to say?"

"Ah... I was wondering why the girls weren't complaining about the heat. So this is how it is."

"Hmm... And why are there cushions? Isn't the water-absorbent cloth also cotton? And it's provided free by the school."

"Heh. Some girls find it disgusting that the water-absorbent cloth is used in toilets, even if it's brand new and unused. They said they couldn't stand sleeping on it. By the time I noticed, they'd already ordered and prepared everything. The rule that anyone can apply to use exam points is a real problem."

Just like Kōenji giving up on the exam on the first day, no one could stop their classmates from spending points.

"Takahashi, don't you have anything to say?" Horikita looked at Takahashi.

Takahashi: ←_←