The 'Truth' You See in Your Eyes

Watching the two leave, Chiba Yu only fully let his guard down the moment their backs disappeared from sight.

"Mmph—mmph!!!"

"How... how much longer are you going to keep covering my mouth!"

Only when he noticed Karuizawa's increasingly forceful struggle did Chiba Yu suddenly realize he had been pinning her against his chest the entire time, his hand still clamped firmly over her mouth.

The moment I released her, Karuizawa immediately jumped out of my arms and began to gasp for air.

Chiba Yu also observed that her face seemed to carry a faint flush, much like a startled little white rabbit.

How should I put this? It felt like I had been bullying her?

"..."

As soon as that thought surfaced, Chiba Yu immediately nipped it in the bud.

Karuizawa Kei seemed to have just regained her composure, and she spoke with a hint of uncertainty: "Those two just now... they were students from Class A, right?"

Watching Katsuragi and his companion, who were already out of sight, Chiba Yu nodded. "I suppose so. I've seen them on the forums before; that tall one seems to be the current leader of Class A."

"I think I saw a green card in the pocket of that man named Katsuragi just now. Do you think that might be the leader's..."

"...Probably."

Karuizawa frowned. "What do you mean 'probably'? If it's true, that means we've obtained information about the Class A leader ahead of everyone else. That's 50 points!"

Chiba Yu slowly stood up and turned toward the direction Katsuragi and the other had come from, saying as he walked, "You can tell Hirata about this after we get back. He'll handle it."

"...Then why can't you be the one to tell him?"

"Because I'm lazy."

"..." Karuizawa was speechless. She looked at Chiba Yu with a hint of exasperation, then glanced around and asked, "Speaking of which, why are you walking this way? Aren't we supposed to be looking for a campsite?"

Chiba Yu didn't answer and continued walking forward. About half a minute later, the two arrived in front of a stone cave.

Staring at the cave before her, Karuizawa was dumbfounded.

"Don't tell me you knew there was a cave here all along, which is why you specifically walked this way?"

The two walked inside. There was nothing else in the cave, and the eerie, dark environment made Karuizawa feel a bit afraid.

They continued deeper inside, and in the depths, a machine that looked completely out of place stood silently.

"What is this?!"

Chiba Yu walked closer and took a look; sure enough, it displayed a sign indicating that the location had already been occupied.

"Th-this means that Katsuragi from earlier must be the leader of Class A, no doubt about it!" Karuizawa said, sounding slightly excited.

After all, in her eyes, since it showed as occupied here and Katsuragi had been carrying the leader's card, this was clearly points delivered right to their doorstep!

Chiba Yu didn't offer any comment on Karuizawa's statement. Instead, he turned and headed toward the cave entrance without looking back, saying in a strange tone, "Maybe."

Now, Karuizawa felt a bit uncomfortable again.

Why are you like this? Always saying these ambiguous things and dodging my comments. What, am I that annoying to you!

However, Karuizawa thought about it for a moment and realized that this guy had never been interested in these things anyway. To him, knowing these facts probably didn't seem like a big deal.

Thinking of it that way, Karuizawa immediately felt much better.

Yes, that's right, that's it. It's definitely not my fault! (^▽^)

On the other side, Chiba Yu didn't know that Karuizawa had already staged a whole drama in her head and even successfully gaslit herself.

At this moment, he was walking while recalling some rumors he had heard.

Katsuragi... that man known for his caution, would he really make such a low-level mistake as the one just now? Or perhaps...

"Hey! I think we should head back too; it's almost time."

Karuizawa's voice came from behind, interrupting Chiba Yu's thoughts.

Raising his hand to check the time on his watch, Chiba Yu gave up on his train of thought and began to head back toward the campsite with Karuizawa.

"By the way, I'll report what happened earlier to Hirata." Seeming to remember something, Chiba Yu paused his steps and said.

For a moment, it was as if Karuizawa had heard something unbelievable. Her eyes widened as she stared at him, as if looking at some rare treasure.

Faced with this uncomfortable gaze, Chiba Yu's mouth twitched. "...There's no need for that look, what is that expression!"

"I was just wondering if the sun rose in the west today."

"..."

Chiba Yu decided he didn't want to deal with her and quickened his pace.

The two soon returned to the campsite, and the other students who had gone out to investigate had also returned by then.

However, among the crowd, Chiba Yu noticed that Koenji was not among those who had returned.

Karuizawa went back and told Hirata that they had gone out to investigate but hadn't found a good campsite. As for the rest, since Chiba Yu had said he would handle it, she didn't mention what they had seen. Chiba Yu, meanwhile, walked over to where Ayanokoji Kiyotaka was.

When he arrived, he happened to hear Ayanokoji explaining the situation with Koenji to Horikita.

"You know as well as I do that someone like that isn't someone I can control. You should understand that."

Hearing this, Chiba Yu roughly understood the situation.

It was highly probable that Koenji had started acting on his own again, and since Ayanokoji and the others hadn't kept up with his pace, the three of them had become separated.

Just then, Horikita noticed Chiba Yu standing to the side eavesdropping. Just as she was about to say something, Hirata's voice suddenly rang out among the group.

"Everyone, I have good news! Ike and the others have found a base near a water source. Let's go and meet up with them!"

The crowd erupted in a stir, then excitedly stood up one after another, following Hirata as they headed toward where Ike and the others were.

As for what Horikita had originally intended to say, it was cast to the back of her mind once the news began to spread.

"Look, this is the base we found!" When the group arrived at their destination, they saw Ike standing shirtless in the river, rising up abruptly with an expression of unparalleled pride and excitement.

Upon seeing the clear river water and the favorable environment, the students in the class expressed their praise one after another and unanimously decided to establish this place as their base.

And now, the next question followed.

Occupying a class base required the class leader to perform the action, so now, who would serve as this 'leader'...