Itanagi's dessert

Katsuragi and Totsuka returned to Class A's rest area and gathered everyone.

"For this Uninhabited Island Exam, I've decided to cooperate with Class C."

At those words, everyone exchanged glances.

"Cooperate? With Class C?" Someone immediately frowned. "What do you mean? Explain yourself."

"Katsuragi, what are the details?" another person asked, keeping his impatience in check.

Katsuragi briefly explained Ryuuen's terms and promises. However, he chose to conceal the matter of guessing the leaders.

When he finished, the crowd fell silent for a moment.

Katsuragi swept his gaze across their faces and said with conviction, "I believe this deal is worthwhile."

Takahashi Ren said nothing.

Looking at the numbers alone, saving two hundred and seventy Class Points would give each person an extra twenty-seven thousand private points per month. Subtract the twenty thousand paid to Ryuuen, and they would still come out seven thousand points ahead. No matter how you looked at it, that wasn't a bad deal.

But could Ryuuen really be trusted?

He thought about it briefly, then let it go.

It wasn't his concern, anyway.

Unexpectedly, though, no one from the Sakayanagi Faction raised any objections.

Katsuragi was a little surprised, too. For the moment, he couldn't figure out what these people were plotting.

Still, as far as he was concerned, he would count his blessings as long as the Sakayanagi Faction didn't cause trouble during this exam.

"Since there are no objections, it's settled. Pack your things. We're heading to our base."

The students followed Katsuragi through the woods. After about ten minutes, a massive cavern appeared before them.

It looked as though the mountain had been hollowed out, leaving a cavern like a monster's gaping maw.

Two portable toilets and a shower stood beside the entrance. It seemed the school staff had already delivered the supplies.

"Wow, this is a lot better than I imagined," Toba Shigeru said in admiration.

Takahashi Ren walked into the cavern and looked around. The interior was spacious enough for forty people to move around in.

At five thirty the next morning, it wasn't fully light yet.

Takahashi Ren crawled out of his tent and loosened his stiff shoulders.

Several people lay sprawled every which way inside the tent. The rustling of people turning over, heavy snores, and indistinct sleep talk all mingled together, filling his ears and making it impossible to fall into a deep sleep.

My lower back really aches... Without a soft mat underneath, the hard ground is so uncomfortable. Even lying down is torture.

He simply got up and decided to go for a walk.

As he left the cavern, the sea breeze blew into his face, carrying a salty dampness.

The sky was still dark blue, with a faint pale glow along the eastern horizon.

Takahashi Ren headed down the slope, intending to take a look at the river he had spotted from the deck yesterday.

"Hey."

A voice came from behind him.

Takahashi Ren turned and saw Kamuro poking her head out of the cavern entrance.

"Good morning, Kamuro."

"Morning. Where are you going so early?"

"I couldn't sleep. Just taking a walk," Takahashi Ren replied briefly.

"A walk?" Kamuro looked unconvinced.

She hesitated, then followed him.

"I'll come with you."

They walked along the forest path, one behind the other.

After a brief silence, Kamuro spoke.

"Not long after what happened last time, Sakayanagi looked through my phone."

"Hm?"

"Good thing you didn't have me save your contact information. Otherwise, she would've seen it."

Takahashi Ren nodded. That didn't surprise him.

What did surprise him was that Kamuro had brought up what had happened last time herself.

It seemed she hadn't realized he had been bluffing that day. Of course, he couldn't rule out the possibility that she knew and was playing dumb.

But whatever her purpose, he would never volunteer that he had lied to her.

"Anyway, Sakayanagi found someone else to keep watching you. Be careful," Kamuro continued.

Without stopping, Takahashi Ren said, "I haven't noticed anyone following me besides you."

"Really?"

"Because Sakayanagi knows she's already put me on guard. Sending someone else to watch me won't get her anything.

"Besides, she has more pressing things to deal with. She won't spend too much effort on me."

"Oh," Kamuro replied. "She did say something like that. Katsuragi counts as a side dish, and you're just dessert. I just don't know who qualifies as her main course."

Takahashi Ren was also curious about who that "main course" was, but he was even more relieved that he was only considered dessert.

Being placed in the insignificant category meant he got some peace and quiet instead.

They walked a little farther, and a small river lay before them.

"There really is a river." Kamuro sounded a little surprised, then looked at him. "What are you planning to do now? Bathe?"

"I can't believe you'd suggest that." Takahashi Ren crouched and dipped his fingertips into the water. "This is upstream. If I bathed here, what would the people downstream do?"

"Then what are you planning to do with this river?"

Takahashi Ren sat down on the bank and gave a brief answer. "Space out."

"What?" Kamuro frowned, looking utterly puzzled. "What's the point of that?"

"There are plenty of pointless things in the world."

Takahashi Ren rested his gaze on the water. "You find it boring, but as long as I find it interesting, that's enough."

"...I don't get it."

"You don't need to."

"That," Kamuro said, glancing at Takahashi Ren, "is exactly what Sakayanagi says."

"Is it?"

"But she sounds even more punchable than you."

Takahashi Ren smiled without answering.

Kamuro stared at him for a while before speaking again. "So you didn't come to gather information on the other classes?"

"I have no reason to do that."

Kamuro simply assumed Sakayanagi hadn't assigned Takahashi Ren any tasks.

"What is Sakayanagi thinking?" she murmured to herself. "Is it really okay to let Katsuragi do as he pleases?"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. You misheard me," Kamuro flatly denied.

"Oh." Takahashi Ren didn't press her.

"I'm heading back." Kamuro stayed no longer, turning to walk back.

A week later, their life on the Uninhabited Island, which had felt both long and short, finally came to an end.

The students returned to the original assembly point. Their class teachers stood on the platform, holding the final results.

"Now, I will announce the rankings for the Special Exam." Mashima looked around. "In last place is Class C, with zero points."

The smile on Ryuuen's face instantly froze. For the first time, the boy who always wore an expression of effortless confidence showed genuine shock.

It was as though someone had slapped him across the face, and his brain had yet to catch up.

"Next, in third place is Class A, with one hundred and twenty points."

"In second place is Class B, with one hundred and forty points."

"Class D. Two hundred and twenty-five points. First place."

The entire gathering erupted in an uproar.

"What's going on, Katsuragi?!"

Class A's students instantly exploded, all turning to look at Katsuragi.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this... Where did it go wrong...?"

Katsuragi frowned, his expression grave.