Kushida: I'm About to Burst! Part 1

If you just ask the other person directly, what's going on? Do you really think they'll answer you?

Kushida remains cute, and she's already used to Hachiman's clueless behavior.

They were even unmoved.

Rather, if he hadn't been so straight-laced and obsessed with getting Class Advancement, then the way he discovered her true colors would have led to a truly awful situation, like something out of an adult anime.

Kushida felt he had narrowly escaped a disaster.

Chapter 131 Kushida: I'm about to suffocate! Let's go!

Although Hachiman is a bit of a straight man, Ichinose is very easy to talk to.

"Uh, let me think about it."

Ichinose gently bit her index finger, thought for a moment, and replied, "Items like hammocks, small tents, fishing rods, cooking utensils, and outdoor showers, plus the food consumed, cost a total of eighty points."

Completely different from the extravagant Class C.

Since they're both spending money, Class B will try to choose the cheaper option.

For example, the showers; Hachiman's class chose a shower room that was 20 minutes long and looked like a large refrigerator.

However, Class B opted for a ten-person outdoor shower, along with a free small tent provided by the school as part of a makeshift toilet.

Since outdoor showers, as the name suggests, offer no shelter, a small tent is needed as a substitute for the shower room.

As for housing, Hachiman's class opted for eight-person tents without hesitation, and even bought two.

For comfort, they even spent 20 cents to buy a soft cushion.

But Class B chose to split the hammocks into two.

It can be used as long as it is tied to two adjacent trees.

Meanwhile, over at the other tent, Hachiman also noticed that their tent wasn't hard either, but instead of buying a mat, they were using the free makeshift toilet bags provided by the school.

It's probably because a large number of people went to collect them.

Since the portable toilets were free, the accompanying bags were also free, so they took a lot and used them as mats, saving money.

She's really good at managing a household.

Hachiman felt that Ichinose might be someone he could learn from.

Since Hachiman's goal is to be a stay-at-home husband, he also needs to learn how to manage a household. Therefore, he can find time to learn from the other person.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Then, Ichinose said somewhat discouragedly, "Although drinking water can be solved—there's a well in the vegetable garden, apparently used for irrigating the vegetables—one of my classmates volunteered to drink from it, and half a day later he was fine. We can boil it and drink it, so drinking water is solved. But food is still a challenge with just half an acre of vegetables here. And the diet is monotonous, plus we have to stay here for a week. Everyone's health might suffer. So we can only use points to exchange for some food as a supplement."

Being in a vegetable garden, there are both water and fresh vegetables available.

It's a good base.

However, simply relying on eating vegetables is not enough.

Therefore, exchanging for food is also necessary.

Even if you only eat two meals a day, you'll still need to spend at least 10 cents on food every day.

Adding the 80 points already spent, Class B's expenses will be over 150 points by the end of the week.

As she spoke, Ichinose glanced at Hachiman Hikigaya and the others with a hint of resentment.

Because if Class C hadn't occupied all the visible outposts on the island, and we weren't allowed to use other classes' outposts without permission, or collect supplies from other classes' outposts...

Otherwise, Class B could have saved all the points.

An alliance is an alliance, but giving everything away would be too cheap. Besides, an alliance doesn't mean Hachiman has to give Class B a bunch of points for free. So, Hachiman pretended not to see anything and turned his head away, changing the subject, "Can I try out that hammock?"

He had little camping experience, and zero experience with hammocks.

Seeing the students in Class B redeem a bunch of hammocks, I suddenly realized that my class clearly had a lot of supplies, but we didn't redeem these enjoyable things, which is a bit of a pity.

"Huh?"

Ichinose moment, then, seeing the direction Hachiman was pointing, chuckled and nodded, "Sure."

"Thanks."

Hachiman nodded, then walked straight over and sat down.

"Hmm, they really aren't being polite at all."

Ichinose puffed out her cheeks, looking somewhat surprised, but she wasn't angry.

Instead, he sat openly in the hammock, next to Hachiman.

Because of limited space, they were very close together.

Ichinose has a faint fragrance.

Perfume is not among the personal items that students are allowed to bring to school, so it is very likely that this is Ichinose's own scent.

This made his heart flutter a little. Of course, Hachiman knew very well that Ichinose's casual sitting down meant that she had no other thoughts about him.

That's really reassuring.

The fact that the two appeared intimate yet were completely innocent left everyone else stunned.

Although Kushida maintained her cute smile, she always felt that Ichinose and Hachiman had a very good relationship. Perhaps, without her knowledge, their private tutor was also very close. Perhaps, something had happened.

She was unaware of this.

"This is really..."

Horikita, on the other hand, stood with her mouth slightly agape, somewhat surprised and unsure of what to say.

