COTE y2v4.5 – Afterword

Hello, this is Kinugusa, and I’ve been having a hard time with this hot weather.

I dread it because it’s the harbinger of my least favorite season, but thankfully it hasn’t affected me as much due to the recent trend of self-restraint at home (TL note: COVID maybe? That way he doesn’t need to go out in the heat hehe). However, I’m sure the kids and young people want to play outside, so I hope there’s a way to let them do it without bothering other people. That’s where DIY and other hands-on projects come in…

Well, I opened this afterword with an unimportant aside, but this was the summer vacation volume 4.5.

The summer vacations when I was still a student have long passed…and yet I have never once thought of wanting to go back in time and redoing my school days. It’s not like I disliked my school life, in fact I reasonably enjoyed it – but I just don’t have the patience and confidence to repeat the cycle of getting up early in the morning, studying, getting a part-time job, and going home! My vigor and body have certainly declined after all.

My eyesight is getting worse by the day, and it’s scary to even think about what I’ll look like in another 10 years…The future is scary!

Unlike last year, this luxury cruise ship holiday volume has no special exams.

The relationship between Ayanokouji and Kei, and the changes in their classmates.

The new first year students, the changes in Nagumo and the other third year students.

I think the students have grown a lot since last year’s summer vacation.

And while the students are growing, the adults overseeing them are as well…

Now, this is a bit of a spoiler, but did you have any idea who the White Room students were?

Yes you did, right? I know, and the story starts here.

Volume 5 will be the second act of the second year arc, and I think it will be a big turning point.

It will signal the start of the second semester and a special exam for each grade.

I was quite surprised to realize that this is the first time in several volumes that we have had a special exam just for the second year students, but I hope you enjoy the next volume.

The world is going through very difficult circumstances now, but let’s all do our best to get through it.

Well then, I hope to see you again soon!

TN:

By the time I’m writing this, it’s been a few months since these translations have been written, edited and released as one pdf. The main reason I’m publishing them part-by-part is so that novelupdates can acknowledge our releases. If you’re reading this despite that, thank you for reading our translations months after they were made.

You might notice that the writing style is a bit amateurish, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Contributors:

Heiabir#7140 (TL)

dotanba#2890 (TL)

SithLibra#7208 (TL, editing, bossman who owns the website)

Keitanyan#0145 (Buying the digital copy)

When Hearts Touch

Our break on the luxury cruiser ended, and we rode a bus returning to Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

From there, the days spent at the dorm, coming and going to and from Keyaki mall went by. I passed the time so absentmindedly that I myself could call it lazy and negligent.

In that period, the number of people I could play with had increased so much that the number could no longer be compared to last year.

The members of the Ayanokouji group, the students like Sudou and Ike with whom I had gotten along with early on, and outside of my class, Ishizaki and Hiyori, and finally I even chatted with members of Ichinose’s class. Things which I myself from last year wouldn’t believe if I had told him continued happening.

Then-

“Aa-aah, so even our summer break ends today huh-“

Kei sat on the bed and dejectedly muttered as she looked up at the ceiling.

My lover Kei and I would reveal our relationship from the 2nd term. For that reason, we had been going on hidden dates. Today was the final one.

Even as we shared times that were idle in some spots, it was never an uncomfortable thing.

If this had been an outing between shallow friends, then we might have been flustered from having to say things, or bothered about hazy feelings.

“I can talk about my relationship with Kiyotaka from tomorrow huh… I’m kinda nervous.”

“There’s no need to force yourself to talk either. I won’t take responsibility even if you fall out of your caste after all.”

“I’ll definitely talk about it. Worse comes to worst, Kiyotaka will protect me so it’s okay. Right-?”

Kei said it like a joke, but that was without a doubt her true true feelings.

Because by attaching herself to a strong host, she was protecting herself.

I finished my last mouthful of coffee and sat down beside Kei.

I squeezed her small hand, and she gently squeezed back. She faced me, embarrassed.

“Kei.”

At that time, I made my lips smother her soft lips.

“Ki-Kiyotaka…”

“Are you startled?”

“Y-yeah, I’m surprised. Tell me beforehand a little bit or something… can you?”

In reply, I didn’t answer with words, but with action.

I gently gripped her shoulders and pulled her close.

“Mm…!”

A second kiss. At the instant our lips touched, Kei’s shoulders raised a little, conveying her surprise.

I parted our lips immediately. As if she had calmed down, she looked at me with eyes that were reluctant to part.

“…That was another surprise attack.”

“Is that so? I thought I made it relatively normal though.”

I have no choice but to study hard on the timing from now on.

“At the very least, I still wasn’t able to prepare my heart…”

“Then did you prepare it this time?”

“Eh? …Yeah…”

Kei nodded and closed her eyes. She showed that she agreed, so I kissed her again.

The two until now didn’t touch except for one second, but this time it was different.

Five or ten seconds. It was a long time.

Then we moved our lips a little bit at a time, repeatedly pecking each other like little birds.

Within the time that felt as if only Kei and I had stopped…

2nd Year High School, the final day of Summer Break. Kei and I experienced kisses and climbed a single staircase together.

The first half of the love curriculum was finished, and my feet entered the second half.

From here on out, we’ll live our school lives as lovers with our heads held high.

Because of that, we might get dragged into a not-small amount of trouble.

But even so we join our hands and face our hardships.

Slowly but surely, one step at a time, from summer to autumn, and from autumn to winter, as the seasons changed we went.

As neither of us can do without our relationship, we are stained deeper and deeper.

Even as I ascertained the taste of her lips again and again, my thoughts went beyond the horizon on their own.

When we finally reach the season of seperations, and enter the last phase of this love-

It’s decided that she will face an exceedingly difficult trial.

After Karuizawa Kei is cut off from her host, she will stand alone and head forward.

As for this love curriculum, that is the most important thing.

An Intertwined Past – part 4

The concert hall past 2am.

I quietly opened the heavy door.

In this large room there was only one person, sitting with her back facing towards me.

While quiet enough that even my footsteps on the carpet seemed to be ringing, I approached that person.

“It isn’t allowed for students to leave their rooms at this time.”

“Don’t say that. We have no chance to be alone for certain except now.”

“You’ll take responsibility if someone sees us right? Chabashira-sensei.”

Chabashira didn’t even try to turn around.

“Don’t worry. The teachers’ patrols only last until twelve.”

“Then that’s fine. So, why did you go out of your way to call me here?”

“After this summer break the 2nd term will begin. Then the next exam will begin.”

“Yeah. Last year we had the sports festival like that.”

“Yeah. But this year is different. Before that a single special exam will be held.”

“Is it okay to give me such information?”

It shouldn’t be allowed for teachers to give particular students information that would give them an advantage over the rest of the class.

“Or has the next special exam already begun?”

“No – that’s not true.”

Then calling me to this place and telling me this was all Chabashira’s judgement. For a homeroom teacher who usually doesn’t really back up her class, this is unexpected.

As if she was thinking of something, she suddenly became silent.

There was nothing I could do even if I continued standing beside her, so for no real reason I headed for the stage.

Usually, this concert hall was for students to appreciate music.

A large and high-grade grand piano was placed there.

Perhaps because there was a performance tonight as well, naturally, there was no dust on it at all.

“Acting Director Tsukishiro went so far as to move on his own in order to try to eliminate you on the island. Even if your father is a famous person, that persistence is abnormal.”

“That is true. But if I had a correction, it would be that Tsukishiro had never had any interest in being the Board Chairman from the beginning. He simply used that post for my elimination and nothing more.”

“You mean that much influence was in play?”

Chabashira-sensei didn’t understand completely. She crossed her arms.

“Do you feel like talking yet?”

“…Yeah.”

Chabashira paused for a breath and slowly started talking.

“What’s your analysis of your class?”

“Analysis, means?”

“Do you think they have the power to ascend to A-Class?”

“Is that something you ask a student from your own class?”

“I want to hear it from you.”

Rare, is what this wasn’t.

Chabashira-sensei was just thinking of something to that extent.

“I see. I think that they have the highest potential within the 2nd year without a doubt. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that if left alone they will ascend to A-Class. It’s next to impossible to catch up to them with Sakayanagi leading.”

The teachers should understand this school well.

“I believe the minimum condition is for our class to be united. And Chabashira-sensei, you’re included in that.”

After I said that, Chabashira looked at me in surprise. A face that said she knew that herself.

“I’m… For you, what kind of teacher do you see me as?”

If I had to say, Chabashira has interacted with my classmates cool-headedly until now.

If anything she passed everyday as if detaching herself from, as if abandoning us.

“A teacher who can’t throw away hope even though she thinks she can’t win. That’s how I would say it in a few words.”

“How harsh.”

“The fact that you tried to use me and the impression I got from that still hasn’t changed at all, even now.”

“Yeah, it’s as you say.”

