The rain showed no sign of letting up. If anything, it grew heavier, fat drops clattering against the leaves as the mud in the dense forest became even slicker and harder to cross. Suzune Horikita was already covered in injuries, and her fever still hadn't broken. She had barely gone a few steps before her legs began to give way and she started coughing incessantly, her face so pale it was almost translucent. Seeing this, Kiyotaka Ayanokoji's brow furrowed ever so slightly, and his grip on her arm tightened.
"This can't go on. The rain is too heavy for us to reach the school's camp, and your body won't hold up." Kiyotaka's tone was as calm as ever, but his certainty left no room for argument. He quickly scanned their surroundings and soon spotted a natural rock shelter nearby, large enough to shield them from the downpour.
"Rest here for a while. I'll start a fire and dry our clothes. It should help warm you up, too." As he spoke, Kiyotaka turned toward the dead branches piled in the corner. He gathered and arranged them with practiced ease, then took a lighter from his pocket—an emergency item he had brought along in case he needed it.
The flames gradually caught, their dancing light dispelling the cabin's chill and dampness and illuminating Suzune's pale face. She pulled Kiyotaka's jacket tighter around herself. His faint scent still lingered on it, easing the tension in her heart a little. In the warmth of the firelight, the exhaustion and pain she had endured over the past few days began to surface.
Kiyotaka sat on the bench opposite her, his eyes on the flickering flames, his expression perfectly calm. He seemed like an entirely different person from the one who had searched the forest and was now taking care of her. Suzune studied his profile in silence for a long while before finally speaking. Her voice was still a little hoarse. "I caught up with Mio Ibuki and fought her, but I couldn't stop her. She still took the Leader Card."
She paused, regret surfacing in her eyes as her voice grew quieter. "I was useless. I knew she was after the Leader Card, and I'd already realized something was off, yet I still let her get the better of me. Then my fever held me back, and I couldn't even win a fight. If I'd been stronger, I could have protected the card, and Class D wouldn't be in this situation."
Kiyotaka slowly turned to look at her. "I know."
Those three simple words held no extra comfort, yet Suzune's eyes immediately reddened. She lowered her head and stared at her hands, caked with mud and dirt. Her voice caught with a sob she could no longer suppress. "I know I'm in terrible shape. If I stay in the exam, I'll only hold the class back. Mio Ibuki took the card to Ryuen, and he'll definitely target us during the leader-guessing round. We'll lose even more points. Forget getting into Class A—we might not even be able to keep Class D where it is."
"So I have a solution." Kiyotaka's tone was still calm, but there was a reassuring strength in it. "You should withdraw from the exam."
Suzune jerked her head up, disbelief filling her eyes. "Withdraw? But leaving the exam costs us 30 Class Points! We barely have any points left to spare!"
"Losing 30 points is better than Ryuen guessing the leader correctly and costing us 50. It's also better than you pushing yourself until you collapse and plunging the class into an even bigger crisis." Kiyotaka explained his reasoning in a measured, orderly tone. "As for the Leader Card and Ryuen, leave them to me. The school's rules say the leader can't be changed without a valid reason, but your condition clearly qualifies you to withdraw. That would also allow me to take over as Class D's leader without raising any questions."
"You'll take over as leader?" Suzune stared at him, stunned. She had never imagined Kiyotaka would volunteer to take charge of this. He had always seemed indifferent to the world and unconcerned with class affairs, yet now he was proposing to become Class D's leader.
"Yeah." Kiyotaka gave a slight nod. "Ryuen is overconfident, and Mio Ibuki has been misled by him. They both think they have the real Leader Card, and they're convinced you're Class D's leader. If I take over, they probably won't suspect me, and we can avoid losing points because they guessed correctly. Besides, I've already figured out who the leaders of Class A and Class C are."
He paused, then added, "Class A's leader isn't Kohei Katsuragi. It's Yahiko. Katsuragi has been deliberately putting on an act and drawing everyone's attention. The real leader is actually Yahiko, who's always by his side and seems to have no mind of his own. As for Class C's leader, it's undoubtedly Ryuen Kakeru. You can tell from the way he planted Mio Ibuki in Class D and made a deal with Class A. Only a leader would have that kind of authority and nerve."
Suzune stared at him, shock written all over her face. She had known Kiyotaka was smart, but she hadn't realized he had been quietly observing so many details, even accurately identifying the leaders of two other classes. His plan was so meticulous that she had no grounds to argue against it.
