Ambush

Eleven o'clock at night. Class D's new camp.

Ken Sudō and two other boys were on watch. They each guarded a different direction and patrolled every half hour.

Most of the people in the middle of the camp were already asleep. After twenty-four hours of intense guard duty, everyone was exhausted.

Ayanokoji lay in his tent, wide awake. He was listening.

[Insight (Beginner)] was even sharper at night. He could hear the breathing around camp—Hirata's was steady; he was asleep. Karuizawa's was very faint; she might still be awake. Horikita's breathing... she was pretending to sleep.

And then there were the sounds outside the camp.

The wind, the waves, the insects... and a sound that shouldn't have been there.

Soft footsteps, treading on sand.

Someone was approaching.

Ayanokoji rose without a sound and lifted one corner of the tent flap.

In the moonlight, a shadow slipped into camp from the west. The person moved quietly, avoiding Sudō's patrol route. Clearly, he'd been watching for a long time.

Was his target the supply pile?

No. He didn't stop at the supplies, but kept moving toward the center of the camp.

Was his target... a person?

Ayanokoji followed at a distance, making no sound.

The shadow finally stopped in front of a tent—it belonged to Hiyori Shiina. She was an injured student from Class B who had temporarily stayed at Class D's camp because her foot hadn't healed yet.

The shadow crouched, seemingly checking something. Then he pulled an object from inside his clothes.

A knife?

Ayanokoji didn't hesitate. He rushed forward.

Hearing him, the shadow spun around at once. The moonlight fell on his face—it was a student from Class C. Ayanokoji remembered his name was Shiho Manabe, and that he usually followed Daichi Ishizaki around.

When Manabe saw Ayanokoji, a flicker of panic crossed his eyes, but he quickly composed himself. He slipped the object in his hand back into his clothes. It wasn't a knife, but a small box.

"What are you doing?" Ayanokoji asked.

"I-I'm not doing anything." Manabe took a step back. "I came to the wrong camp."

"The wrong camp?" Ayanokoji sneered. "You'd have to cross half the island to 'mistakenly' wander here from Class C's camp."

Manabe fell silent, his eyes darting about.

By then, the others in camp had woken up, too. Sudō was the first to rush over, followed by Hirata, Horikita, and Karuizawa.

"What happened?" Hirata asked.

"A Class C student broke into our camp in the middle of the night," Ayanokoji said. "His target seems to have been Shiina's tent."

"What?!" Hirata's expression changed.

Hiyori Shiina emerged from her tent, too, leaning on a makeshift crutch. Her face was pale. "I... I heard something."

Surrounded by everyone, Manabe had nowhere to run.

"Search him," Ayanokoji said.

Sudō stepped forward, held Manabe down, and searched him. He found the small box inside his clothes. When he opened it, he found some white powder and a note.

"What's this?" Hirata picked up the note.

It read: "Mix into food to cause diarrhea and weakness. Dosage: one packet per ten servings."

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

Was this... poison?

"You were going to poison Shiina?" Karuizawa's voice trembled.

"N-No..." Manabe panicked. "I was just... following orders..."

"Whose orders?" Ayanokoji stared at him.

Manabe gritted his teeth and said nothing.

But everyone knew the answer. There was only one person who could order a Class C student to do something like this.

Ryuen Kakeru.

"Has Class C gone insane?" Hirata fumed. "Someone could die!"

"N-No one would die," Manabe mumbled in his defense. "It would only give her diarrhea and make her weak for a few days... Ryuen said that way, Class B would take Shiina away, and Class D would lose a helper..."

So that was it. They weren't trying to kill her; they were trying to create conflict.

If Shiina suffered "food poisoning" at Class D's camp, what would Class B think? Would they still trust Class D? Could the alliance fall apart?

What a vicious plan.

"Tie him up," Ayanokoji ordered. "Tomorrow morning, we'll take him to see Ryuen."

"See Ryuen? Will he admit to it?"

"It doesn't matter if he denies it," Ayanokoji said. "What matters is that everyone knows what Class C did."

Manabe was tied up and held in a corner of the camp, with Sudō personally standing guard.

The commotion had died down for the moment, but the mood in camp had completely changed.

Anger, fear, unease... all kinds of emotions spread through the camp.

"Everyone, try to get some rest," Hirata said, doing his best to reassure them. "We'll strengthen the watch tonight. Nothing else will happen."

People returned to their tents, but few could still fall asleep.