As long as she didn’t correct that mistake from her heart, Chabashira wouldn’t change.

“Don’t make the students work hard because you want to reach A-Class yourself. Work hard for the sake of the students who dearly wish to reach A-Class.”

“Ayanokouji…”

“If you do that, the natural answer will come. That’s what I think.”

“…You said our class had to become one.”

“Yes.”

“And you are naturally included there.”

“That is a matter of course.”

Our gazes blended together. Chabashira took a deep breath.

“What if I said that I would throw away my old self?”

Eyes that looked as if they were questioning my resolve.

I should think that any lies here would be seen through.

“If you say you’ll throw it away, I intend to throw away my way of thinking until now, all at once. If you earnestly aim for A-Class, then I have no intention of holding back.”

“…Okay.”

Did something in Chabashira change or not with these words?

I still don’t know but…

“At the time you started facing forward, the class surely, truly began to change.”

“…That’s true.”

Chabashira looked up at the high ceiling and closed both of her eyes.

It’s certain that in her heart, deep shadows were falling.

I should have disappeared like that, but this time for some reason my mood was a little different from how it usually was.

My low evaluation of Chabashira as a homeroom teacher hadn’t changed.

Even so, when I saw her as another human being, though slowly my evaluation of her began to change.

Far more fragile than I thought, as if she was a person who had only become an adult on the outside.

I sat on the chair and opened the lid to the keyboard.

“…What are you doing? Could it be that you know how to play the piano?”

Without any answer to that question, I ran my index finger and started playing a piece.

I finished my performance. Chabashira clapped despite herself.

“It’s not as if I’m well versed in music but that was splendid. Even if I practiced, I probably wouldn’t be able to reach that level in my entire life. If I’m correct, that song was-“

Then, in the silent concert hall, a small sound was heard from the back.

Chabashira stood up and turned around, panicking.

The figure appearing out of the darkness was a smiling Tsukishiro.

“Beethoven, For Elise. Although the difficulty of the piece isn’t high in itself, showing such a perfect rendition of it takes excellent skill. Though I appreciated it, it is truly a waste for only Chabashira-sensei and I to hear. But at this time, imprudent outings by students are prohibited. You do know that punishment awaits you if you so easily violate that?”

“Acting Director Tsukishiro, this is…”

Chabashira panicked and tried to give an excuse, but Tsukishiro gently stopped her.

“Be calm. On the present date I have been dismissed as Acting Director. It has been decided that Chairman Sakayanagi would be reinstated, and so now I am simply an unrelated ordinary person. I will not report this to the school.”

“…Is it okay to trust you?”

“There is no need to trust me or anything of the sort. However, from the moment I showed myself here Ayanokouji has noticed me. If a disturbance arises in one’s feelings it reflects in their performance. But your performance was not disturbed at all… why is that?”

“That is simple. Even if you could give me a punishment you cannot give me an expulsion. The fight between you and I only revolves around whether or not I will be expelled. There’s no meaning in reproaching and punishing me for going out without permission, is there.”

“Even if you had understood that, the usual reaction to being seen at a place where one does not wish to be seen is panic. Could you have gotten that courage from your father?”

“Sadly, I have no memory of being raised.”

I closed the lid and took a distance from the piano.

“Tomorrow I will not be able to talk with you again. Thinking that, I thought that I would come one last time.”

There are a great many surveillance cameras installed within the ship.

He was going so far as to constantly check the hallway to my room huh. He must have some free time.

“If it is better for me to leave, I will excuse myself.”

“No, it’s okay. It would be more inconvenient for Ayanokouji-kun to be left alone with me. As a teacher charged with protecting her students, you should stay in this place.”

Tsukishiro came near us and sat two seats away from Chabashira.

“Is the concert finished already?”

“If you have something to discuss then please do so quickly.”

Since I understood that he was joking, I urged Tsukishiro to talk more quickly.

“Because it couldn’t hurt, I came to negotiate one last time. Do you not feel like withdrawing from school and going home?”

“Acti- Tsukishiro-san. What on earth is your motive?”

Hearing the phrase withdrawing from school, Chabashira-sensei wedged herself into the space between him and me with slight anger.

“What did you mean by, what?”

“You intervened in a special exam without permission and tried to have Ayanokouji expelled. Properly speaking, that alone is an action I cannot tolerate.”

“That goes for you too Chabashira-sensei. Did you not try to speak to me regarding the next special exam because of your personal feelings?”

The details are unclear, but Tsukishiro himself seems to have seen through Chabashira’s objective.

“Indeed, it is not something to be praised. But I did not do that in order to give you an advantage.”

“That might be true for you, but you cannot prove it. My coincidental appearance here prevented unfairness before it could be created.”

“That is…”

“And you haven’t done one sin. You understand right?”

Presently, Chabashira’s sin was calling a student out at this time when leaving one’s room was prohibited.

Even supposing that this relationship was that between a teacher and her student, the fact that we are a man and a woman was a point that can’t be overlooked.

Tsukishiro could also persist on that small gap.

“The one who would be troubled by you making a fuss is not me, Chabashira-sensei, but you. And Ayanokouji-kun as well.”

If an uproar about obscenity with a teacher was raised, a warning would not be enough to settle it.

If you understand then don’t interject, Tsukishiro warned.

“Kuu…”

Having previously forgotten, Chabashira understood the position she had put herself in and took a step down.

“That is fine.”

Without his smile faltering, Tsukishiro drew near to me until the distance between us was two meters.

“I do not have anything planned here. Please be at ease.”

“No matter what the situation, you’d do what benefits you. That’s how I’ve analyzed you.”

“Does that mean you have a high opinion of me to some extent?”

Until now, I’ve somehow been dodging Tsukishiro’s schemes.

However, that was because to the end, Tsukishiro insisted on plans that couldn’t be called unorthodox.

Unfairly manipulating tests, violence, kidnapping or otherwise. That sort of thing.

If it had crossed this man’s fancy, it probably wouldn’t have ended as it has.

“I will not withdraw.”

“That is unfortunate, but there is nothing I can do. Then that means you will remain in this school until you graduate.”

“I intend to. As long as I conform to the rules of the school and don’t get expelled.”

“No matter how much you wish to remain in this world, I indeed will not deny you.”

Neither of us said it here, but the shadows of white room students are scattered around us.

“You are smart. And strong. For those who know your true strength, you are excellent enough for anyone to think that.”

Finally, Tsukishiro stood before my eyes.

“But no matter how excellent, you are a child in the end. It is better for you to understand that person sent me while factoring in that strength of yours.”

In other words, that man foresaw the future in which I would repel Tsukishiro like this…?

“If you want to live your school life even one day longer, then you’d do well to think about that.”

“I will bear it in mind.”

Tsukishiro gave a shallow laugh. As if he had thought about something, he laughed by himself.

“But this school is more interesting than I had thought. Even in the entire world, this school is likely the only one to be able to hold the special exam on the uninhabited island after all. I remembered when I was small and absorbed in the boy scouts.”

Saying that, Tsukishiro held out his left arm in front of me.

“This time, this is goodbye Ayanokouji-kun. Will you shake my hand?”

I could not think of the left hand he presented as a simple salutation.

I stuck out my left hand in the same way and grasped his. Tsukishiro nodded, satisfied.

“Now then – eventually, let us meet 『again.』”

Finally, he tapped my left shoulder with his left palm. Then he turned back.

“Aah, and make sure to disperse within five minutes. If not, I will report you.”

Chabashira and I saw Tsukishiro off until he could no longer be seen.

“It’d be understandable to worry about the small details, but to think that he would want a handshake with that left arm. Perhaps it meant that he bore hostility towards you until the end.”

Usually, a handshake would be done with the right hand.

Well, these days people don’t pay attention to that sort of thing so they might not know the meaning.

“I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean?”

The thing Tsukishiro said out of the blue about being absorbed in boy scouts. Usually a handshake with one’s left hand would be considered disrespectful, but boy scouts were an exception.

The meaning of that was-.

“Please forget it. It would be useless to think about that man’s thoughts.”

Though she awaited the meaning, it may have also been very well meaningless.

“I will go back first.”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

Since we’ve been spotted by Tsukishiro, ignoring his warning here would be nothing but a risk.

“Sorry about that. Because I called you out irresponsibly, I ended up giving Tsukishiro a gap that he took advantage of.”

“I don’t mind. I don’t quite know why, but I got to see something.”

As I approached the door, I left Chabashira with those words without turning back.

“You said it earlier as well. Whether this class sinks or swims isn’t irrelevant to you. It owuld be better for you to understand that.”

No matter what sorts of special exams await them, the students have no choice but to look forward and advance.

There is no one who can stand at the fore and pull them along but the teachers.

An Intertwined Past – part 3

The time when most students headed towards the facilities within the ship.

The 1st year Class A student Amasawa Ichika went inside a guest room where one student was waiting for her.