But when she thought of the 30 points they would lose by withdrawing, of how her mistakes had already cost the class so much, and of their goal of reaching Class A, her eyes dimmed again. Self-blame filled her voice. "But...I can't hold the class back any more. My mistakes have already cost us a lot of points. If we lose another 30, the gap between us and Classes A and B will only grow. Getting into Class A will be even harder."
"Why are you so determined to get into Class A?" Kiyotaka suddenly asked, fixing his gaze on her. There was a hint of curiosity in his voice. He was a manufactured genius from the White House, raised to become a "tool" without feelings, capable only of calculation and planning. He couldn't understand this almost obsessive determination, or what reaching Class A meant to Suzune.
Suzune stiffened slightly. She fell silent for a long time before finally lowering her head. Her voice carried a faint, almost imperceptible vulnerability. "For my brother, Horikita Manabu. I want his approval. I want him to know I'm not a sister who only holds him back and disappoints him. I've been doing everything I can to get into Class A and become stronger so he'll look at me properly and recognize my efforts."
As Kiyotaka watched her vulnerable expression, the faintest flicker of emotion crossed his eyes, too quick to catch. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke in his usual calm tone, though with a seriousness he himself didn't seem to notice. "What would it change if he approved of you? What is it you really want to do? Do you want to live for him, or for yourself?"
His words cut through the mask Suzune had worn for so long. She abruptly looked up, eyes red and tears finally spilling down her cheeks, mingling with the rainwater and mud on her face and making her look utterly wretched. "I don't know...I only know that all of this is my responsibility. If I'd had a companion, someone to take turns guarding the key card with me, someone who could help when I was weak, this wouldn't have happened."
"But I don't have friends like that. I don't have a companion like that." Her voice broke with regret and self-reproach. "I always thought that if I was strong enough, if I shouldered everything on my own, I could do it all and earn my brother's approval. But in the end, I still messed everything up and held the whole class back. I brought this on myself."
As she spoke, she buried her face in her knees. Her shoulders trembled, and her muffled sobs echoed through the small cabin, mingling with the rain outside and making her seem all the more pitiful.
Kiyotaka sat across from her, watching in silence. He didn't understand sadness, regret, or what it felt like to be wrapped in loneliness and remorse, but he could tell that Suzune's pain was real. He thought back to his days in the White House: no family affection, no friendship, no joy or sorrow, only endless training and calculations. In that moment, he suddenly felt that this seemingly strong yet inwardly fragile girl was somewhat like the person he had once been.
He was trying to understand these unfamiliar emotions, trying to find the "humanity" that belonged to him. And perhaps Suzune was the key to helping him understand it all.
After a long silence, Kiyotaka spoke. His voice was quiet, yet it clearly cut through the rain and her sobs, carrying a conviction he had never shown before. "No. You've forgotten—we're companions."
Suzune's sobs abruptly stopped. She looked up at Kiyotaka through tear-blurred eyes, disbelief filling her gaze.
"I've already accepted you." Kiyotaka's gaze was calm and sincere, without a trace of insincerity. "I recognize your hard work, your persistence, and your determination to protect Class D and reach Class A. As for earning your brother's approval, we'll pursue it together."
He paused and carefully laid out his entire plan. "You'll withdraw from the exam, citing your poor health, and the school will approve it. We'll lose 30 Class Points, which is a loss we can afford. After that, I'll take over as Class D's leader. Ryuen and Mio Ibuki don't know the truth, so they'll still believe you're the leader. They'll submit your name during the guessing round, and they'll lose 50 points for guessing wrong."
"During the guessing round, I'll submit Yahiko's and Ryuen's names. If we guess both correctly, we'll gain 100 Class Points. Added to the points we've already earned, that won't just make up for the points lost when you withdraw—it'll also put us ahead by a bit." Kiyotaka laid out each step with precision, his calculations exact. "I wasn't planning to get involved in Class D's internal competition. I don't care much about class rankings or getting into Class A."
"But now, I'm willing to help you." He looked at Suzune, the faintest trace of warmth in his eyes. "It'll benefit me, too. With more Class Points, we can buy a few emergency supplies. I don't have many material desires, but having an extra safeguard never hurts."
Suzune stared at him, tears still welling in her eyes, but they were no longer tears of regret and self-blame. They came from an unexpected warmth and gratitude. No one had ever so firmly told her, "We're companions." No one had ever helped her so wholeheartedly, and no one had ever recognized her efforts.
The rain still fell outside, but the firelight inside the cabin was warm enough to put her at ease. Two people the school regarded as "defective products" made a promise to each other as companions in that refuge from the rain, and in that moment, the course of the Uninhabited Island survival exam quietly began to change.
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