Sick Horikita

"I've already found you. You might as well come out now." Ibuki, who had been running, suddenly stopped and turned to face the direction where Horikita was hiding.

Seeing that Ibuki had already discovered her, Horikita stopped hiding and stepped out from behind the tree. "When did you notice?"

"I noticed from the very beginning."

Ibuki's brief reply carried an eerie chill. Though her quiet, taciturn demeanor hadn't changed, something about her was different.

"So why did you chase after me?" Ibuki continued.

"If I don't say it outright, you won't understand?"

"I don't know."

"You should know very well why I'm chasing you."

"No, I really don't. But is there something you want?" Ibuki stared straight into Horikita's eyes.

"You'd better not play dumb!"

"Heh. I think I understand why you're chasing me now." Ibuki chuckled and continued, "The stolen underwear, the fire commotion—Class D really is plagued by disasters. But do you have any proof that I did it?"

"You should know very well that many of my classmates suspect you, right?"

"Mm. After all, I'm from Class C, your class's enemy. Being suspected can't be helped. But even if you claim I'm the culprit, you need evidence to prove it, don't you?"

"Unfortunately, I have no evidence regarding the stolen underwear incident. But I believe you're the culprit."

"That's quite harsh. You're convicting me without any evidence."

"Heh. You claimed you didn't want to get close to Class D and cause unnecessary trouble, and the injuries on your body made us sympathize with you, allowing you to stay in our class until the exam ended. But your actions today are the reason I suspect you. I shouldn't need to explain further, should I?" Horikita stared into Ibuki's eyes and continued, "Give me back what you took from me."

Ibuki no longer met Horikita's gaze. Turning away, she said, "I don't know."

Then Ibuki quickly ran toward the forest, and Horikita matched her speed in pursuit.

Ibuki changed her route, no longer heading for the beach but deeper into the woods.

"Where are you going?"

"Who knows where I'm going."

Already suffering from a cold and fever, Horikita was now chasing Ibuki in the rain. She could clearly feel her body nearing its limit, but she still didn't stop. Even as her vision grew blurrier, she kept thinking she had to catch Ibuki and take back the Representative Card...

"I said, you're annoying. Can you stop chasing me already?" Ibuki halted and looked toward a large tree ahead.

"Then give back what you stole from me!" Horikita gritted her teeth.

"Can you calm down and think rationally? If I had stolen the Representative Card, how could I keep carrying something so dangerous? If anyone saw me, I'd be disqualified immediately. And it wouldn't just be me losing points—it wouldn't end there."

"I only said to return what you stole. I never once mentioned the Representative Card." A faint smile curled at the corner of Horikita's lips.

"I incriminated myself—that's what you're thinking, right? Too bad, it doesn't matter." With that, Ibuki crouched down and began digging at the ground with both hands.

The intense discomfort in her body forced Horikita to lean against a tree, hand pressed to her head, and sit down.

"You look sick."

Ibuki noticed Horikita's condition and glanced back, but immediately resumed digging.

"Huff... huff..."

Horikita panted without speaking. She could feel her body on the verge of collapse; merely resisting the urge to faint was taking everything she had.

"Ibuki, if you don't return the Representative Card, I'll have to resort to force. Please don't mind." Horikita intended to use her last ounce of strength to reclaim the card through violence.

"Force? In your current state, you want to use force? Are you joking?"

"This is your final warning. Please don't make me use force..."

Horikita confronted Ibuki with a firm tone. Though she wanted to avoid drastic measures, it seemed impossible now.

"Final warning? Fine, fine. If that's how it is, have it your way."

Ibuki set her bag on the ground and lightly raised both hands in a surrender pose. But her demeanor didn't look like she truly intended to surrender.

This made Horikita instinctively think, She's not going to attack me, is she?

The next second, Ibuki's leg swung toward Horikita's face.

Horikita was saved by the sudden surge of vigilance. She leaped backward, dodging the kick.

Muddy water splashed onto Horikita's arms as she assumed a defensive stance.

"Oh, not bad."

"Resorting to violence will get you immediately disqualified..."

"Are you saying someone will see us in a place like this? Besides, weren't you the one who planned to use force first?"

Ibuki sneered as she finished speaking, then in the next instant grabbed Horikita's shoulder and shoved her to the ground.

Horikita couldn't react in time to Ibuki's sudden move and tumbled into the mud.

"Would you mind resting for a bit?"

As the words fell, Horikita's vision blurred—the face looking down at her from above became a hazy shadow. Ibuki grabbed her collar and pulled her upper body up, but her fist clenched in an instant—if that punch landed, she would likely lose consciousness on the spot.

Horikita twisted sideways, sweeping her arm to deflect Ibuki's wrist, and used the momentum to roll half a meter through the mud. Her fingertips dug into the wet earth mixed with grass stems. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up, her knee pressing against the ground as she heard the faint tear of fabric. At that moment, she was briefly grateful she had once learned martial arts—a thought that tasted like blood against her molars.

"Oh? You're more flexible than I thought. Have you trained in something?"

Ibuki's voice carried a note of appraisal. Her eyes held a smile, yet they sent a chill down Horikita's spine—the other girl had instantly seen through her martial arts experience, meaning this match had never been on fair ground from the start.

"Honestly..." Horikita stared at the mud dripping between her fingers, a self-deprecating laugh mixing with the rain as it escaped her throat. "In this exam, I'm probably the most pathetic one here."

Horikita dug her fingertips deep into her palm, bitterly thinking to herself that she should have turned down the Representative position when she wasn't feeling well, should have been honest about her condition from the very beginning. But that so-called pride was like a rusted gear, stuck in her throat, unable to squeeze out a single word of weakness. Horikita hated herself for it—looking down on others, spewing harsh words, yet failing to complete even the simplest task when it mattered most.

A dry laugh rolled from her throat. Rainwater dripped off her chin into the mud. Horikita stared at Ibuki's raised toes and suddenly recalled countless late nights, the version of herself in the mirror who refused to ask anyone for help.

"You're the one who stole the Representative Card, aren't you?"

Ibuki, who had been about to press the attack, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

"As a reward for struggling this far—" Ibuki took half a step back, reached her left hand into her pocket, and pulled out a card. "I'll let you know the truth."

The card flipped between her fingers. When the front faced up, the two gold-embossed characters "Horikita Suzune" gleamed coldly in the twilight. Horikita's pupils contracted sharply. The dizziness in her head grew heavier, making this belated truth feel especially ironic.