“If your roommates return at this time what do you intend to say to them? That’s what I’d normally say, but you’ve calculated that they definitely wouldn’t be coming back haven’t you?”

In reply to Amasawa’s question, they laughed slightly without an answer.

“Do you understand the present situation? Nanase-chan, Horikita-senpai, and even Ryuuen-san. Each and every single one of them are looking for you in a frenzy. Is it okay to leave it like that?”

“This is okay. My plans are proceeding in an interesting way.”

“Then tell me the details of that plan too-Takuya.”

Having been called Takuya, the Yagami Takuya, registered under 1-B, quietly stood up from the bed.

“You don’t study either, Ichika.”

When Yagami approached her, Amasawa, blatantly on her guard against him, stared at him without blinking.

Because in the instant that she would blink, she could receive some sort of violent attack.

“I won’t raise my hand in a place like this.”

“I want to believe that myself.”

“Indeed, you are no longer a student of the white room. So to me you are an enemy.”

He extended his right arm and gently stroked Amasawa’s bangs.

“That’s what I thought but… I don’t recognize you, of all people as such.”

“Arara, you flatter me.”

“That was a joke. Since you’re now a normal person, you just can’t do anything foolish.”

“Since our conversation right now might be recorded.”

“If it’s just that you can do it as you like.”

Yagami understood that he wouldn’t lose anything if this conversation were recorded.

If Amasawa was completely on Ayanokouji’s side, then she could’ve just told him about Yagami.

Even if he didn’t believe that she was telling the truth, she could at least make him vigilant of Yagami.

“The reason I called you here was because I wanted to ascertain your true motive. Did you want to protect Ayanokouji and repeatedly obstruct my plans from your heart?”

“It’s clear which one it is~”

Yagami laughed at Amasawa’s joke and let go of the tips of her hair.

“There are too many things so it’d be bothersome to point them all out. Let’s hear about the point that forced me to change my plans. On the island, what was the reason you obstructed Kushida and Kurachi whom I had sent after Ayanokouji?”

“I don’t need to explain, do I? Because it would hurt Ayanokouji-senpai. Nanase-chan and Kurachi-kun. I didn’t want to see a scene where those two who had nothing to do with him fought. He probably would have been able to escape well, but it definitely would have been dangerous.”

“Yes. Indeed, whether Nanase or Kurachi, he would be able to deal with them without trouble. However, if we had obtained the recording of him dealing with them, we would have gained a bargaining chip. Even if Ayanokouji had forcefully taken the tablet from Kushida he wouldn’t have been able to cancel the sending. And if he had physically destroyed it then other problems would arise.”

Because of Amasawa who anticipated those actions, his plans stopped.

“Are you mad?”

“How could I be? In the end I think a more interesting production was made. We were able to see his disposition and the certainty of his judgement. Even though he felt an attack he didn’t choose to use the GPS search. That’s because he accurately read that even if he did that it wouldn’t have been anything but a nuisance. If he were a regular person then it would’ve been standard to use a GPS search and chase after Kurachi and Kushida as Nanase did.”

Even after returning to the ship he didn’t show any changes in his actions resulting from that.

“Nanase-chan and Ryuuen-senpai ended up going into the dark forest. It doesn’t seem like they’ve met before. Even if in the future they question Utomiya-kun, he doesn’t have anything to do with this. Nothing would come of it. But what about Horikita-senpai? She got a hint from the paper you wrote on. It looks like she’s trying to pinpoint it. To make people leave their handwriting in the treasure hunt name registry, she’s thought a little.”

“If I give her a little more hints, then sooner or later she would likely find me.”

Yagami didn’t seem to be panicked. On the contrary, he seemed to be looking forward to it.

“So you sending that 『paper』 was also on purpose?”

“Of course that’s also my production. I want her to do her best and reach me, you see.”

For that reason Yagami was sufficiently planting hints.

Even before she had been told, Amasawa understood that well.

“What comes next? If she matches up your handwriting, then that information would reach Ayanokouji-senpai’s ears too.”

Then he would be suspected to be a white room student.

“He never trusted me in the first place. He’s even noticing and appraising the several lies I’ve sprinkled. This long-winded method was because Tsukishiro was in the way though. Now that he’s withdrawn there’s less of a need. There would be no meaning in crushing Ayanokouji from a prepared, advantaged setup after all.”

“So it’s okay if you’re found out?”

“That’s what it means. I don’t think I’d really even care if I come out on my own.”

From the beginning, Yagami has intended to fight Ayanokouji head-on.

But before, if he had done something imprudent then he might have been obstructed by Tsukishiro.

The various plans he made even as he followed Tsukishiro were all to stall for time.

“But now that the Uninhabited Island Test is finished we don’t have any opportunities to fight the 2nd years right now do we? I think it’d be better for you to return to the white room sooner you know~”

From the perspective of Amasawa who didn’t want to return, being excommunicated was a good thing.

But for Yagami it was the only place he should go back to.

“I need to crush him in perfect form. My backlog in studying can be put aside no matter how much.”

His smile awkwardly showed his teeth. It was completely unlike his usual refreshingness.

“It really is twisted at other points than mine, your personality.”

Amasawa continued in astoundment.

“Utomiya-kun is pitiful too. Even though he just thinks of his friends, to think that he had to join you to protect Tsubaki-chan. He’d be mad if he finds out that you’re the one who had his classmate from C-Class expelled-“

“I knew that he was a clumsy person like that from the beginning after all. I believe that after losing one of his classmates he’ll certainly want to avoid it next time. He originally never would have joined hands with me, but it was easy to make him do that by making Housen out as our common enemy. I got inside the pockets of Tsubaki and Utomiya, let a plan that would never work develop and checked the cards on Ayanokouji’s hands. Because of that, I saw that he was linked with the leader of 2-A, Sakayanagi.”

“Ah~, I think she visited me. Arisu-senpai right.”

“She might interfere in my fight with Ayanokouji from here. I need to think of a way to deal with her.”

“Yes yes. Just do as you please.”

Amasawa had gotten tired of seeing Yagami talk for long. She sighed in boredom.

When he’s in a good mood, if you leave him be Yagami would talk with himself indefinitely as he was doing now.

He bore the risk of having his true identity found out. He was enjoying this situation more than anyone.

“Are you done briefing me? Can I go now?”

“Before that, the reason I called you out was because I wanted to confirm your thoughts, Ichika.”

“Hm~, thoughts?”

Yagami showed a childlike smile and captured both of Amasawa’s forearms in an instant. 

“!?”

Amasawa had been keeping her guard up so that she would definitely be able to dodge. She hadn’t let it down, but she wasn’t able to react.

“Utomiya or me? Everyone will know not too long from now. It will begin from there.”

“…You mean you’ll get that serious fight you’ve been wishing for?”

“As long as we both recognize the other as an enemy, I will fight him with my real strength.”

“Don’t be indirect. What if you settle it with your fists like men? Your martial skill rivals even Ayanokouji’s.”

“I won’t use violence apart from the bare minimum.”

“Well said.”

She wasn’t used to having the power in her arms held down. Even Amasawa wasn’t able to break free.

Even if she had tried a different approach as long as she wasn’t at her full strength it wouldn’t even be a fight.

“Can you not understand that the reason I’m doing this is because it is the bare minimum?”

Amasawa replied with a laugh, but she was imagining what would happen from now, numerous times inside her head.

But no matter how many repetitions she did, she couldn’t discover a pattern that would allow her to break through this situation.

“The reason I called you here today was actually because I thought I’d permanently incapacitate you. No matter how you choose to struggle from now on, since you know me you’d be nothing but a nuisance. Have you noticed?”

“Ahaha~, that might not be funny.”

As Yagami’s face directly drew near to her, Amasawa started preparing herself emotiona-.

The pressure in his hands on her forearms disappeared, and she was released.

“Just kidding.”

He laughed kindly as always and put his hand on the door behind Amasawa.

“What a mean joke-“

“Sorry sorry. But I really was thinking of crushing you today. But I stopped.”

“Uwa, really?”

In reply to that reply Amasawa pulled out and bended away.

“Since I heard that you were punished by Shiba-sensei. Not hitting back was the right move.”

“If you’re driven away once, get twice as strong and come back. I’ve studied that since I was small. But is it really okay to let me go?”

“I know that you can stick to watching quietly. If you had made a complete judgement regarding Ayanokouji then you would have ended this.”

“The Senpai I yearn for and my friendly colleague are hard to weigh against each other you see.”

“Don’t worry. The battle in which we have to win against Ayanokouji is in the mind. He won’t use violence against me. It’s either he is expelled or I am.”

As he said that, Yagami opened the door and allowed Amasawa to leave like a gentleman.

An Intertwined Past – part 2

On the same day the teachers drank and complained together.

Ignorant students were trying to make memories with their friends in the time they had left on this luxury cruiser.

