"Hey, your sister's here."
At Chiba Yu's words, Horikita glared at him. "You're not doing this because of me."
"I know, but if you hadn't insisted on stepping in back then and saying Hirata couldn't be trusted, I wouldn't have gotten dragged into this afterward." Chiba Yu snapped back at her.
"After all, as I see it, Hirata isn't completely trustworthy. This is just an extra precaution."
Realizing that talking to this woman was torture, Chiba Yu shrugged. After tossing in the last piece of firewood, he left on his own. He and Horikita weren't exactly close, and staying here would only make himself miserable.
He patted Ayanokoji on the shoulder and quietly left, leaving Ayanokoji and Horikita alone.
"Hey..." Ayanokoji watched Chiba Yu walk straight off, suddenly feeling as if he'd been sold out.
"Forget it. He probably wouldn't be much use staying here anyway. Let him go." Horikita wrapped her arms around her knees and sat down beside Ayanokoji, leaving one spot between them.
"Horikita, do you still think he's just an ordinary student?" Ayanokoji asked calmly, noticing how little Horikita cared that Chiba Yu had left.
"I don't know why you keep thinking there's something wrong with that guy, but to me, he's just a student with decent grades. He's hardly someone worth paying much attention to."
Ayanokoji sighed softly. Now he understood: Horikita didn't care about Chiba Yu at all. She thought he was dispensable—at least, she valued herself more than she valued him.
But Horikita, that was precisely your most fatal flaw. If you didn't change, your brother would probably never acknowledge you.
Ayanokoji didn't say any of this aloud, though even if he had, Horikita probably wouldn't have believed him.
Chiba Yu had no idea what the two of them talked about after that. He only knew that things probably wouldn't go well from here on.
He glanced at the dark clouds starting to drift their way and figured it would rain heavily, most likely in the middle of the night.
For now, under Hirata's leadership, everyone was getting ready to search for food to get them through the sixth day.
As they walked through the dark, gloomy woods, Chiba Yu found himself looking toward Ibuki.
Ibuki had originally planned to leave after talking with them, but Kushida had persuaded her to stay on the grounds that it might rain heavily that night. You really had to hand it to the students in Class D. They weren't even sure they could keep themselves safe, yet they were still thinking about others.
Chiba Yu stretched and shook out his elbow, hoping to chase away the drowsiness creeping over him.
"Sorry, Chiba. I dumped the whole tent-moving job on you and Ayanokoji. I..."
Chiba Yu shook his head, cutting Hirata off. "It's fine. I didn't have anything to do anyway. If you hadn't asked, I might've been dragged off to do something even more troublesome."
"Really? Got it. I'll treat you to a meal when we get back."
Chiba Yu had no idea why Hirata would offer to treat him after he'd thanked him, but since Hirata had offered, it didn't feel right to refuse. So he accepted.
Even if it meant wasting some of his already limited summer vacation.
Chiba Yu's assigned task was to help pick fruit, while Ayanokoji and the others were responsible for fishing.
Everyone was doing their best to contribute to the exam, but when there was nothing to be found, there was nothing to be found. By the end, they'd collected very little fruit.
As for Ayanokoji and the others, Chiba Yu heard that Yamauchi had gotten himself into trouble by smearing mud on Horikita's head. She'd immediately thrown him over her shoulder, and according to Yamauchi, it had nearly killed him.
Horikita was showering at the waterfall in the distance. But thinking of how sickly she looked, Chiba Yu couldn't help wondering if she'd collapse as soon as she finished.
After seeing Ayanokoji get called away by Horikita when she returned from showering, Chiba Yu was once again left with nothing to do...
(Ibuki Mio's perspective)
Just as Ryuen had said, the students in Class D were all idiots.
She'd only sat down and put on a pitiful expression, and they'd brought her back to their camp without a second thought.
Whether it was that red-haired gorilla named Sudo or that idiot Yamauchi, they were all hopeless.
She couldn't see a single thing about this class that warranted caution.
They'd handed her precious food and water with ease. She'd wavered for a moment when she accepted it, but in the end, it hadn't stirred up any trouble.
Since coming to this class, she'd been observing them, trying to find the "leader" hiding among them.
The one who'd caught her attention most was a student named Horikita Suzune. For some reason, the moment she'd seen her, she'd felt an inexplicable irritation.
Although Ryuen had told her to keep an eye on Horikita, she hadn't taken the order seriously at all. To her, Horikita was just an arrogant woman whose leadership in the class was even weaker than that of the boy named Hirata.
As for the guy called Ayanokoji who was always around Horikita, at first she'd thought he was just her little shadow, someone who couldn't cause any trouble. But during their conversation that afternoon, something in her had suddenly shifted. Was it an illusion...?
Besides stealing the key cards, Ryuen had also told her to keep an eye on a few students in Class D. Apart from Horikita Suzune, there was the boy named Chiba Yu and Karuizawa Kei.
Thinking of that, Ibuki couldn't help questioning Ryuen's leadership. He'd actually set his sights on a freeloader who spent all day eating and sleeping. To her, that Chiba Yu was a complete nobody.
He had no outstanding abilities, nor had he made any great contribution to the class. He was nothing but a freeloader—completely useless, in fact. Ibuki couldn't see why someone like him needed watching.
As for Karuizawa Kei, though she was the girls' leader in Class D, all Ibuki saw was her arrogance and spoiled nature. She hadn't noticed anything else. To her, Karuizawa was nothing special either.
The rain grew heavier. Ibuki slung her backpack over her shoulders and hurried along the muddy path.
The moment she heard movement behind her, she stopped. Then, the corners of her mouth lifted as she slowly turned to look at the person who'd been chasing her all this way.
"You're late..."