[Good morning, everyone. We'll be able to see the island very soon. I'm sure you'll find the view quite meaningful.]
Listening to the announcement over the room's speakers, Chiba Yu could only find it noisy.
He lay on his bed in his pajamas, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"My good days are over..."
After a brief bout of pointless moaning, Chiba Yu sighed and struggled to get out of bed.
Once he had changed into his regular clothes, Chiba Yu followed the crowd to the deck.
A large group of students had already gathered there, gazing excitedly into the distance.
There, an island with a vibrant, dark green surface gradually came into view.
For the students seeing this sight for the first time, the view was naturally thrilling. Some even took out their phones to snap pictures with their friends while chatting.
"Chiba!"
Hearing someone call his name, Chiba Yu slowly turned around.
Hirata stood behind him with a smile, accompanied by Karuizawa Kei, Matsushita, and a group of other girls.
Chiba Yu nodded in greeting, then asked, "Are you guys here to admire the island too?"
Hirata walked over with a smile and patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah. I just didn't expect you to come too, Chiba. I thought you'd still be lying in your room."
Chiba Yu was speechless. Was that really how Hirata saw him?
While grumbling to himself, Chiba Yu didn't even realize that before coming here, he'd been lying in his room staring at the ceiling, looking for all the world like a corpse.
"Everyone in class knows what kind of person Chiba is, after all. Hehe," Mori Nene said with a laugh.
Ignoring their teasing, Chiba Yu could only think how noisy they were.
He silently turned his gaze away and followed everyone else's eyes toward the island.
Though Chiba Yu had to admit he'd never seen a sight like this before, the longer he looked, the more he noticed something strange.
Scattered around the island were some seemingly inconspicuous three-dimensional devices. They looked like sensors, or perhaps some kind of special surveillance equipment.
I'm done for. My days are numbered...
While everyone was absorbed in admiring the island, Karuizawa Kei walked over beside Chiba Yu and murmured softly,
"It's so beautiful. I wish we could go ashore and see it for ourselves..."
"I think it'd be better not to."
At Chiba Yu's reply, Karuizawa looked at him askance with disdain. "Oh, right. Someone as lazy as you probably wouldn't enjoy an activity like this."
"..."
What's wrong with being a little lazy? Does being lazy cost you a thing?
"Hehe, if Chiba would just change that part of his personality, he might be more popular. At least, that's what a lot of people on the rankings say."
Rankings?
Chiba Yu hadn't expected to hear that word.
"What are those?"
"Huh? You don't know, Chiba?"
"No way!"
The girls exclaimed in surprise.
So what were they, exactly? Why did they all know about them? They were making him look like an idiot. He hated that feeling of being the only one left out when everyone else knew what was going on!
They studied Chiba Yu's expression and realized he didn't seem to be lying.
"I can't believe Chiba didn't know. They're rankings that students at our school put together themselves and post on the school forum. Things like the Appearance Ranking and the Gloomy Ranking," Hirata explained with a smile.
"Uh... I can understand the Appearance Ranking, but that Gloomy Ranking you mentioned..."
"Looks like Chiba really doesn't know anything about them. Besides the more common rankings, there are a lot of unusual ones too, like rankings for the most hated person or the person people can't stand the most," Shinohara Satsuki explained.
"..." Chiba Yu didn't know what to say. Did all these people really have nothing better to do?
"Come to think of it, I think there are lots of other rankings too, like a ranking of the people you most want to kill."
"Hey, hey, isn't that a bit too scary? A ranking of people you want to kill?"
"Actually, Chiba's pretty famous too."
"...Is it that ranking you just mentioned, the one about people you want to kill? Or that Gloomy Ranking?"
"Ahem! It's not that bad, actually. Let me think... Oh, right! I remember Chiba's pretty high up on the Harmless Person Ranking! I think he was in second place!"
"Come to think of it, the person in first place is also from our class. Right, right, it's Ayanokoji!"
Well, thanks a lot. But even if I came in second, there's nothing to be proud of on a ranking like that, is there?
For a moment, Chiba Yu thought back to what they'd just said about the person in first place... That was Ayanokoji, wasn't it?
In an instant, a strange feeling welled up inside him.
Damn it, could we please stop being so in sync about things like this?
"But Chiba, you're pretty famous on the Appearance Ranking too. And I'm sure if you changed your personality just a little, you might become even more popular."
Hirata seemed to notice that Chiba was feeling a little aggrieved, so he smiled and tried to cheer him up.
For some reason, even though Chiba could tell Hirata was sticking up for him, he still couldn't feel happy about it.
Chiba Yu shook his head and shrugged. "I'll pass. If I have to exhaust myself every day, I'd rather just die."
"You..." Hirata gave a wry smile.
"Hirata, you act like Chiba's mom."
"Yeah. Now that you mention it, I feel like Karuizawa must have a pretty hard time too."
The girls who'd been watching the scene also chimed in to tease them. Somehow, though, the conversation had taken a strange turn.
"What are you all talking about?!"
After the girls teased her, Karuizawa's face flushed red. She waved her hands wildly toward Mori Nene and the others without thinking.
If this kept up, the misunderstanding was only going to grow, and it'd be even harder to explain...
[Good morning, students. We will be landing on the uninhabited island owned by our school. Please change into your gym clothes within the designated time and gather on the specified deck.
Please note that, at the school's request, personal belongings such as Personal Terminals and student IDs may not be taken onto the island. Please take care of this before gathering. That is all!]
The sudden announcement interrupted our conversation. As I looked at the island, now so close, my suspicions gradually became reality.
A storm was brewing...