But I, Horikita Suzune, was trying to use the remaining vacation time for something completely different.

In front of the private pool entrance, an employee manning a counter was established.

If it were less crowded I would have gone there, paid points and used the private pool.

But the private pool seemed popular with students. I wonder if the reservations aren’t almost completely filled.

Of course, those are fortunate circumstances for me though.

“Excuse me. I’m considering a reservation for the private pool.”

I spoke with the employee manning the counter. As if they had already had the same conversation with many students, they familiarly started a simple explanation.

“Please enter your desired time. In case it is taken, you can also wait for cancellation.”

The employee said that and presented me with a board.

I didn’t go to this place in order to enjoy the private pool.

I went out of my way to get the board before my eyes into my hands.

“I’ll borrow this.”

The reception in cafes and similar places were all operated through tablets or similar devices.

But with their timeslots divided into one-hour intervals and reservations available from even a few days before, the private pool had everything written on paper.

I pretended to look for a day and time I could reserve it on and entered a representative.

The truth was that I had intended to settle this in the treasure hunt a few days ago.

The participants numbered about half of the students.

As for the 1st years, the participation rate surpassed 66%.

I was looking at the handwriting of the 1st year students who had participated before the test had ended, but there wasn’t even one candidate who aligned with the handwriting in my memories.

Was the person who gave me that paper unexpectedly within the 34%?

No, or or did they not participate so that their handwriting wouldn’t be recognized?

Anyway, with that I’ve been looking for the remaining 34% of the 1st years.

Although I’m surprised at the private pool’s reservation rates.

Including the last day, almost all time slots are full.

Despite there being a cancellation fee if you book a few days before, there were many students who thought to book in advance. It really is popular.

There was a field in which I could write my representative’s name and the number of people, but there was no need to write the school year.

The letters on that paper I saw were truly beautiful.

I flipped the pages to see all of the students, but I couldn’t see handwriting on the same level.

I had thought that I wouldn’t be able to find it easily but it looks like it’s as I had thought.

Opportunities to check students’ handwriting and names don’t come very often.

Seeing as to how I couldn’t find it, it was time to start my labour.

It was necessary to look at each and every name and cross-reference them with the OAA.

Though the reservation list didn’t have hundreds of names on it, just cross-referencing all of them would take time. It would be simple to skip students who wrote with dirty words or habitually badly drawn letters, but I want to determine who I can exclude here with accuracy and certainty.

1-B Kibayashi-kun, 1-D Mochidzuki-kun are out. Etou-san… she participated in yesterday’s treasure hunt so I’ve already checked her handwriting, so she’s out. As if the receptionist had different duties to attend to, they held their phone in their hands and didn’t pay much attention to what I was doing with the name registry, which I was thankful for.

That being said, I really can’t find them easily. To be sure I looked at the 2nd and 3rd years who participated in the treasure hunt in the name registry, but no one who resembled it was there.

Where on earth is the person who wrote that paper…

When I had finished eliminating my 9th person, several minutes had already passed.

The receptionist would probably get suspicious of me soon. I didn’t expect someone to call me from behind.

“Um, will you take more time?”

“Eh!? Eh, yes. I’m having a bit of a hard time syncing with my friend.”

I was so focused on the name registry that I hadn’t noticed the student standing behind me.

I had thought that there would be almost no students who would reserve, but I was wrong…

It would be difficult to make them wait for longer in eliminating names from the list.

If that’s the case then I judged that it would be better to let this boy reserve first.

From what I could see he was a 1st year student who wasn’t an honors student.

“It seems like I’ll still take some time to decide, so please go first.”

“Is that so? Then please excuse me.”

The male student said and accepted the board from me.

His height is tall, about a little bit shorter than Sudou-kun. I used my phone pretending to chat with a friend as I waited for the visitor to finish reserving.

Was it because the time slots he could take were limited? He took faster than expected.

Before long he finished writing and turned back to me.

“Thank you very much. Please excuse me.”

Having received the name registry from him as he relieved himself, I looked at his name right away.

“…It’s here.”

Name of representative, Ishigami Kyou. The number of guests, five.

Since he didn’t participate in the treasure hunt, it’s the first time I’m seeing his name.

When I examined his name on the OAA which I had already opened, I learned that he was also from 1-A.

His letters were refined so much that it’d be no wonder if you said that he had been doing calligraphy for many years.

However, the thing called writing was extremely easy to develop habits in. It wasn’t the one I saw on the island which was like a copybook from a machine. Still, it’s true that it’s the closest handwriting I’ve found yet. If I had had the paper on hand then I would have been able to cross-reference them in detail, but since Amasawa-san tore it apart that wouldn’t happen. I can’t get any conclusive evidence that the writing in my memories and the characters Ishigami-kun wrote are truly different.

After staring at it, I felt a sensation similar to Gestaltzerfall.

(TN: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestaltzerfall?oldid=492430029)

Since I’ve just been looking at characters for the past few days, it looks like it’s had various effects on my brain.

“I’m sorry, could you please wait?”

Towards Ishigami-kun who was going away, I raised my voice a little to stop him.

When he turned around in confusion, I continued like this.

“The truth is I’m done talking with my friend now. It looks like we’ll have the same time you got. So won’t you please talk with me a little bit?”

No matter what the topic, I want to get a hint on whether or not he’s the one who alluded to Ayanokouji-kun’s expulsion.

“It isn’t as if we can’t discuss this, but I’ve already told my friend just now that I reserved that time slot.”

He turned to me and raised his phone up to his face.

For now I’ve successfully stopped and secured him. If the person before my eyes is the person who wrote the paper on the island, then even if I don’t know how he got it to my tent, there’s a sufficient possibility that he knows me.

“Could you please show me the registry one more time?”

“Of course. Sorry about this.”

“No, I don’t mind Horikita-senpai.”

He called my name. My heartbeat quickened just a little bit.

“…You know my name. I don’t remember speaking with you though.”

“In the special exam right after I had enrolled, I’ve more or less memorized the names of the 2nd years who are good in academics.”

The convenient OAA could also be used to memorize names from other years.

“You have a good memory. I had also intended to memorize the students who were good at academics to some extent, but I didn’t notice you, Ishigami-kun.”

“I’m not one to stand out.”

Without disputing or doubting me, our conversation proceeded smoothly.

I wasn’t able to gain anything decisive, but as I thought his writing gives me a different feeling.

Thinking that it would be inexcusable to keep him for any longer, I made to send him back.

“Can I ask you something, Horikita-senpai?”

However, this time Ishigami-kun spoke to me.

“When you called out to me, you said that you had intended to memorize the students with high academic ability, but that you didn’t notice me right?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong?”

I don’t remember saying anything strange though…

“Do you really not remember me?”

He confirmed as if to make sure of something.

“Of course, that’s true.”

I truthfully didn’t have any memories of Ishigami-kun.

“Then, when did you learn that I was good at academics? If it was while you were arranging a reservation with your friend, then I think opening the OAA and confirming there would’ve taken some time though.”

In response to his sharp identification that I had not thought of, I wasn’t able to respond right away.

Nothing was strange until I had seen his name in the name registry. But indeed as Ishigami-kun said, it was strange that I knew that he had a high scholarly ability.

I thought that he would have said that sooner, but he took his time putting it out there.

Right when he was about to leave without any trouble. It’s as if he waited for me to lower my guard then.

“I had just happened to have OAA open. Your name was in the reservation list, so I checked your face in case I’d speak to you.”

It’s a far-fetched excuse but not necessarily impossible.

Ishigami-kun finished chatting with his friend on the phone and unconcernedly changed his reservation time.

“Is that so? I’m truly sorry for suspecting you strangely.”

“It’s fine. You were a bit surprised, so it’s understandable that you were suspicious.”

“Then, excuse me.”

“Ah… right. Ishigami-kun, thank you truly for this.”

“I don’t mind, but-“

He was about to say something but it looked as if he was hesitating about his next words just a little bit.

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Let’s meet again, Horikita-senpai.”

“Yes. See you again.”

It didn’t develop as I had thought it would. Ishigami-kun faced his back towards me and started walking.

I don’t think his handwriting matches, but he’s a strangely interesting student.

Right now it seems I should write him off in a grey area, close to white.

I stood still with the name registry on hand as I saw him off until he could no longer be seen.

Since I’ve already taken a reservation, it would be unnatural for me to examine the name registry.

I need to remember to set aside time to cancel this.

And since I haven’t gained a lead, I need to think about what I’ll do next.

“You’re making quite a difficult face~ Horikita-san.”

Curiously, Hoshinomiya-sensei showed herself and called out to me.

She seemed to be together with her Kanzaki-kun from the class she handled as she met eyes with me.

“Is that so? I don’t think it’s different from always though.”

“Really? Maybe-“

The thing that’s bothering me more than that is Hoshinomiya-sensei placing her hand on the wall.

