An Unexpected Incident

"That guy isn't worth saving." Hearing Nanase mention this, Ike, who hadn't spoken until now, suddenly said with a tone of disgust, "Well, I'm pretty much the same."

Ike's sudden words silenced the atmosphere. The second-year students spontaneously fell silent, while Nanase simply found it strange.

"Um, what happened?"

"It's nothing, it's just that Kanji's in Kanji mood. Speaking of Kanji, what's wrong with you? You haven't been energetic these past few days."

How could he possibly tell Nanase about secretly filming the women's changing room? So Hondo immediately changed the subject.

[I... I'm just normal.]

Chi felt flustered when he was the subject of discussion.

[This is really unusual, isn't it? I'll say it now, you've been acting strangely ever since before the exam.]

[I think so too; you've always seemed listless.]

Sudo seemed interested in the matter as well and joined in.

"That's right, if you're unhappy about something, just say it and let everyone have a good laugh." Shuichi Kanda's words quieted the atmosphere again.

"Sigh, you guys really don't understand humor," Shuichi Kanda muttered to himself, then turned to Ike and said, "Tell us, Ike, what's wrong? Maybe we can help you solve it. If you just stay silent and get upset by yourself, Sudo and Hondo will suffer along with you."

"What are you guys doing? Nothing really. Look, this is Uninhabited Island Exam... How should I put it, I'm really nervous because I might get expelled."

Shuichi Kanda moment. That's a terrible excuse. Are you just nervous and starting to ramble?

"Stop lying. The final five have already been decided. Even if you withdraw from the exam now, there won't be any punishment. At most, you'll miss out on the Private Points reward from the earlier stages. Besides, I made that bet with Nagumo, and I'm not worried. Why are you?"

"Huh? Really? The final five have already been determined?"

Not only Ike, but even Hondo and Sudo were taken aback.

"You guys... you didn't know, did you?"

Shuichi Kanda's slightly speechless tone lingered in the air.

"Sorry, we really didn't notice. We just noticed that the last five students weren't from our class."

"Let's not talk about that for now. I don't think you, Kanji, are nervous at all. Didn't you seem very enthusiastic when you heard about the Uninhabited Island Exam?"

Chi had camping experience and performed well in last year's Uninhabited Island Exam, so almost no one present believed his reasoning.

"So, uh... this is because..."

Seeing that Ike was unable to answer and was rambling incoherently, Nanase looked at the next tent and said, "Even though we just met, you seem a bit listless. Besides, Ayanokoji- senpai said that Ike-senpai and Hondo- senpai are good at creating a lively atmosphere, but Ike-senpai seemed distracted the whole time."

"Ayanokoji, what do you think?"

"Um, I also think Chi looks very listless."

Now the answers are consistent.

"Look, everyone thinks you look really down. What's bothering you?"

"Um, how should I put it—"

Chi was unsure how to say it; the words that were on the tip of his tongue just wouldn't come out.

"It's alright, the night is still long, you can take your time to talk."

Shuichi Kanda didn't intend to rush him; the reason it was called an unspeakable secret was precisely because it was difficult to talk about.

After hearing Shuichi Kanda's words, the atmosphere quieted down for a while. After walking all day, Hondo was also very tired.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, Chi spoke slowly.

"Actually... I... have always had a girl I liked..."

Sudo and Hondo looked at each other through the tent, appearing quite surprised.

The next moment, Hondo became excited, realizing that an interesting topic had emerged. Shuichi Kanda couldn't help but understand this; when Miyake and Qiao Huan got together, Shuichi Kanda had felt roughly the same way.

"What? What? Who is it? Who is it?!"

"Is that Shinohara? Shinohara Satsuki?"

Since this was the topic, Shuichi Kanda immediately knew, after all, he had an intelligence machine— Kushida Kikyo.

Because Kushida had told him before that Ike seemed to want to team up with Shinohara after the Uninhabited Island Exam, but then something unexpected happened...

"Huh? Really? Kanda, how did you know? By the way, Kanji, is this true?"

Sudo's tone became extremely shocked.

"But, Kanji, your relationship with Shinohara is terrible, isn't it? You often say she's ugly."

This is true. The relationship between Ike and Shinohara is just as Hondo said, which is why Hondo and Sudo couldn't help but be very surprised.

Yes, it's true.

He might lack courage, but since he had already been called out, Chi disregarded his shame and admitted it directly.

"I didn't like Shinohara from the beginning; in fact, I quite disliked her at first. But... I don't know why, at some point I started to care... But I don't want to admit it to myself."

"So that's how it is. You were just fooling yourself."

Shuichi Kanda had dating experience, nodded. "Ike is a typical person who cares a lot about saving face."

"Since you like Shinohara, why don't you just confess?"

"It's too late. Komiya is in Shinohara's group now, and that guy probably likes Shinohara a lot."

I see. That explains why he's been so listless.

"Take my advice, little brother Chi. If you like her, just make your move. Even if she becomes someone else's girlfriend, you can still steal Komiya away, right?"

Shuichi Kanda's words silenced the atmosphere once again.

"Um, Kanda- senpai, this doesn't seem quite right, does it?"

A faint voice came from Nanase's tent.

"What's wrong with that? If you like her, of course you should fight for it. Anyway, you're not married yet. If you back down just because she's someone else's girlfriend, then what right do you have to say you like her?"

Although Shuichi Kanda said that, he had no intention of letting the person he liked become someone else's girlfriend.

"But... wouldn't that ruin someone else's relationship?"

"Even married couples can get divorced, let alone just boyfriend and girlfriend. Besides, even if they're a couple now, it doesn't mean Komiya has already succeeded."

