Chapter 153

Hachiman sent messages to Horikita and Kushida, agreeing to meet at the theater.

Not many people come to watch the play, so this is a good place to have a conversation.

Hachiman was already waiting at his seat.

But.

When the appointed time arrived, he found that only Kushida had arrived.

"Horikita, she..."

Kushida said, "Things seem to be getting worse. I slept all day yesterday, but I still don't feel well today."

Is that so?

Horikita is really unlucky.

However, there is no specific medicine for the common cold; you can only rely on your body to tough it out.

The course of the illness can last from a few days to a week.

So if we don't abstain, then we have to consider taking care of her.

Hachiman analyzed the situation in his mind.

"Sorry I'm late."

At that moment, a sound came from inside.

Hachiman looked over and saw a girl with beautiful long black hair holding onto the edge of a chair with her left hand, walking towards them.

She was wearing the same red tracksuit as everyone else.

But.

It has to be said that beautiful people look good in anything.

Horikita still looked somewhat weak and frail, giving off a slightly sickly beauty vibe.

However, she has a very strong personality.

I managed to get through it.

"It seems your health is still not up to par," Hachiman said.

"No," Horikita said. "I can still manage."

"But your cheeks are still rosy," Hachiman said. "That's a sign that my body isn't doing so well."

"Since Sakayanagi from Class A is absent, it won't be a big problem if one of our students is also absent."

"So."

"We'll see how things go, and then we'll choose to abstain," Hachiman said.

"..." Suzune Horikita at these words.

She had already talked to Hachiman brother about her feelings, and she had also declared to him that she would no longer chase after his shadow and that she would be herself.

Result.

Is this time I'm destined to be a liability?

"It's not that you have to abstain."

"After all, the exam hasn't even started yet," Kushida quickly added.

Although she dislikes Horikita, she still exudes an angelic aura when facing Horikita, always putting Horikita's interests first.

"I hope so," Suzune said.

Actually, she lacked confidence.

Because this illness has lasted quite a while, it's like a long-term accumulation that suddenly erupted, so it may not be able to be cured so quickly.

And that's what I was thinking.

[Attention all students—]

However, just then, the ship's loudspeaker announced, "[If you have time, please gather on deck. We'll soon be able to see the island; please be sure to enjoy that fleeting but very meaningful view.]"

It sounded like some random broadcast.

But the three of them exchanged a glance.

Kushida had learned from her seniors that previous students would take a ship and then live together on a small island for their exams.

And now.

The exam... has begun.

Horikita's desire to have more time to heal her body before putting it to use... also failed.

The students came up onto the deck.

The ship is large enough to comfortably accommodate 160 students.

However, not all students showed up after the broadcast began.

There were only about fifty or sixty people.

Everyone stood on the deck, holding onto the railing and looking ahead.

It can be found

But.

"Isn't this Hachiman?"

Hachiman was greeted by someone.

She is Honami Ichinose, the Archangel of Class B, with dazzlingly long, flowing blonde hair and a confident yet sweet smile on her face.

If Kushida is a little angel, then this representative of Class B is Archangel.

It's quite large, after all.

This was the first time Hachiman had met and spoken with Ichinose after spending more than two days on the ship.

However, I have seen her a few times.

It is common to see students in Class B playing and having Matoba on various facilities, which means they have no sense of tension at all.

Of the four classes Hachiman mentioned, only one class was unaware that this school trip was actually an exam and therefore hadn't prepared for it.

However, it must be admitted that the atmosphere among the students in Class B was very good.

She genuinely treated this school as a regular school.

This kind of mentality will eventually lead to trouble.

For example, right now.

"Ichinose, do you think the school wants us to gather on the deck because they have something to tell us?"

"This..."

"It is indeed possible, but the notice mentioned that we can see some meaningful scenery."

"So," Ichinose said, "I suddenly feel like this might be Special Exam."

Oh.

Now I realize...

But doesn't that mean you're actually not on guard?

So, it's probably your class that's had the most fun these past two days, completely focused on the game.

Upon hearing Ichinose's words, Kanzaki became alert and began looking ahead.

The ship now begins its journey as if announcing it via broadcast.

Then it seemed to be moving in a circular motion, circling a small island.

And if the notice is taken as a signal that Special Exam has begun, one can see a meaningful view.

What you can see is a small island.

In other words, there are things on the island that can be seen first and then seized.

Some people have probably already realized it.

For example, Hachiman noticed that Ryuen from Class D had appeared with his henchman, the tall Albert.

Then, Daichi Ishizaki been involved in the previous Sudō assault incident, immediately followed Ryuen.

The group went up to the deck, put their hands on the railing, and looked ahead.

The students in Class A are the same.

Upon arriving at the scene, one could see Katsuragi standing on the deck, taking out paper and pen, looking at the island. Then, Yahiko Totsuka was following him, hurriedly ran away and returned shortly after, bringing back a pair of binoculars. He then handed the binoculars to Katsuragi, Katsuragi began to work while using them.

It seems they are preparing to draw something.

Then there's Class C, where Hachiman is.

He, Kushida, and Horikita were all on the deck.

However, not many students from the class came to see the scenery.

However, there are some.

"Wow... you really can see the island..." said Kanji Ike, a student in Hachiman's class who had just broken up with his girlfriend.

He also came to the deck.

While having dinner with them, Hachiman learned that Ike seemed to have often gone camping with his family in the past.

Therefore, they have camping experience.

So naturally, they would be interested in things like small islands.

Only.

Chi found a good observation spot, but was immediately pulled away by two boys from Class A.

Sudō was with him.

"Hey... get out of the way, you defective products."

The two boys from Class A ignored Sudō and pushed Ike away, causing Ike to fall to the ground.

"Hey, what are you doing!"

They often played together at school, and now they were on the same ship. Sudō immediately rushed over and expressed his anger.

He considered Chi a companion, so he was definitely unhappy to see his companion being treated like this.

"Ha, what are you doing? You all know this school, right? It's all about meritocracy, so the people in Class C have no rights. You guys were promoted from Class D, right? But defective products should behave like defective products. Behave yourselves. We're from Class A."

Um...

That guy is absolutely right.

That's indeed the reality of this school.

But.

These two students were new faces to Hachiman.

As an observer of humanity, he had scanned the faces of the Katsuragi Faction students at the restaurant yesterday when Sudō and his friends were confronted by the Katsuragi Faction students.

However, the faces of these two students from Class A were unfamiliar.

However, they claimed to be students of Class A.

In other words, are these two actually... subordinates of Sakayanagi Arisu's Sakayanagi Faction?

And this kind of performance... is also quite awful.

So, like Classmate Sakayanagi, does Katsuragi also have a hard time because she has an incompetent subordinate?

No.

Hachiman thought that Sakayanagi's ability to manage subordinates might not be so bad. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to take Kamuro as his dog.