That night, Classes A, B, and D all received word that the entire Class C had withdrawn.
Though no one understood why Class C had done this, the thought of having one less rival made everyone in the class excited again.
After asking Ibuki what she thought, Kushida learned that Ibuki had chosen to stay and welcomed her warmly.
Watching everyone in the class getting along so well, Chiba Yu said nothing. He simply sat quietly to one side, watching the bonfire blaze in the forest at night. His shadow was reflected in the flames, deep and inscrutable.
"Rustle, rustle~"
In the middle of the night, an unfamiliar figure silently slipped into the boys' tent, seemingly searching for something.
Suddenly, the person seemed to have found what they were looking for and walked straight toward one side.
"Click~"
They opened a backpack and slipped something inside, carrying out the whole sequence of movements in one smooth motion.
After finishing, the shadowy figure quietly checked on the sleeping boys. Once they were sure no one had woken up, they tiptoed away.
The moment the person pulled the tent zipper shut, Chiba Yu's eyes slowly opened in the darkness.
He looked at the ceiling, which still felt unfamiliar despite having seen it for days, then slowly sat up. His gaze moved over his luggage, which seemed unchanged, and the tent, which looked as though no one had ever entered. Then he quietly got to his feet.
He walked over to his backpack, the one the shadow had just opened, and quietly rummaged through it.
At last, he spotted an item of intimate clothing that shouldn't have been there, yet had appeared inside as if by a "miracle." For the first time, his usually unruffled eyes rippled with emotion.
Looking silently at the "pink legend" in his hand, Chiba Yu finally sighed. He stuffed it into his pocket, glanced back at Hirata and the others, who were already fast asleep, then quietly unzipped the tent and left this "place of trouble."
The night was deep and still. The sky was painted with a vast, heavy darkness, without even the faintest glimmer of starlight.
The river burbled along. Now and then, a fish leapt, breaking the silence of the night before everything sank back into boundless stillness.
Chiba Yu sat on a stone by the river, watching the stream flow, no longer the least bit sleepy.
He glanced at the dark clouds gathering in the distance and thought that tomorrow would probably be an eventful day for the class.
After finding this piece of evidence in his backpack, the clues that had still been somewhat unclear finally made sense.
The night wind whistled through the branches, sending gusts howling through the trees.
Chiba Yu raised his eyes to the bright stream and couldn't help recalling everything he had experienced since coming to this school.
His father had "forced" him to enroll. He had faced one challenge after another, each one pushing him further away from his own principles.
Whether it was the earlier fight involving Sudo or this Uninhabited Island Special Exam, he hadn't wanted to get involved. Yet every time, all sorts of reasons had dragged him into the middle of things.
So what was it? What was this "reason" that had been influencing him all along, ruining his chances to slack off time and time again?
In an instant, a golden glimmer appeared in his mind and gradually claimed a corner of it.
Just as Chiba Yu was about to make it out, he suddenly heard the sound of leaves and branches being crushed beneath someone's feet.
"Ugh, I'm so tired. I'll hurry up and go back to bed. Honestly, why did they put the temporary toilet so far away?"
The girl cautiously surveyed her surroundings as she stumbled along, one step at a time.
Just as she was about to reach it, her hazy eyes caught sight of a pitch-black figure.
In an instant, her senses snapped back. Her eyes widened slightly, and her body gradually stiffened.
"N-no way... Is that a ghost?!"
At the thought, Karuizawa stopped in her tracks. Fear seized her, and she couldn't help taking a step backward.
She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sure she'd only imagined it and that it wasn't really a ghost. The next moment, the figure suddenly vanished from sight.
"V-vanished? Phew... I must've been seeing things." Karuizawa let out a breath, trying to encourage herself with that explanation.
Now that she'd overcome her fear, she just had to keep looking for the toilet. With that thought, she started moving again.
The next moment, hurried footsteps came from the forest beside her.
"Rustle, rustle~"
"Eek!!!"
At that moment, Karuizawa could no longer hold back her fear. She immediately took off running, terror and shock written all over her face.
She sprinted toward the tents, wishing she had two more legs so she could outrun whatever that thing behind her was.
Karuizawa instinctively glanced over her shoulder. The shadow that had been chasing her was already nowhere to be seen.
But the moment she turned back, a face abruptly appeared right in front of her.
"Ah!!!!!"
"Eek!!!"
Chiba Yu clamped a hand over Karuizawa's mouth while holding her struggling body in place.
"Keep it down. Everyone's still asleep."
Hearing that familiar voice, the tears that had been about to spill from Karuizawa's eyes stopped halfway.
As her senses returned, Karuizawa finally saw who it was.
"Mmph, mmph~"
"...Sorry, sorry!"
He quickly took his hand away from Karuizawa's mouth, and she finally managed to gulp down a few breaths.
"...Anyway, calm down first. We don't want to accidentally wake anyone."
Karuizawa still looked shaken, and there were even blurry tears at the corners of her eyes. A sense of guilt rose up in me from the bottom of my heart, along with some other feeling I couldn't quite explain...