Shuichi Kanda's words weren't very pleasant to hear, but they were absolutely right.

"Um, Kanda, you said Komiya might not succeed. What's your basis for that?"

Sudo noticed the implication in Shuichi Kanda's words, so he decided to ask Shuichi Kanda for information.

"Well, it's not exactly based on anything, more like a guess. Last year Class Vote election, Ike's vote count was off; he had two fewer votes than Yamauchi. Sudo, you didn't write down either of their names back then, did you?"

The Class Vote was a memorable exam for almost all the second-year students, so Sudo and the others immediately remembered it.

The only one who seemed confused about this was Nanase was present at the scene.

"Yes, I didn't write their names, and I even gave each of them an Appreciation Vote." Sudo remembered this very well, so he immediately responded Shuichi Kanda brought it up.

"If that's the case, then both of them should have 37 votes, since they would definitely have voted for each other at that time. But Chi only had 35 votes."

So I figured someone must have voted for him instead of Appreciation Vote him, so I asked Kushida and Karuizawa to inquire with the girls about it...

At this point, Shuichi Kanda moment, but apart from the somewhat bewildered Nanase, everyone else present vaguely knew what Shuichi Kanda about to say.

"Ike, the person who Appreciation Vote for you was Shinohara."

The atmosphere fell silent again. After a long pause, Hondo stammered, "So, Shinohara probably likes Kanji too, then."

"Probably. Although Shinohara didn't admit it to Karuizawa and Kushida at the time, his attitude was quite intriguing."

Shuichi Kanda's words immediately excited Sudo and Hondo, who were standing nearby.

"Did you hear that? Kanji, you still have a chance!"

Chi himself, however, seemed somewhat dazed.

"Do I really still have a chance?"

"Kanda said so, he must be wrong!"

These words left Shuichi Kanda speechless. Did you really think I was omniscient? I was merely analyzing the available information; you two are exaggerating!

I think so too.

At this moment, Nanase had been silent until now, finally spoke up.

"I know that Ike-senpai is usually a cheerful and energetic person who can easily express his thoughts to anyone. So I think Shinohara- senpai must also think highly of you. But she must want to be the one who is special."

Nanase's words left Shuichi Kanda speechless. "Such a simple thing, why are you making it so complicated? Let me translate it for you."

"It means you speak too casually, and she hopes you can be more serious."

Nanase was taken aback by Shuichi Kanda's Shuichi Kanda words and didn't know how to respond, so she simply nodded in agreement.

"Um, that's roughly the idea."

"So, since things have come to this point, you should make the decision yourself."

"Senior Chi, if you keep worrying like this, even if you don't get expelled this time, what about next time, and the time after that? If you leave school like this, if you can never see the person you love most again, you'll never be able to express your feelings for them again...!"

Nanase said this, a sob came from inside her tent.

Everyone present panicked when Nanase suddenly burst into tears.

Holy crap, what's going on!?

"Don't you think you should pull yourself together first, Senior Chi?"

Nanase's tearful words seemed to shake Ike, but he seemed to pull himself together shortly afterward.

"... Yes, you're right, Nanase- chan. I need to pull myself together. I'm sorry, Ken, Ryotaro, I... I've probably caused you more trouble than I could have imagined these past few days, haven't I?"

With Ike angrily apologizing to Sudo and Hondo, the topic of the evening came to an end.

Shuichi Kanda lay in the tent, lost in thought.

Although he is a time traveler with all sorts of advanced technology and other unconventional abilities, he is not the absolute protagonist.

In this world, everyone is the protagonist of their own story, and their stories are equally fascinating.

Shuichi Kanda felt that he should occasionally stop, look at others more, and observe them more closely.

But speaking of Shinohara, Shuichi Kanda was reminded of Karuizawa; it had been so long since he'd last contacted her.

Chapter 313 Unexpected Events

After the conversation ended, Shuichi Kanda took out his tablet, checked the battery level, and then took out a power bank to recharge it and check the current rankings.

The rankings of the last five remained unchanged, and no new dropouts occurred in a single day.

As for the previous rankings, Koenji is still in first place, but Nagumo's group has a higher score increase rate than Koenji. If this trend continues, Nagumo will surpass Koenji in just a few days.

However, Shuichi Kanda was not too worried about this.

Although we don't know what Nagumo's plan is, it's clear that he must have relied on the combined efforts of the entire third year to achieve this.

Koenji is currently fighting alone, and with only ten days left until the exam, not everyone has the perseverance to stay on this island for ten days.

As time goes on, Koenji's fighting strength will hardly weaken, but it's different for Nagumo. The third-year Student Council will gradually fall behind according to their abilities, and Nagumo's efficiency in gaining points will gradually decrease.

More importantly, Shuichi Kanda's side hasn't even made a move yet. If Nagumo's abilities are limited, he could just admit defeat and not bother putting himself through the last few days.

After reviewing the data, Shuichi Kanda turned off the tablet, lay down, and slowly drifted off to sleep, listening to the chirping of insects.

The next day, Shuichi Kanda woke up very early, not for any other reason than because a strange tinnitus was constantly ringing in his ears, making him feel uncomfortable.

"It's so noisy."

Shuichi Kanda rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked out of the tent.

Then he realized that not only him, but also Ayanokoji and Nanase had come out. He checked his watch; it was not yet six o'clock.

Did you hear that too?

Shuichi Kanda came out, Ayanokoji asked him a question.

"Yeah, otherwise I could have slept until eight o'clock." Shuichi Kanda little grumpy when he woke up. "But why does that voice sound so familiar?"