“Um, are you not feeling very well?”

“Aah~ this? Don’t mind this, it’s a sickness peculiar to adults.”

A sickness peculiar to adults? I wonder what kind of sickness it is…

“Anyway, the handsome kid from just now… u-mm, who was it~. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere before.”

The one Hoshinomiya-sensei had just passed through couldn’t have been anyone but Ishigami-kun.

“It’s Ishigami-kun from 1-A.”

Before I had even replied, Kanzaki-kun answered from beside her.

“Eh? A 1st year? Well, if it were a 2nd or 3rd year it’d be natural for you to know them but…”

Hoshinomiya-sensei tilted her neck in confusion.

“What’s wrong? Is it something about him?”

If I could get some sort of clue… I thought and asked.

“No, though I feel like I’ve seen him in this school once quite a while back… I might be mistaken. Sorry Horikita-san, I’m a bit useless!”

Hoshinomiya-sensei tottered on her feet as she ran off to the deck.

Thinking that something was wrong, I chased her back.

“Ah, ugugu-hiii!”

I don’t really know why, but she screamed in pain while going outside. And, after she conspicuously made an uu sound from her throat, Hoshinomiya-sensei held her hand to her mouth and grabbed the handrails on the deck.

“Orooroorooro!!”

A sparkling (it wasn’t actually that pretty though) wave of vomit was carried away by the sea breeze and into the ocean. I was a little bit later than Kanzaki-kun, and together we only stared.

What on earth is she showing us I wonder…

“Sensei… I think there are many problems with that.”

I pointed out her sense of hygiene and morals.

“Uuu, the seasickness and hangover are mixing, sorry Horikita-sa-ororororo!”

At least the only thing below us was the sea.

“Sorry, as I thought I’ll go back to my room and sleeeep… I was in the middle of talking with you Kanzaki-kun sorryy.”

“Please don’t mind it. I will call you again.”

“And sorry for showing something weird to you too Horikita-san… upu!”

As she was waving her hand around, she immediately returned it to her mouth and ran back into the ship.

“…What a busy person.”

“It’d be strange if I wasn’t used to this.”

“Have you seen this many times?”

“In our homeroom classes in the morning, she’s shown us that up to three times.”

That is… how should I say it, condolences.

After we could no longer see Hoshinomiya-sensei, I gave a small bow to Kanzaki-kun and walked off.

“Horikita, what kind of relationship do you have with Ishigami?”

He called me with unexpected words.

“What kind, means?”

Since the true meaning of his words was unclear, I couldn’t reply with anything but that.

“You were talking with that guy right?”

“From the way you talk, it looks like you’ve known him for some time. You also know his name after all.”

“In the test we had right after being promoted to 2nd year, we had a lot of opportunities to contact 1st years.”

Most excellent students within the 1st year were within Sakayanagi-san or Ryuuen-kun’s classes.

It would be no wonder if Ishizaki-kun got to know him from that, but…

It’s a bit unexpected that Kanzaki-kun whom I usually don’t speak with would initiate.

“I ended up butting heads with him in the private pool reservations. Then,”

Even though I gave a simple explanation, Kanzaki-kun discreetly seemed to not understand something.

“By the way, from your viewpoint is he a junior I can trust?”

I still don’t know how much of a testificate he could be with regards to the clues I’m chasing.

Therefore, I want to get information from even one more person.

“There is nothing to criticize about his academics. That is as the OAA says.”

“Yes, he was declared A with no complaints.”

In contrast to that however, his physical ability was designated as a low D.

“But being able to study doesn’t equal being trustworthy.”

“Why do you want to know if he can be trusted? I don’t think it has anything to do with the reservations.”

Right now, we’re in the middle of summer break with no special exams occuring.

Indeed, it wouldn’t be strange even if he was curious about that point.

I was curious about Ishigami-kun so I asked him, but let’s end this here.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. I just wanted to ask more or less.”

Since I couldn’t give him information related to the handwriting I tried moving the conversation along.

But without taking his eyes off me he continued.

“It’s not as if I don’t have the resources to determine whether or not you can trust that man.”

It’s a strange and roundabout way to say it, but Kanzaki-kun knew about Ishigami-kun.

“If you can answer my question, I don’t mind telling you about Ishigami.”

I had judged him to be in a grey area close to white, so there was no need to force a conversation. But Kanzaki-kun’s expression at this time was different from the calm he usually shows. It weighed on my mind.

“A question? What is it?”

“For a short while here I will be inquiring about your class.”

“…My class?”

“Particularly among them… I want to know Ayanokouji’s true strength.”

“I wouldn’t be able to answer even if you ask me such a thing. Can’t you ask him directly?”

While I was surprised in my heart that Ayanokouji-kun’s name appeared here, I tried to avoid that topic.

“If I had he wouldn’t have answered me honestly, would he?”

“That might be the case. But you can’t trust words from me either can you?”

“One consultation is enough.”

“I’ve been with him for a long time, but I don’t know anything about him.”

“Not knowing anything about him is too much of an exaggeration. Even hypothetically, if you call yourself a class leader then you should know about your classmates to a certain extent.”

“I still haven’t gained the trust of all my classmates. That goes for Ayanokouji-kun as well.”

I still don’t have the qualifications to proudly call myself a leader.

At the very least, I can’t be someone like Sakayanagi-san, Ichinose-san or Ryuuen-kun.

“Can’t you answer me honestly? For your class he’s a big fighting potential after all.”

“Just from how vigilant you’re being I see that you can feel his value to some extent.”

Regardless of his real strength, I’m thankful that he spared the effort to think.

“Do you have anything else you’d like to ask me?”

“No, the only thing I was worried about right now was that.”

If that were the case, then there’s nothing I can do even if he won’t tell me about Ishigami-kun.

I can’t pursue that from here. That’s what I had thought but…

“The student known as Ishigami is excellent, compassionate and strong. He is already acknowledged as the leader of 1-A. All of his comrades probably already trust that man with all of their hearts. ‘He embodies the good parts of Sakayanagi and Ichinose’, might be the easiest way to say it.”

“That is his reliability to his comrades.”

“However, that is only limited to his comrades to the end. It doesn’t apply to those who threaten his comrades. He’s likely the type to bear his fangs without mercy.”

I had seen him as a mild-mannered student, so it’s hard to imagine him with the material I have now.

“Then what kind of attitude does he take to people who are neither enemies nor allies?”

“If they’re neither an enemy nor an ally then for him they’re irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?”

Kanzaki-kun who was talking before my eyes stopped moving.

“…Yeah. He shouldn’t mind things that don’t hold meaning for him.”

“He said to me, ‘Let’s meet again.’ Would he leave someone irrelevant with words inviting them to meet again?”

“Ishigami? No, he’s not a man who would say things like that lightly. Did he really say it?”

“If I didn’t mishear. Anyway, you seem to know quite a lot about him.”

I wonder if there is something about Kanzaki-kun and Ishigami-kun separate from the case I’m pursuing.

“I definitely don’t know a lot. I’ve never interacted with him even once after all.”

After muttering to himself in something of a soliloquy, he continued like this.

“It’s a fact that that man doesn’t show interest except in his enemies or allies. In other words, you’re categorized as one of those things in Ishigami’s mind.”

“Though you say that I still don’t quite understand.”

Today, I met with Ishigami-kun for the first time.

Before that, I’ve never come face to face or exchanged greetings with him even once.

I’m neither clearly an enemy nor clearly an enemy. That’s the normal analysis.

“Having a connection with someone without knowing anything about it always happens.”

“So my actions have been affecting him indirectly?”

“You can’t eliminate that possibility.”

There were parts I couldn’t understand at all in Kanzaki-kun’s words.

Kanzaki-kun thought for a short while. Before long, he muttered quietly.

“I’ll give you one warning. Don’t contact Ishigami any more than this.”

“I’ve never intended to in the first place. While you’re warning me are there any other 1st years I should be aware of?”

“Other 1st years?”

At the moment I don’t have even a single person whom I can call a suspect. I want clues. If Amasawa-san or someone else’s name comes out, his statement will also have meaning.

That’s what I thought but…

“About the only 1st year you should keep in mind is Ishigami.”

Kanzaki-kun answered, turned his back and started walking. On his way he passed by Ibuki-san, who had been looking here, but she didn’t make eye contact with him.

“Are you close with Kanzaki?”

“No, not at all? Today we just happened to share something to talk about. Is something wrong?”

“I hate it when people look smart with you.”

It was useless to ask her seriously.

“What did you talk about?”

“The 1st year Ishigami-kun. His handwriting was a bit like the handwriting I’m looking for.”

Saying that, I showed her Ishigami-kun’s OAA profile that I had accessed.

1-A Class Ishigami Kyou

Academic Ability A (95)

Physical Ability D- (25)

Critical Thinking B+ (77)

Social Contribution D (31)

Overall Strength B- (61)

“Besides, I couldn’t see through him from the way he spoke and his attitude so it was a little bit ominous.”

