Campfire Blaze

"I suspect two people: Karuizawa and Ibuki."

If it was Karuizawa, it would be purely because she thought Horikita had provoked her and wanted to cause trouble for her.

"Hmm... I think it's Ibuki. Karuizawa was in line in front of the shower the whole time, and her two friends were with her."

"Then the probability of Ibuki being the culprit is very high. Of course, I can't rule out other classmates. After all, Yamauchi got beaten up by me today, and given his personality of liking to mess with people, it's possible he stole it to get back at me." Horikita analyzed, one hand on her chest and the other under her chin.

Ayanokouji thought about Yamauchi's beaten-up appearance and said, "It shouldn't be Yamauchi. You beat him that badly; he probably won't dare retaliate for a while."

"Then it's Ibuki. This morning, when you wanted to see the card and dropped it while yelping, she might have seen the card's existence then. And the timing is too perfect. But I think stealing the card is an extremely risky gamble. The Representative Card has the representative's name engraved on it; just seeing it would be enough. Why would she steal the card?"

Horikita looked at Ayanokouji with uneasy eyes, as if seeking an answer.

Before Ayanokouji could respond, Horikita saw a wisp of gray smoke rising from the direction of the campsite.

By the time Horikita and Ayanokouji rushed back to the camp, Ike was shouting loudly, "Oh no! Oh no! Fire! There's a fire behind the toilet!"

The girls who had been queuing in front of the shower were nowhere to be seen. They had probably fled after hearing Ike's shouts.

"I still don't see Ibuki anywhere. This fire might have been set by her. Let's find her quickly!" Horikita said nervously.

Then the two of them hurried to the source of the gray smoke—behind the temporary toilet. Hirata and several male classmates had already started putting out the fire, and Ibuki was there too.

Horikita intended to question Ibuki, but she hesitated when she saw Ibuki's profile. Because Ibuki's expression was too genuine—her face was full of confusion about the fire.

"Could it be that she didn't set the fire?"

This doubt exploded in Horikita's mind, leaving her confused and at a loss.

If you analyzed the theft of the Representative Card, the only suspect was Ibuki. Then if a fire was started, it should only be Ibuki! Yet Ibuki was still at the scene, openly showing her surprise at the fire.

After the fire was extinguished, everyone saw some remnants of burnt paper among the ashes at the source. Though most of it had turned to cinders, the remaining fragments showed it was the Guide Manual.

"The Guide Manual was burned?" Hirata looked at the burnt manual, as if speaking to those around him or to himself.

"Damn it, don't let me find out who did this, or I'll make them pay!" Sudo shouted, clenching his fist.

"One thing after another..." Hirata's eyes were hollow, as if he was muttering to himself: "This is my fault. I left the Guide Manual in my luggage bag and put the bag right in front of the tent. I was too careless. I never thought someone would steal it in broad daylight... Why... who would do something like this... Why can't everyone just get along?"

"Hmm... I don't think you should take on so much responsibility." Ayanokouji placed a hand on Hirata's shoulder to comfort him.

"Thanks... This matter... I think we should discuss it properly with everyone."

"What? You suspect us? Why would we do that? Are you crazy?"

While Ayanokouji and Hirata were talking, an argument broke out in the camp. The boys and girls were quarreling over the fire.

"Ha, you guys dared to steal underwear, so why wouldn't you dare to set a fire?"

"That's a completely different thing from the underwear incident, isn't it?"

"Who knows if you set the fire to cover up that incident?"

"Don't be ridiculous. There's no way we'd do something that stupid."

"Everyone, let's calm down first. Stop arguing. We'll discuss this later." Hirata immediately went to mediate between the boys and girls.

But ever since the original trip turned into a special exam, everyone had been holding in a lot of emotions. Then came the stolen underwear and the burned Guide Manual, and the suppressed feelings finally exploded.

Just as Hirata was mediating left and right, the clouds in the sky turned gloomy and black—it started to rain.

"That Class C girl, Ibuki, is missing!"

Just as the boys and girls were arguing, Matsushita Chiaki suddenly shouted.

For a moment, everyone fell silent. Then, as if by tacit agreement, they began searching for Ibuki.

"Her luggage bag is gone too!"

"Could it be that the underwear thief and the arsonist are both..."

"Damn it, stop discussing for now. If the luggage gets wet, we're in trouble." Ike and the others hurriedly moved the food and luggage left out in the open into the tents.

"Hirata!" Ike called out to Hirata, but Hirata stood frozen in place, staring blankly into space with a dazed expression.

Takahashi, who had just returned to camp after watching Ibuki leave, saw Hirata standing there like an idiot. When he got closer, he realized Hirata hadn't even noticed his approach. Hirata muttered quietly, "Why... did it turn out like this... just like back then..."

"I... what was it all for... what have I done all this time..." In the distance, Ike was shouting, but Hirata seemed not to hear, just murmuring to himself. It wasn't until Takahashi lightly tapped his shoulder that he startled and slowly turned around, his face pale and lifeless. Takahashi pointed in Ike's direction, and only then did Hirata realize it was raining. He sluggishly got up to help with the cleanup.

Takahashi watched Hirata's figure disappear into the tent, then turned and headed down the path toward the beach, following Ayanokouji, who had left not long ago.