Representative Card Lost

Just as Kushida was asking Yamauchi if he wanted to join their group to look for food, Ayanokouji, who had been whispering with Horikita not far away, let out an "Ah!"

Nishito Takahashi and his four companions looked over at Ayanokouji and Horikita, only to see Horikita hurriedly pick something up from the ground and stuff it back into her pocket.

Takahashi's inner thoughts: →_→ That "ah" sounded really forced, haha.

"What's wrong?" Kushida asked with some concern.

"No, it's nothing. I just got startled by a bug, so... sorry." Ayanokouji apologized.

Then Horikita stared at Ayanokouji with an unusually cold gaze.

"Mm... sorry." Ayanokouji apologized to Horikita.

But Horikita didn't respond, only moved away from Ayanokouji.

"Did you get dumped?" Yamauchi snickered as he sidled up to Ayanokouji.

"Hey... Yamauchi. There's something I want to discuss with you. Can you come over here for a moment?"

Guessing that Ayanokouji was planning something about Ibuki seeing the Representative Card in Horikita's hand, Takahashi said nothing, just left a "We'll go find food first," and pulled Sakura away.

On the other side, Ayanokouji led Yamauchi to a distant spot.

"Let me warn you, my love consultation fee is pretty steep." Yamauchi said with a lecherous grin.

"The ground here is muddy everywhere from the rain. I want you to get some of that mud into Horikita's hair."

"What? Didn't you see I got slapped just for getting a little close to her earlier? If I did something like that, she'd kill me!"

"Mm... if you pull it off, I'll find a reason to take Takahashi away and give you some alone time with Sakura. How about it?"

Takahashi: It's over, he's coming for me ⊙ω⊙

"Really?"

"Mm, really."

"Tch, I might get beaten up by Horikita, but for Sakura's sake... mm... I guess I'll have to agree."

Immediately after, Yamauchi scooped up a handful of mud and circled around behind Horikita. Perhaps because she was already feeling unwell, Horikita didn't notice Yamauchi had come up behind her.

Kushida and Ibuki, watching Yamauchi's strange behavior, had no idea what he was up to. Until...

The mud landed directly on Horikita's beautiful long hair, and then Yamauchi even patted it with his hand to make sure the mud stuck to every strand.

Kushida and Ibuki's eyes went wide, staring at Yamauchi in utter disbelief.

"Hahaha, Horikita's hair is full of mud!" Yamauchi laughed loudly, pointing at Horikita's hair and speaking to Kushida.

Horikita didn't react at first, but upon hearing Yamauchi's laughter, she responded immediately. Grabbing the arm Yamauchi was pointing at her, she executed a clean shoulder throw...

The group returned to camp before noon. Although Horikita had done some basic cleaning, there was still plenty of mud in her hair and on her clothes.

Before heading to wash up, Horikita stared coldly at Yamauchi and said, "Prepare to be hated by me for the rest of your life. And I will never forgive you."

After being beaten up by Horikita, Yamauchi was clearly afraid of her. Trembling in fear, he hid behind Ayanokouji.

"I... I did... exactly what you asked, and look at all these injuries I got. You... you better keep your promise!" Yamauchi whispered to Ayanokouji.

"Mm..."

"The shower room isn't usable." Kushida told Horikita.

Some girls, apparently having seen Horikita covered in mud and wanting to wash up, were already lined up at the shower room entrance.

Horikita seemed to realize some people wanted to see her embarrassed, but she didn't say anything.

"How about we change into swimsuits and go swimming in the river? Horikita could also wash the mud out of her hair that way." Kushida suggested.

"Mm." Horikita glanced at the few girls by the shower room entrance, then turned to grab her swimsuit from her luggage and change in the temporary toilet.

"Ibuki, Sakura, want to come too?"

"Mm... I'll wait until they're done washing." Sakura replied. She didn't like people seeing her in a swimsuit—after all, she had a great figure, and wearing one would draw a lot of stares, which her personality couldn't handle.

"What about you, Ibuki?"

"Sorry, I don't really like swimming."

Soon, Kushida and Horikita changed into swimsuits and headed for the river. Yamauchi, having been beaten up, went back to his tent to lie down.

Sakura and Ibuki lined up to wait for the shower. After them, a few more girls who had returned from outside joined the queue.

Takahashi made an excuse to go find Hasebe and left, leaving only Ayanokouji behind.

Having used the excuse to find Hasebe, Takahashi instead went to a high spot outside the camp and sat down, where he could see most of the camp area.

About five minutes later, Horikita returned from swimming. Perhaps because she was already feeling unwell, she only washed off the mud and came back up. By then, Ibuki was at the end of the shower queue.

Another five minutes or so passed. Horikita found Ayanokouji, looking somewhat flustered. After exchanging just a few words, the two left the camp.

From the high ground, Takahashi stretched, stood up, and looked in the direction Horikita and Ayanokouji had gone, muttering to himself:

"Ryuuen, I'm a man of my word. I said I'd help Ibuki, and I will."

On the other side, Horikita walked into the forest alone, and Ayanokouji followed behind, asking, "What happened?"

Horikita didn't acknowledge Ayanokouji. She only stopped once they were far enough from the camp that the tents were out of sight.

Horikita turned around, as if to say something, but a look of resistance flickered across her face. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke: "It was my negligence. This is my mistake."

"What's wrong?"

"Something was stolen."

"You're not going to tell me your underwear was stolen too, are you?"

"No, the situation is worse than that. What was stolen is... the Representative Card. This is entirely my fault. I should have hidden the Representative Card before going swimming."

Horikita's face showed a look of self-reproach—an expression she had never worn before.

"Don't blame yourself. I think you did your best," Ayanokouji comforted her.

Horikita didn't seem to take Ayanokouji's words to heart. She only bit her lower lip in regret and said, "For now, it's probably better not to tell everyone. We need to think about what to do next to minimize the damage."

"Yeah... I think so too."

If the whole class found out, panic would definitely ensue. And since Horikita had just clashed with Karuizawa's Queen Bee clique and Shinohara's Tsundere clique not long ago, if this came to light, they would surely condemn her relentlessly. After all, this would directly cost fifty exam points, and if the other three classes found out, that would be a hundred and fifty points.

Their remaining exam points would be wiped out completely!