“Hmm? You mean he’s suspicious for you?”

“I wonder. I thought he was in a grey area close to white but… if this physical ability evaluation isn’t true then he might become suspicious straight away.”

Though I said that, I didn’t have any way to verify right now.

“This Ishigami is white you know.”

As if to deny my guess, Ibuki interrupted.

“How can you say that?”

“The day before yesterday, from a floor where I could see the pool from, I was looking at the people playing for some reason.”

“Alone? How lonely.”

“Ha? Should I stop talking?”

“It was a joke, continue.”

“Good grief… he was tall so he stood out a little bit. He entered my vision. Neither his upper nor lower half were trained. He had a normal build. He’s definitely never trained his body. The guy you’re searching for is someone strong like Ayanokouji or Amasawa right?”

“Could it be that the reason he came to the pool was… to search for trained people?”

Have you finally noticed? As if to say that, Ibuki-san shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“Strength and body are always in proportion. People who can move have toned bodies, and if someone has strength then it’d be strange for them to not have muscle.”

It would be a different story if that were an amateur’s judgement. But Ibuki-san was more or less a martial artist.

If she saw Ishigami-kun’s upper half, then this data is authentic.

“You paid attention at a good time yourself.”

If Ibuki-san’s information was correct then his physical ability was undoubtedly about D-.

Of course, it wasn’t as if he was guaranteed to be a strong person from my guess in the first place…

It looks like I can judge him to be completely white.

“In any case, our vacation will end soon. Next is from the start of 2nd term.”

“How long will you be doing this?”

I don’t not understand the feeling of wanting to be exasperated, but right now I don’t have any decisive evidence.

I have no choice but to go steadily for a while.

An Intertwined Past – part 1

The ship immediately after the date changed to August 9.

It was past 1am, a time when most students had probably already fallen asleep.

In the bar lounge only open for use to adults, three people rendezvoused.

“Uu-, I’m tired. Why do us teachers have to work up to this late every single day? My skin will get ruined. We want summer breaks too~”

Hoshinomiya voiced her complaints lying face down on the bar counter.

“We were able to rest enough weren’t we? We’ve had five or six days to rest.”

“It was only two days right~? I was busy yesterday and today~. What do you mean treasure hunt bonus game, the one who wants a bonus is me.~”

“I understand how you feel, but we’re members of society, Che. We won’t get long breaks like kids do.”

Chabashira sat to Hoshinomiya’s right side and remonstrated her.

“When you consider that the students have worked hard for two weeks on the island, it’s no big deal.”

This time Mashima-sensei from her left side encouraged her to hold out.

“Don’t push facts on me please… I don’t wanna hear I don’t hear it-“

She put both of her hands to her ears and shook her neck in aversion.

“Then at least let us have a vacation while we’re on the ship. It’s unfair for only the students to be allowed to use the pool and the theater and everything isn’t it~?”

The situation had her holding her fingers in her mouth everyday from what was in front of her. Hoshinomiya couldn’t agree to it.

“That’s work.”

“Once you become a member of society, that’ll be usual Che.”

“Ah- no, no, not the workaholics~”

She blocked her ears with both of her hands with even more strength.

But before long she took them off then raised her right hand and her voice.

“Strong sake with which I can escape from reality plea-se. On the Master’s tab.”

Then she banged the table with her left hand and asked for sake.

“Good grief… you don’t change.”

Chabashira sighed exasperatedly upon seeing Hoshinomiya.

“Are you setting me as your goal since I’m always pretty and young?”

“That’s not it.”

“Then what~?”

“…No, don’t mind it. Trying to explain would be useless.”

Mashima and Chabashira-sensei ordered beer after. They dinked their glasses together in a toast.

“More wild things happened on this time’s Special Exam. There were too many unexpected things.”

“The seriously injured students and the broken wristwatches that were obviously broken on purpose. Then to think that only 3rd years would get expelled, it was unexpected.”

Hoshinomiya emptied her cocktail with a single mouthful and took a breath.

“I knew that letting the students have too much freedom would be a problem-. We didn’t get any information, but there were definitely couples doing that and getting into moods like that in places we couldn’t see right?”

“I want to think that they at least didn’t cross that line.”

“That’s naive Mashima-kun. The passion of young people flits around and can’t be stopped.”

“That only goes for you.”

Flatly told off, Hoshinomiya ordered another drink immediately.

“Once the summer break ends we’ll become busy again.”

“Uge, I don’t want to do this anymore. To think that I would become an old teacher for a low salary. I’m exhausted goods you know, exhausted goods.”

“You’ve been doing nothing but complaining since a while ago.”

“Of course I am. Isn’t this place built for complaining?”

Without showing any shame Hoshinomiya said that and put her 2nd glass to her mouth.

“You don’t change Che. But that’s also a good thing.”

Chabashira ordered nuts as a light snack.

“In any case I was worried about this special test. I didn’t want the 2nd years to lose-“

“It’s weird that only the 3rd years got expelled.”

Pinched between Hoshinomiya and Chabashira, Mashima quietly listened to their conversation.

But when they tried to change the subject, he slammed his half-finished glass of beer with a little force onto the table.

“The 2nd years are doing good. But that’ll also invite trouble.”

“What’s that, it’s not good that they’re doing they’re best?”

“It’s not like the school wants people to be expelled, but when all is said and done the 2nd years we’re in charge of practically aren’t letting anyone get expelled in the special exams until now.”

“Practically, huh. They were half-forced by the school to choose someone to expel. Expellees are expellees you know?”

The three of them all remembered the class polls in detail.

“I don’t want to believe that a special exam like that with no way to escape from will happen at any other time.”

Even for Chabashira who usually approaches her students coldly, it’s not as if her heart wasn’t in pain. She was at a viewpoint where she couldn’t approve of driving students who hadn’t actually failed out of the school.

Hoshinomiya’s viewpoint coincided with that. But severeness remained on Mashima’s face.

Seeing that, Chabashira looked into Mashima’s eyes to get a peek.

“Impossible. Are you preparing for another special exam with compulsory expulsion?”

“Not even the school can force another class expulsion poll.”

“Then there’s no problem. As long as expulsion isn’t compulsory, my class will make it through.”

“Ararara? You’re saying some remarkable things, Sae-chan.”

Hoshinomiya poked Chabashira’s side across Mashima’s back.

“Stop it.”

Chabashira grabbed her hand with a little anger, and Hoshinomiya looked at her with sharp eyes.

“You don’t think you can make it to A-Class do you?”

“…No one is saying that. Though I just want to say that this class is more excellent than usual.”

“Hhmm?”

Within an electrified atmosphere, Mashima gulped the remaining half of his beer.

“Indeed, there is no compulsory expulsion. However…”

When Mashima’s words didn’t come out, Chabashira and Hoshinomiya both turned their eyes to him.

“We were given the outline of the next test the other day. The truth is, it’s being put into place for the first time in 11 years.”

“11 years… we’re 29 years old this year… so before we were 3rd years in this school? That’s rare, to think that such an old special exam would be used.”

Memories from highschool. Most of them have melted into their brains.

What kind of conversations did they have and what kind of special exams did they take?

Even if they were told to remember them right away, they probably wouldn’t be able to answer.

“The school fits special exams into one-year schedules. If we’re going deeper, the rotation is based on four years cycles. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“It’s so it doesn’t leak to the other kids who are attending this school right?”

Many tests have been held in the history of []. From things that have never happened except once, and very versatile, repeatable things, various things are fitted into the 4-year frameworks.

“Of course there are special exams that deliberately repeat within a short period of time in order to test information sharing. But it’s fundamentally a pre-ordained rotation. But depending on the flow of the year, there are tests that are brought back from over 4 years in the past.”

“So you mean to say that old special exams being used isn’t such a rare thing?”

“That’s right. As long as the test doesn’t have too great of a 『problem.』”

Mashima spoke in a way that implied something, but the two didn’t think very deeply.

Rather they were showing ambition for the start of another special exam.

“It might become a proxy fight between Sae-chan and I~”

“It looks like you’re looking forward to that. Do you think you can win if you fight with me?”

“That’s not it. But don’t you feel it’d be better for Ryuuen-kun and Sakayanagi-san to fight?”

As she smiled catishly, Hoshinomiya’s mouth reeked of alcohol.

“My class has grown considerably. Don’t think it’ll go smoothly.”

“Hee~. To think that Sae-chan would say something like that-. As I thought Ayanokouji-kun is a special kid so you’re getting confident?”

“Indeed Ayanokouji is also an outstanding talent. However, there are many students in my class who make me feel potential.”

“Mo? Aren’t you just relying on Ayanokouji-kun?”

“What on earth are you talking about? When did I rely on Ayanokouji?”

