Watching Over

The night was deep. Only a few dim red embers remained in the bonfire, and the clearing was enveloped in thick darkness and the incessant chorus of insects. Most of the Class D students had fallen fast asleep in their crude tents, exhaustion overcoming their unease at arriving on the uninhabited island.

Kazama In slipped silently out of his one-person tent, moving as lightly as a shadow blending into the night. As soon as he came to a stop, he spotted Koenji Rokusuke leaning against the trunk of a huge banyan tree. His posture was languid, but his eyes were bright. Even in the faint moonlight, his distinctive, resplendent blond hair seemed to glow.

"You came," Koenji mouthed silently, the corner of his mouth curling into a mischievous smile.

The instant their eyes met, Kazama's senses spread like invisible tendrils, keenly picking up faint disturbances in two other places—one came from a gap in the small tent where Ibuki Mio was staying, the other from the direction of Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's tent.

So they're both awake. Kazama understood. As Ryuen's spy, Ibuki was bound to be wary. And Ayanokoji... that classmate who had always struck him as "no ordinary student" seemed to have senses far beyond the norm as well.

Kazama and Koenji exchanged an exceedingly brief but meaningful glance. The plan needed a slight adjustment.

Kazama deliberately lowered his voice to a near whisper, but kept it just loud enough for the two awake students in their tents to barely make out. "Rokusuke, the plan's unchanged. I need you to confirm that the key locations marked on the watch are accurate. As the 'leader,' I need to keep track of everything." He deliberately emphasized the word "leader."

Koenji immediately understood. He lowered his voice too, though his tone still carried his trademark flamboyance. "Oh ho ho, of course, Arbiter. It would be my pleasure to assist the 'leader.' I'll go recheck the marked point by the stream to the east." With that, he deliberately headed in the opposite direction from their real destination, walking quickly and silently with a casual air. His figure soon disappeared among the dark trees.

Kazama stayed where he was, apparently fiddling with the custom watch on his wrist. Its faint glow lit his stern profile for a moment before going dark. He looked up and let his gaze sweep past Ibuki's tent, lingering there for a moment, then turned and slipped away in the opposite direction from Koenji—in other words, toward their real destination.

Ibuki Mio curled up in her tent, holding her breath as she stared intently through a gap at what was happening outside. She had clearly heard Kazama say "as the 'leader,'" and Koenji's reply! Her heart began pounding.

Just as I thought! Kazama In is the leader! Koenji is only his second-in-command! She was elated. Ryuen told me to find out who's leading Class D. This information is incredibly important! Kazama and Koenji split up in the middle of the night, so they must be checking out some important location... I have to report this! She quickly took out the miniature communicator she had hidden away—the rules forbade it, but Ryuen always found a way—and began composing an encrypted message.

In another tent, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka lay quietly in his sleeping bag, his eyes open in the darkness. He had heard those deliberately lowered, but not entirely secret, words too.

"As the leader"... Kazama is emphasizing his position. Koenji's reply is very accommodating... but something about it feels... too deliberate? Ayanokoji's mind raced through the clues. That brief glance between Kazama and Koenji during registration today... Koenji headed in a different direction from the place he claimed he was going... A clear conclusion took shape: Kazama was lying. He probably wasn't the real leader. Koenji was.

But new questions followed. Why did they split up in the middle of the night? Where is Kazama going alone? Where did Koenji go? What are they really after? He couldn't understand this behavior, which went beyond the scope of "ordinary students competing to survive." Kazama and Koenji seemed shrouded in a haze that he couldn't yet see through.

Kazama hadn't gone far. After leaving the campsite, he stopped in a clearing where the moonlight barely filtered through. He raised his arm toward the dense canopy of a tall oak beside him and gave a brief whistle, so short it was almost lost in the insect calls.

A small, deep-blue figure slipped silently down from the canopy like a sprite blending into the night, landing precisely on Kazama's raised arm. It was "Shadow." Its tiny head affectionately nuzzled his fingers, giving a faint chirp.

Kazama gently stroked its smooth feathers with one finger, his gaze intent. He leaned close to the nightingale's ear and whispered a few brief instructions in a nearly inaudible breath, pointing toward a particular direction—the route he and Koenji had agreed to take to meet up and head toward the wealthy students' camp.

"Shadow" cocked its head, seemingly understanding what he meant. Its small eyes shone with intelligence in the moonlight. It nuzzled Kazama's finger in response, then beat its wings and rose silently into the air. Like a deep-blue leaf, it quickly blended into the night sky and flew in the direction Kazama had indicated. It would serve as Kazama's silent lookout from above.

Kazama continued moving quickly through the forest in the same direction as "Shadow." Before long, at a stream junction hidden by enormous ferns, he spotted Koenji Rokusuke waiting there.

"Oh, brother, has your 'little sentry' already gone ahead?" Koenji asked as he appeared, leaning elegantly against a moss-covered boulder.

"Yeah." Kazama nodded and scanned their surroundings to make sure they were safe. "Do you know which first-years come from particularly influential families? Apart from us, I mean."

Koenji stroked his chin, his golden eyes glinting thoughtfully in the moonlight. "Oh ho ho, of course. This little school is a miniature salon of high society. Let me think... Sakayanagi Arisu of Class A, the jewel of the Sakayanagi conglomerate—she goes without saying. Katsuragi Kohei's family has considerable political connections. They aren't a top-tier conglomerate, but their influence shouldn't be underestimated. Ichinose Honami of Class B... her family background is relatively modest and down-to-earth. Ordinary, really. Ryuen Kakeru of Class C... hmph, not worth mentioning. As for Class D... apart from us, there doesn't seem to be anyone particularly worth watching. Though there may be a few discreet ones..."

Kazama quickly sifted through the information. "Katsuragi... those are the primary targets. We don't know who the assassin is after, but if they want to cause panic or eliminate someone important, these people are the most likely targets. The assassin might not consider a lunatic like Ryuen worth the trouble. So that leaves the two of us."

"Excellent analysis, Arbiter!" Koenji snapped his fingers elegantly. "So where shall we 'lie in wait' and enjoy this 'dark drama' that may soon unfold?"

Kazama looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce the layers of canopy toward some point on the island. "Class A's camp. Katsuragi is there. And..." He paused, a faintly complex emotion flashing in his dark eyes. "That place is the most likely target."

"Oh? The most likely?" Koenji keenly caught the barely perceptible shift in Kazama's tone and pressed him, intrigued.

Kazama didn't answer. He simply turned and slipped toward Class A's camp, disappearing into the darkness once more.

"Heh, now that really would be 'beautiful,'" Koenji chuckled. His golden hair stirred in the night breeze as he followed, his pace still elegant and composed, but alert as a leopard.

The two moved silently through the moon-dappled primeval forest, like phantoms born of the woods themselves. Their destination: Class A's central camp. Their purpose: to become watchers in the shadows before darkness descended. And the nightingale "Shadow," a silent scout, searched for any sign of trouble beneath the wider, higher canopy of night. In the dead of night on the uninhabited island, undercurrents stirred. An unseen struggle to protect—and hunt—the most powerful heirs had quietly begun. Ayanokoji's confusion and Ibuki's mistaken intelligence were the first pawns in this grand game, both kept in the dark.