The Deal

"Uh... you're looking for me?"

Ibuki Mio froze, pointing at herself with her right hand. She seemed surprised.

"Yes, you. Can we talk?"

Hoshinomiya nodded, his tone calm.

Ibuki studied him for a few seconds, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

"Hah! I don't think we have anything to talk about."

Her tone was far from polite, edged with obvious wariness and resistance.

Hoshinomiya paid it no mind. He looked at her and continued.

"What if it's about this?"

Hoshinomiya held up his hands before his chest, making an "8" with each, then brought them together in a gesture that looked like taking a photo. A faint smile played on his lips.

At the sight of his gesture, Ibuki's eyes widened in shock.

She shot to her feet, hurried over, grabbed his clothes, and dragged him aside.

Hoshinomiya Rinyu tried to pull his sleeve free to avoid giving anyone the wrong idea. When he found he couldn't break her grip, he stopped struggling.

The Class D students stared after them, utterly baffled.

Someone wanted to say something, but the rising chatter soon drowned them out.

Only after they had gone some distance did Ibuki let go and stop.

She glanced back toward the Class D camp. Once she was sure no one had followed, she turned her attention to Hoshinomiya Rinyu again.

"What was that gesture supposed to mean?"

The question came out as a demand, though a faint trace of panic slipped into her voice.

"Stop testing me, Ibuki. Forget the camera for a moment—what could the walkie-talkie possibly be for? Such a mystery." Hoshinomiya gave a soft laugh.

"H-how did you find out?"

Ibuki's pupils contracted. The composure she had forced herself to maintain was close to cracking.

There was still room to recover if the camera had been exposed. But if word got out about the walkie-talkie—and the secret that Ryuen was still on the island—their entire plan would collapse.

She instinctively glanced back toward the tree where she had buried the walkie-talkie.

Hoshinomiya caught the fleeting look. His tone remained even.

"Before you slipped into the Class D camp, you had quite a bit of dirt on your cuffs and trouser legs. And that raised, cracked patch by the roots of that tree—don't you think it looks suspicious?"

Ibuki's face darkened.

"You made that call based on just that?"

"Not on that alone, of course," Hoshinomiya said frankly. "But Class C announced that everyone had withdrawn from the island, and Ryuen isn't the type to admit defeat easily. Put it all together, and the answer becomes clear."

He paused, meeting Ibuki's eyes.

"You're not working alone. Someone must have gone to Class B as well. And if no one from Class C came to our class, I'd guess that's because of Katsuragi's deal with Ryuen."

Ibuki's brow twitched.

"Katsuragi traded intelligence for twenty thousand points a month from every member of Class A. I don't think I need to say more."

Hoshinomiya smiled.

Ibuki's fingers clenched. She looked up at him, her guard fully raised.

Hoshinomiya stopped circling the point. "It's simple. Tell Ryuen to meet me at the beach sunshade tomorrow morning. I want to make a deal with him."

Ibuki blinked. Surprise and a hint of curiosity crossed her eyes before her brows drew sharply together.

Anger entered her voice. "Why should I tell him? If you're so capable, why don't you find him yourself?"

"That sounds like far too much trouble. I'm something of a conflict-avoidant person, you know. But this affects my own interests, so... that's that."

Hoshinomiya waved a hand and headed back into the Class D camp.

Behind him, Ibuki Mio gritted her teeth, looking as though she wanted to tear him apart. Then she turned and walked off elsewhere.

When Hoshinomiya returned to the Class D camp, Horikita still hadn't arrived. The brown-haired young man appeared first.

"Ayanokoji, didn't Horikita come back with you?" Hoshinomiya asked, puzzled.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka wore his usual unreadable expression.

For an instant, though, surprise flashed through his eyes. He hadn't expected to find Hoshinomiya at the Class D camp.

"Uh, Horikita should be a little farther behind. What brings you here, Hoshinomiya?"

"Hoshinomiya came to see Horikita. Haha," Hirata Yosuke chimed in.

He looked at Ayanokoji as though he wanted to say something.

"What are you doing here?"

Horikita's voice rang out. Her cool tone broke the subtle tension between them.

She approached at an unhurried pace, her gaze fixed squarely on Hoshinomiya.

Hoshinomiya turned toward her and spoke with easy composure.

"Oh, Horikita, you're back. I had something I wanted to discuss with you."

Horikita raised her eyes slightly. Her expression was calm, but her resolve left no room for evasions.

"You waited here specifically for me, so I doubt this is idle chatter. Get to the point. What do you want?"

"Straightforward as ever, Horikita. Then I won't beat around the bush." Hoshinomiya nodded approvingly. "I have intelligence concerning Classes A, B, and C. I'd like to make a deal with you."

Horikita looked taken aback, her eyes widening slightly.

"Did you say... Class A? You want to trade information about your own class?"

She quickly suppressed her surprise. Frowning, she kept her eyes on Hoshinomiya. "That's hard to believe. How can we know the intelligence you bring isn't fabricated bait meant to lure Class D into a trap? Besides, you're a member of Class A. Why would you leak information about your own class?"

Hoshinomiya didn't take offense at her doubts. He merely gave a faint smile.

"I expected you to think that. Naturally, I won't hand over everything at once. We can do it in stages. I'll give you a portion first, and you can verify it yourselves. Once you've confirmed it's genuine, we can continue working together."

He paused, then explained further.

"As for my motive, Class A isn't as united as Class B. This is simply a plan of my own."

[Ayanokoji's thoughts:

Interesting. A Class A student leaking information on his own initiative, supposedly because of internal disagreements?

Offering a portion of the intelligence on three classes first to earn their trust is certainly a sound way to lower their guard.

Even if the information on Class C is genuine, that won't prove the later information on Classes A and B hasn't been falsified.

Is Hoshinomiya's goal really just to keep Katsuragi in check? Or does he intend to use Class D to wear down Classes B and C, exhaust Horikita and the others in the process, and reap the benefits himself?

I can't tell what his real trump card is yet. Better to keep watching.]

Ayanokoji looked away, his face still calm.

The bespectacled student wasn't looking at Horikita or Hoshinomiya. Instead, his gaze fell on Ibuki, who stood behind them with anger written across her face.

P.S. Dear readers, I'm back. From now on, I'll probably post a chapter every day or two. I won't keep putting it off, hehe.

Thank you all for your support.

Please send gifts and add this book to your shelves. Don't drift away, okay? qwq