It looked like they were having a nonchalant catchball game with their words, but for Mashima-sensei sitting in between it wasn’t difficult to feel terror from the two’s conversation.

If he kept quiet and continued listening like this, it would develop into a quarrel lasting for a few minutes.

“Keep it there. There’s no use in competing here and now.”

“Yeah, I might’ve gotten a bit frisky.”

While expressing reconsideration, Hoshinomiya poured the sake into her throat until there was none left.

“You’re drinking fast.”

“It’s okay it’s okay-, I’m not weak enough to collapse so easily.”

“No that’s not it. Tomorrow… today’s work will be affected, I mean.”

“I said it’s okay, it won’t, it won’t.”

Hoshinomiya showed no signs that she would stop drinking at all and ordered her 3rd glass.

“…Then I’ll tell you before you get drunk. It’s okay for you to see the outline of the next special exam.”

Mashima operated his phone and placed it onto the table.

“The important thing is the special test’s name. Once you see that you’ll be able to understand right away.”

“The test’s name?”

“Try reading it.”

The two exchanged looks and peeked at the phone at about the same time.

And at that instant, Chabashira inhaled. Hoshinomiya as well.

It was a special exam that Chabashira and Hoshinomiya had experienced when they were students.

And it was set to occur at the very beginning of the 2nd term.

“11 years ago… even though it happened way before, you should remember this special exam well.”

Chabashira looked at the Special Exam Name again and again at a loss for words.

Hoshinomiya turned her eyes away from the phone, took her 3rd glass and held it.

Seeing her reflection, she laughed in self-deprecation.

“Impossible, to think that this special exam would happen again eh…”

Chabashira simply lowered her eyes in silence without any answer.

“I thought for certain that last year’s class polls… were a substitute for this, weren’t they?”

As if to confirm, Hoshinomiya looked towards Mashima.

“It just means that the school didn’t have any choice but to use similar methods in the end. It seemed that if someone from the 2nd year had been expelled in the Uninhabited Island Exam, the next test would have been different.”

“Well, there’s no helping it, I guess. It’s not as if they can make the written exams harder in order to have people expelled. Sae-chan’s class is too good isn’t it~? So they brought out a special exam that didn’t seem to have any big problems-“

Hoshinomiya stressed as if she were fault finding.

“It’s premature to decide on any big problems. Depending on your viewpoint it’s nothing but an easy test.”

“But if they make a single mistake it’ll become a challenge. Right-? Sae-chan?”

Chabashira had closed her eyes and didn’t answer yes or no.

“That’s right… you two in particular suffered in this test.”

“I think for us it was in the 3rd term of our 3rd year. I’ve never forgotten that day.”

Her reminiscing words were directed to herself and Chabashira.

“So then how long do you intend to be silent? Don’t you have any comments?”

Although she was asked that, as if she hadn’t arranged her thoughts, words didn’t come from Chabashira.

“Paaathetic.”

After giving a small complaint, she ignored the silent Chabashira and turned her gaze towards Mashima.

“What do you think, Mashima-kun? In the next special exam… will someone get expelled?”

“Leaving aside A-Class which is a cut above the rest, B-Class and those below still have a chance. If they challenge it with the intention to win, there’s a big chance that they’ll follow the path you took.”

“An unlikely premonition – huh.”

Hoshinomiya muttered and asked for her 4th glass from the bartender.

Her drinking pace was gradually increasing.

“Well, I think my class is okay in a very bad sense, but what do you think about Sae-chan’s? Right now they’re crawling up from the bottom with tremendous energy. If they increase their class points here they can make it to Class B in one go. If you ask me-“

“I’ll go back to my room.”

After being silent for some time, Chabashira spoke and stood up without finishing her first glass.

“I thought you’d finally talk but you’re going back, way to dampen the mood-“

“Sorry but go on by yourselves.”

In reply to Chabashira who turned her back on her, Hoshinomiya’s my-pace attitude until now completely changed.

“I’ll tell you what-!”

Hoshinomiya strongly slammed a glass without alcohol onto the table.

Then she stood up vigorously.

As if not only Chabashira, but also Mashima was surprised, they shook slightly without saying anything.

It was a good thing that no guest was there except the three of them.

“How long are you going to keep chasing that foolish love!?”

“…What are you saying?”

“Do you know how old we are right now? We’re 29 you know? I’m talking about the romance you had how many years ago!”

“Hey, you drank too quickly-“

“Mashima-kun be quiet!”

“…”

The bartender who was wiping glasses nearby felt something important was going on and went to the bathroom.

“Even though you’re stuck in your 3rd year of high school, you’re a fully grown adult but only in age. So you’re placing weight on the kids of today… haa? Are you an idiot?”

Without replying to that series of jeers, Chabashira left this place silent.

Silence flowed between Hoshinomiya and Mashima who were left in this place.

“A-rara, she left.”

After being let down, Hoshinomiya drank the liquor Chabashira left behind and sat back down.

“You’re malicious yourself, Hoshinomiya.”

“I mean there’s no helping it. It’s because of all the things, this special exam came out.”

“This special exam gave birth to something decisive within you.”

“If Sae-chan had picked the correct choice, we would have graduated as A-Class, you know?”

“…As I thought you’re still bitter huh.”

“Of course I’m bitter. We failed and now we’re teachers in this school. Even though we really should’ve had a more dazzling future.”

“After that test, since you and Chabashira shared a room your dorm life got tough.”

“After something like that happened we could never live together. We might’ve ended up killing each other.”

“You exaggerate… the fact that I can’t say that for certain is a scary point to you two.”

Hoshinomiya took her hair and pulled out a bunch of it.

“You’ve never stopped that habit?”

“Ah, oh no. I did it unconsciously… my precious hair… do you need it?”

“I don’t.”

He ignored the bundle of hair that was offered to him and asked for a 2nd drink from the bartender who had returned.

Seeing that, Hoshinomiya demanded a 4th drink.

“She’s not someone you can share a room with. It’s fine if everything goes well, but if there’s trouble your relationship changes all of a sudden. It has to do with love and the future.”

Before anyone knew it, Hoshinomiya returned to her usual droll expression.

“Even though they finally made it to 2nd year and everyone survived the Uninhabited Island Test-. The school is being cruuuel.”

“In the first place, expellees should come from every year. That’s a policy with which this school was built after all. Too many people have survived within the 2nd year. But the school is also acknowledging their hard work adequately. That’s exactly why it’s this special exam. We still don’t know how it’ll turn out.”

“That’s true but… that test brings out a person’s ugliness and weakness of heart. The good thing is that at least they’ve still just ended their 1st term of their 2nd year. Ah, that also has to do with how the school is acknowledging them right.”

“As short as the time they have left in this school is, they will raise the amount of points that can be earned from the special exams and their difficulty. There are also aids with them compared to when we did it during our 3rd year, 3rd term.”

“I’m definitely not bad… Sae-chan is the one who’s bad…”

“That depends on how you think. You and Chabashira both made correct judgements.”

“I wonder-“

Hoshinomiya suddenly stopped her hand as she tried to reach for a new glass of sake.

“What?”

“My class… will at least not make it to A-Class.”

“What are you saying?”

“You understand. I don’t think they can reach Sakayanagi’s class. But… but, I still definitely won’t let Sae-chan’s class graduate in A. For us graduating as A-Class is our dearest wish. The students of the girl who broke that wish are not qualified to graduate as A-Class. Right, Mashima-kun.”

“…Isn’t that a different matter from this?”

“They’re not different. Definitely not.”

“Besides, Ichinose’s class is excellent. They can still make it to A-Class. They’ll probably be able to make it through the next special exam easily.”

“That’s no good. No matter how inhuman the future waiting for them is, in order to win as A-Class they have to become demons. Just as I tried to.”

“Even if some people are expelled, you say?”

“Even if some people are expelled, yeah.”

Although, she left unsaid.

“Hirata, Kushida, Horikita, Kouenji and Ayanokouji… no matter how many times I think it’s too unfair isn’t it?”

“Just like last year there are many problem students, but a strange solidarity is being born. As if their flaws are cancelling each other out one-by-one.”

“If only they’d get crushed on the next test.”

Saying that, Hoshinomiya rested her head on Mashima’s shoulder.

“I might be in a drunken sickness… I wanna rest a little in Mashima-kun’s room.”

“If you’ll sleep then sleep in your own room.”

“So harsh-. Isn’t there a bit of a kinder way to say it?”

“If you’ll sleep then you can go back to your room.”

“That’s not so different!”

She embraced his left arm and brought her body near.

But Mashima used his strength and forcefully pulled himself away.

“Are you bothered?”

“I’m not bothered.”

“Eh-, then at least send me off to my room-. Wanna drink there? Until morning.”

“Sorry but I’m going back to my room. Take care not to drink too much.”

“Don’t you think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?”

