Theft

"Manabe, come to my room tonight. No one is allowed to ask any questions right now. Everyone, go back to the study on the ship and study." Ryuuen's tone was icy.

After playing around on the island for two days, quite a few people had begun to feel that Ryuuen had become easier to get along with—or at least less unpleasant. Only now did they finally shatter their last illusion about him. Ryuuen was still Ryuuen, and Manabe was in trouble.

Manabe herself regretted it terribly. The girls beside her all lowered their heads, clearly unwilling to speak up for her. Even if they did, it would be useless. Manabe understood that perfectly well, but she still found it hard to accept. At this moment, a crack had appeared in their friendship.

Meanwhile, after Horikita led the students in stripping Class C of all its supplies, the class's attitude toward Ibuki improved considerably. They had even arranged a place for her to stay in the camp.

Horikita shared a tent with her. Because of her connection to Ryuuen, and because Horikita could be considered the strongest fighter among the girls in Class D, only Horikita had the ability to keep Ibuki in check. Ibuki was quite satisfied with this arrangement as well. She had wanted to make a move against Horikita in the first place, so this only made things more convenient for her.

Although most of the supplies Ryuuen's group left behind were for entertainment, there was also plenty of leftover food and water. The boys drank the few bottles of cola Ryuuen had left behind. Though they were no longer cold, they were still delighted. The girls, meanwhile, dealt with the remaining barbecue ingredients.

"This is so good. This is the best grilled meat in the world."

"Damn it, leave some for me."

It had only been two days, yet the people of Class D were already sick of wild fruit and grilled fish—there were fish to catch in the small river. Quite a few had started missing the school cafeteria's free set meals. The food had been mediocre, but at least there had been rice and noodles. Eating nothing but low-starch foods like wild fruit and grilled fish was torture for the stomach.

People often only cherished what they had after losing it. At the same time, people's nature was hard to change. Let them return to school for two days, and they would start complaining again about how awful the free meals tasted.

For some reason, Ayanokoji had swiped a bottle of cola from Sudo and handed it to Horikita, who was sitting off to the side alone with her legs hugged to her chest. "I didn't expect us to get Class C's supplies so smoothly. I thought Ryuuen would tamper with them somehow."

"Ryuuen isn't that kind of person." Horikita's gaze was somewhat unfocused. All she felt was a heavy fog in her head, though the cola she was drinking did make her a little more alert.

Ayanokoji observed Horikita's condition and formed a basic guess in his mind:

The points Horikita got from Ryuuen earlier definitely hadn't been free. Given Horikita's personality, she couldn't have done anything to betray the class. Combined with the earlier rumors that Ryuuen was pursuing Horikita, the price Ryuuen demanded must have involved Horikita herself. Horikita defended Ryuuen just now, which showed that Ryuuen hadn't forced her to do anything. The two of them had already built a basic relationship of trust—enough for Horikita to believe in Ryuuen's character.

Ayanokoji's mood darkened somewhat. He had intended to cultivate Horikita into the class leader, but Ryuuen's interference had created a flaw in his plan. Horikita's trust in Ryuuen would definitely become a hidden danger in the future, and that trust could easily change. If it developed in the direction of romance, it would absolutely not be a good thing for Class D.

"Is your body really all right? Can you hold on until the exam ends?" Though it was phrased as a question, there was not a trace of concern in Ayanokoji's tone.

"I—I can." Horikita rested her head on her knees.

Anyone could see that she was forcing herself to endure. Ayanokoji did not want anything to go wrong with his plan, so he intended to look for medicinal herbs in the forest tomorrow to treat Horikita.

Ibuki did not fit in with Class D. When the others went looking for wild fruit, she went too, but she would not share with them. At night, she gathered firewood alone and lit her own campfire. The girls in the class tried to talk to her, but Ibuki did not respond at all.

Ibuki did not cause any trouble either, so the people of Class D could accept this arrangement where everyone kept to themselves.

It was not until the fourth day that this peace was broken.

"My underwear is gone!" Karuizawa let out a shriek in the morning.

As the central figure among the girls, Karuizawa quickly gathered the girls in the class and confronted the boys. Karuizawa's friend Shinohara was especially furious. The other girls were the same, while also feeling worried.

"Hey, get out here, boys..." Shinohara shouted outside the tent.

"What is it?"

"You're too loud!"

"What happened?"

Most of the boys were still asleep, though they had not been sleeping comfortably. They all got up as soon as they heard the noise. When they stepped out of the tent, they saw only a group of girls glaring at them indignantly.

After learning what had happened, Hirata was troubled as well. "Could you listen to me for a moment? Shinohara, Kei..." Hirata still wanted to mediate the conflict between them, but Shinohara would not listen at all.

"This needs an explanation. I'm going to find that pervert!"

"Hold on. Why are you assuming it was us?" Sudo was displeased. He already had a bad temper after waking up, and the girls' accusations only made him more annoyed.

"Isn't it obvious? It had to be one of you boys who stole it!" Karuizawa said emotionally.

"Why are you so sure it was us? Couldn't it have been that woman named Ibuki?" Yamauchi voiced his own doubt. The boys all supported his idea in their hearts, except for Ayanokoji, because he was not present. At that moment, he was still in the forest looking for medicinal herbs for Horikita.

Faced with the boys' doubts, Ibuki remained cold and merely snorted. She neither admitted it nor denied it.

Wang Meiyu also noticed that one of the boys was missing. She tugged at Karuizawa's sleeve and whispered in her ear, "Kei, Ayanokoji doesn't seem to be here."

Although Wang Meiyu's voice was quiet, everyone heard it. The boys finally noticed the issue as well.

Where had Ayanokoji gone?

Almost at the same time, the students all began to regard Ayanokoji as the culprit. Horikita frowned too, but she did not believe Ayanokoji would do such a thing. "I don't think Ayanokoji would do that. We shouldn't jump to conclusions before there's evidence."

Though her head was still foggy, Horikita's mind remained fairly clear.

"Then let's search his tent for evidence!" Shinohara was still highly emotional. Without caring about the looks on the boys' faces, she wanted to barge into Ayanokoji's tent and search it.

Fortunately, Hirata stopped Shinohara. "Let me go instead. The boys' tent has privacy too. Don't worry, I won't cover for Ayanokoji. After all, I'm Kei's boyfriend. I'm angry about this too, and I understand how you feel."

Seeing that Hirata could empathize with them, the girls' emotions finally eased a little. They trusted Hirata more than the others, and Karuizawa's gaze toward him was full of reliance.

But Hirata, who was searching inside the tent, felt awful. He had really found a pair of pink panties beneath Ayanokoji's pillow—a makeshift pillow made from stacked sanitary pads; sanitary pads were supplied in unlimited quantities during the exam. They clearly were not men's clothing, and keeping such intimate clothing beneath one's pillow was quite perverted.

Hirata paced back and forth inside the tent, not knowing how to explain things to the girls outside. Once he exposed Ayanokoji, Ayanokoji would inevitably be ostracized and bullied by the girls. That was the one thing Hirata could not accept.

It was not that Hirata had any special friendship with Ayanokoji. Rather, his past experiences made him desperately want to preserve the class's relationships.

Just as Hirata was caught in a dilemma, Ayanokoji returned!