Of course, given Horikita's current emotional intelligence, it's probably not that Hachiman and Ichinose have a close relationship, but rather that they were just politely asking if she could sit in the hammock and she actually went up.

It's like someone inviting you to dinner when they have time, but do you really think they're actually inviting you to dinner?

"Speaking of Ichinose."

After trying out the hammock, Hachiman turned his head, looked at the pretty face so close to his, and said earnestly, "Let's work together."

Should we cooperate?

The two classes had already signed an alliance agreement.

Therefore, the collaboration is not surprising.

Rather, after Ichinose and her class occupied the vegetable garden's base, they also considered whether to go to Class C, who occupied most of the bases.

They hoped to use the vegetables they obtained to exchange for other edible foods with Hachiman and the others.

The vegetable garden was initially occupied by Class C, and then they had to exchange it for the original supplies of that class. They felt that this was too shameless, so Ichinose and Kanzaki had not yet made up their minds.

And now.

Did Hachiman bring up this topic?

If it's a collaboration, the vegetables in their vegetable garden won't be enough for them.

In other words...

Ichinose actually came up with a solution.

That is to pay Class C a portion of their points as a reward, so that their class can save as many initial points as possible.

In this exam, they won't get many points in the stronghold, so they can only try their best to save their initial points.

So, is Hachiman here to help them and do business with them?

How can we cooperate?

Ichinose moment, then spoke with a slightly relieved and interested tone.

Because Hachiman is here to collaborate.

So you can save about 20-40 points in the initial points section.

Then she heard Hachiman say...

"It's no exaggeration to say that the strongholds on this island are now basically in the hands of our Class C."

"Because we used a camera to record what the island looked like when the school broadcasted an announcement before we went to the island to check out the deck."

"So we can find the stronghold quickly and accurately," Hachiman said.

"Oh, I see—"

Listening to Hachiman's words, Ichinose was somewhat dazed, because they had only just realized that they might have an exam, but because they were unprepared, they were still clueless even when they were called to the deck to see the "meaningful view," and had lost the initiative.

Meanwhile, Kanzaki understood why Hachiman Hikigaya had occupied so many bases.

It seems they were well-prepared, and their preparations were quite thorough.

From this perspective, their class is indeed inferior to them.

Kanzaki instantly felt the pressure.

Hachiman then added, "My class has already used up all its initial points."

"Therefore, the main focus of this exam can only be on securing stronghold points."

"However, I'd also like to have a game where we guess the team leader," Hachiman said.

Oh.

Ichinose seemed to lose some of their enthusiasm after realizing that Hachiman wasn't talking about selling them plenty of supplies, but rather about guessing who the leader was.

"Although we were supposed to guess the team leader's information, we didn't assign anyone to guard the other classes' team leaders' bases."

"And," Ichinose said, "As for Class D, when we went to the beach for roll call yesterday, we found out they had abstained."

"Some people had already returned to the ship, and some students were still waiting on the beach, but they eventually withdrew as well."

"I felt a little embarrassed, but when I found out they had forfeited, I wanted to check if there were any supplies left, but they took everything with them," Ichinose said somewhat apologetically.

"We already knew that." Hachiman stroked his chin. "Komiyama and Daichi Ishizaki from Ryuen's class came over and mocked Ibuki, whom our class took in. Then I had Sudō follow them, and they actually forfeited."

"It seems like the Ryuen's class has given up on this exam," Ichinose said. "I can somewhat understand how they feel."

Yes.

I can understand it to some extent.

The score for this Uninhabited Island Exam is divided into three parts: guessing the leader, base points, and initial points.

Upon landing on the island, it was discovered that most of the outposts had been occupied.

So there was no place to set up camp. We could only carry our luggage around. It was extremely dangerous.

Ichinose and the others waited until the 8-hour workday ended, then occupied a vegetable garden belonging to the Hachiman class, and only then did they have a place to stay.

The Ryuen class seemed to have been stuck on the beach, unable to find a foothold.

In other words, they assume all the strongholds have been occupied, so they won't get any stronghold points.

Then, as long as you stay on the island, there will be losses, and you will definitely need to consume resources. So it's hard to say how many initial points you will have left.

So rather than risking a miserable life on a small island and not getting any points, it's better to give up and go back to the ship to enjoy life.

Ryuen and his team's actions are understandable.

So that's what you all thought.

Hachiman remained obedient.

Just as he was about to continue speaking, he suddenly stopped because he noticed a new face approaching.

"Ichinose."

A blond boy wearing glasses suddenly walked over. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Ah, this."

Ichinose said softly, "Then, could you please go over there and assist Chihiro and the others?"

"I understand, thank you."

The boy thanked her and bowed to Ichinose before leaving.

"These must be students from the Ryuen class," Suzune Horikita said.