"Karuizawa, do you want to spend next month getting less than 10,000 points, eating fruit and vegetable meals in the cafeteria, unable to buy even the cosmetics you like, and having to borrow money from people?"
Though Chiba Yu's words were ordinary and unusually bland, for some reason, Karuizawa felt that he wasn't acting like his usual self. She could clearly sense something unfamiliar about him. He was steady and calm, but for some reason, she didn't like it.
"...What are you trying to say?"
Chiba Yu released Karuizawa's hand. His eyes flickered, and a hint of barely perceptible mockery crept into his tone. "I want you to keep what happened tonight to yourself. When you wake up tomorrow morning, just act the way you would if your underwear had been stolen."
Karuizawa frowned, confused. "Why? If you already know what she's up to, why not expose her?"
"You don't need to know that. There's just something I need to confirm. All you have to do is tell me whether you'll help."
Chiba Yu sounded completely indifferent, as if it made no difference to him whether Karuizawa agreed or not.
After a long while, Karuizawa slowly raised her head. Moonlight fell across her face, making her look resolute.
"Fine, I'll do it. But before that, I need you to confirm something."
Chiba Yu looked at her in surprise, then the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Go ahead."
"Can you really guarantee that if I do what you say, you'll lead us to victory in this exam?"
Chiba Yu shrugged, his tone returning to its usual lazy, couldn't-care-less manner. "Hard to say. People our age are full of surprises. I can't guarantee anything. When all's said and done, I'm just an ordinary person, maybe with a little more common sense than most."
"There you go again. If you don't want to tell me, just say so." Karuizawa pursed her lips, folded her arms, and looked away.
"I've never lied to you. This is the real me. You're just the one who keeps refusing to believe it."
Chiba Yu waved a hand and headed toward the tents. "All right, now that we're done talking, I'm going back to sleep."
"Wait!"
"Tsk... What is it now?"
"C-could you come with me to the bathroom...?"
"...You're old enough to go to the bathroom by yourself."
"I-I don't need you telling me what to do! If it weren't for you, I'd have gone already and be back asleep. You have to take responsibility!"
"That's a completely different matter. I have every reason to refuse and go back to sleep." Despite saying that, Chiba Yu readily turned around and came back. "All right, hurry up and go, then we can get back to sleep. Who knows how tired I am right now?"
The fifth day of the Special Exam.
That morning, Chiba Yu had still been lying in his tent when the shouts outside woke him.
He regretted it at once. If only he hadn't gone out last night. Now he'd barely slept, and there was a good chance he'd be questioned soon. It really didn't seem worth it. He shouldn't have put himself through so much trouble.
The girls had surrounded the boys' tents. Sensing that something was wrong, Hirata immediately woke everyone and led them outside to see what was happening.
Shinohara and Inogashira were at the head of the group of girls, standing across from them with serious expressions.
After Hirata told them that Karuizawa's underwear had been stolen, the boys in the class erupted in surprise and shock, followed by deep anger.
They'd all slept soundly the night before, only to wake up and be accused of stealing underwear. Who wouldn't be angry?
As the argument among the class grew more heated and threatened to split them apart, Hirata hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Hold on. Everyone, calm down first."
Since there was no evidence that the boys had stolen it, they decided to check the boys' luggage. To protect everyone's privacy, they let the boys search their own belongings.
If not for what had happened the previous night, the underwear would most likely have turned up in his backpack during the search, ruining his reputation and causing widespread alarm among the girls.
The other possible outcome was that Hirata would keep it quiet, believe him, and expect him to find the culprit.
Though the second outcome was more likely, Chiba Yu didn't want to take that chance.
As for how Karuizawa had convinced everyone that her underwear was missing without needing the other girls to confirm it, all he could say was that she had a powerful influence over the girls in the class. Add to that her convincingly tearful voice, and it was easy to feel sympathy for her.
"Did you hear anything last night?"
Ayanokoji was standing behind Chiba Yu in line. Seeing that they were both bored, he casually spoke up to start a conversation.
"No. Maybe I slept pretty well last night, so I didn't hear anything."
Incidentally, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Chiba Yu weren't staying in the same tent. Otherwise, with Ayanokoji's keen senses and sharp powers of observation, he would have woken the moment Chiba Yu got up.
"Do you really think one of the boys in our class did it?" Seeing that Chiba Yu didn't want to talk about the incident, Ayanokoji changed the subject and asked casually.
Chiba Yu shook his head. "I don't know. I'd only just woken up when this happened. But I don't think so. No matter how desperate the guys in our class are, they wouldn't do something that would hurt the class at a time like this."
"Chiba's right. I bet someone's trying to frame us to undermine our class unity. I bet it was that guy from Class C!"
Ike jumped in, clearly furious at being suspected of stealing underwear. Sudo, who had just finished being searched, came over as well. "If they don't find anything on us, we'll go drag that guy from Class C over here!"
Perhaps because Ibuki had mocked him the previous night, Sudo was fuming, too.
At last, it was Chiba Yu and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka's turn at the back of the line. After their belongings had been searched and the missing undergarment turned up nowhere, Hirata finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness. It looks like none of the boys in our class did it." Hirata smiled for the first time since waking up, then told the girls what had happened.
Hearing Hirata's answer, Shinohara asked suspiciously, "Really?"
"Yeah, we've checked everyone's belongings. It looks like none of the boys are the culprit. Anyway, let's pack up first. We can discuss this again afterward."
Thanks to Hirata's efforts, the boys were granted a brief respite.
But Chiba Yu knew things wouldn't end so simply, just as he'd expected...