“Sorry but I don’t intend to get too deeply involved with you or Chabashira. It’d be nothing but trouble after all.”

“So strict~”

On the counter of the bar where no one else was, Hoshinomiya quietly brought sake to her mouth.

An Intertwined Past

At night, my roommates were getting excited from trifling conversations.

I was worried about Akito, but he withdrew his energy and spent the whole day recovering. He didn’t seem to have any trouble speaking while lying down. While I occasionally returned cues that I was listening and contributed small bits of material, I was mostly passing the night on my phone while acting as a spectator.

As I was surfing the net while waiting to get drowsy, I got a single chat message.

“I kinda wanna call you, is that fine?”

Such a message came from Kei.

A minute has passed since I opened the chat. We usually have about one conversation a day.

From how she didn’t use any emojis or stickers, I could guess that it was serious.

“I’m in my room right now so wait for three minutes.”

We hadn’t reached curfew time yet, so it wouldn’t be difficult to leave the room.

After I sent a reply, I quickly made to leave my bed.

“I’ll get a drink.”

I used convenient words that you could employ at any timing and went from the room to the hallway.

It was past 9pm. I didn’t see any students passing by.

From there I went to the deck and roughly confirmed the surroundings.

After I confirmed that no one was there, I called Kei.

“Hello?”

“Sorry for being so sudden. But I wanted to call you no matter what.”

She said cute, girlfriend-like words.

Is this the desire to hear 『I just wanted to hear your voice for some reason』 from your lover?

“You know-“

After a short pause, Kei cut through.

“I’ve heard bad rumors about you. Won’t you explain them to me?”

“Bad rumors?”

Hm? The words I had expected didn’t come. Rather Kei seemed to be in a bad mood.

There was a long silence. A reply didn’t come right away.

“Bad rumors?”

I didn’t hold it in and asked a second time, but I could only feel her annoyed. She didn’t answer.

On the contrary it seems like she’s suspicious of how I repeated a phrase word-by-word.

“Does nothing even come to mind?”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

I answered right away, but a few things came to mind.

The first and primary thing was sure enough Ichinose.

Nagumo saw us talking and knew that something unordinary was going on.

And since he knew about my relationship with Kei, it wouldn’t be strange if he touched on it. Even aside from that, me pairing up with Satou who confessed to me once, and us chatting with Matsushita ran through my mind.

“Nothing really comes to mind?”

She paused for a second and asked one last time as if she were passing judgement.

“None.”

But I still stuck to pretending that I didn’t know anything. If she knew what specific 『something』 she was talking about, then she wants me to confess the thing I had with Ichinose or with Satou. But as long as she didn’t know anything specific, if I half-mindedly say those things then it might only make her feel worse. If your meat is cut then sever their bone.

…Actually, why did it become like this instead of a sweet phone call?

“Kei?”

When I tried encouraging her by calling her name, she spoke as if her lips were trembling.

“You- that- there’s a rumor, they say you’re seducing a Junior!”

“…Hm?”

Even after hearing the contents of the rumor, I didn’t understand and tilted my neck.

It’s different from the something I expected it to be.

In the end, not saying anything I wasn’t prepared for was the correct choice.

“From where and how did you hear that gossip?”

“I don’t know! But- why did I hear that you’ve been repeatedly meeting with a 1st year!?”

A 1st year girl. The person who comes to mind is Nanase…

As she said, we have been meeting and talking a lot during this vacation.

It’s not as if we were meeting in secret or anything, so there were many witnesses.

I understood the situation, so this shouldn’t take long.

“She’s just my junior.”

“I know! I mean, you’d be out if she weren’t just your junior!”

Indeed.

“And! I heard that you’ve paired up with Satou-san in the treasure hunt!?”

She said. It looked like Kei somehow heard of one of the things that came to my mind.

“I certainly didn’t tell you, but since it’s you wouldn’t you know right away?”

There were many people who saw me walking around with Satou in the treasure hunt. Even Matsushita knows.

“I-I knew that instantly but you see… I knew that but you see.”

Seemingly full of dissatisfaction, she muttered some words that I couldn’t hear.

“The truth is I wanted to pair up with Kiyotaka.”

“I know how you feel, but the order would be messed up wouldn’t it?”

“Bu-“

“By the way how did you do, being paired with Mori?”

“…You want me to tell you?”

“No, it’s fine.”

Since the mood got even worse, I’ll stop getting deep into it. I could keep listening to her complaints like this, but especially since the topic was on Satou, I’ll try to change it.

“You spoke with Satou about what you’re gonna do.”

“Eh? Ah, ah yeah. Sure enough I wanted to tell only Satou-san first.”

“Well, there’s no harm in that. By the way did you have that conversation on the phone or chat?”

“Of course not. Things like this have to be spoken face-to-face. It was in a cafe.”

“A cafe huh. Do you remember being heard by anyone?”

“I’m careful myself so no, not really. At the very least we weren’t heard by any 2nd years so don’t worry.”

Indeed, what Kei should be most careful of is the 2nd years.

The 1st years and 3rd years fundamentally don’t show as much interest in the love matters of other school years.

All the more if the subject is me.

But with the 3rd years it’s the opposite. It wouldn’t be strange if they ate up everything about me.

“Ah~ but, there were 3rd year girls on a nearby seat so it was a bit hard to talk.”

Kei looked back on the time she met with Satou to correct her answer.

From Kei’s viewpoint as someone who doesn’t know many things, she wouldn’t expect to be marked by the 3rd years.

“It’s a good thing she understood.”

“Yeah. But is it really okay? To publicize the fact that we’re dating.”

“Of course there’s no problem.”

Rather, I understand that it’ll be necessary sooner or later.

If we’re pushed into it from the back then as much as we’re pushed, it’ll be a pain to deal with other things.

“Well you said you’d publicize it, but it’s not like you’ll declare it in front of our classmates. You’ll say it naturally in front of your friends, and from there more people will know as time goes on. That’s all.”

They would have a lot of thoughts and reactions, but it’s not such a big problem.

“But look… Kiyotaka is popular.”

“Is that so?”

“Uwa, it’s so annoying that you don’t feel like you know anything about that-“

“Then you don’t have to tell me, do you?”

“Yeah, that’s right, but even if I know that I worry so I’ll end up saying it won’t I!”

It wasn’t as if I didn’t understand what she was saying, but that’s contradictory.

“Aren’t you declaring it to get rid of unnecessary feelings?”

As long as one thinks that the person they like doesn’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend, they might mount intense attacks. In order to avoid that, they reveal the fact that they’re going out with someone.

With that, most people would give up and stop attacking.

Of course I know well that there are a few exceptions but…

“I’m worried…”

Kei fears those few exceptions more than enemies she can’t see.

“You might not know this yet, but there are girls who fall in love with boys who have girlfriends and zealously try to steal them away.”

“I see.”

“Is that okay? I won’t forgive cheating.”

Considering Kei’s dependency, she’d definitely never permit her boyfriend to cheat on her.

That’s something I understood even before we started going out.

“Don’t worry. I won’t do that.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Really really?”

“Really.”

A useless exchange repeated.

But that useless action was something you could put under the process of romance, as showing your love.

“Do you… love me?”

Just to be careful I scanned my surroundings once.

Of course at this time, there probably weren’t any students who would want to visit the dark deck.

“Yeah, I love you.”

Since I knew that no one was around, I was able to say it without hesitation.

“…nfufufu.”

“What’s with that creepy laugh?”

She’s definitely happy. I thought she would reply with the same thing, but to think that it would make her laugh.

“I mean, it was funny when I thought that you were saying that while minding your surroundings.”

It looks like my actions can somehow be seen by Kei.

“I’ll cut the call.”

“Aah wait wait. Say it one more time.”

“Mu.”

When she demanded I say that I loved her another time, my words caught up in my mouth for a moment.

“I said I was going to buy some drinks so I have to go back soon.”

“Hey! Say you love me!”

“I just did.”

“I want to hear it one more time!”

How selfish. No, besides that, even though it’s the same words the weight has changed this much.

“…I love you.”

“……Pupu.”

“Oi.”

Kei tried to hold in her laughter, but it leaked out in the end.

“Yeah, I knew you were the best. …I’ll never give you to anyone else.”

I had just said that she didn’t need to worry about that right now, but it looked like her worry was just getting worse.

“Is it okay to not ask it from me?”

“If I ask, will you say it?”

“I wonder-?”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

“Just a minute! That’s where you ask me isn’t it!?”

How do I say this? Since a while ago she’s been looking like she was giving me a choice but she hasn’t.

“Then say it.”

“You’re throwing it around! It’s like you don’t care! It doesn’t sit well with me~!”

“…Please say it.”

“Eh~? What should I do~”

I held in what I wanted to say and waited for Kei’s reply.

“…I love you.”

Shortly, and while laughing just a little bit, no, while embarrassed, Kei answered.

“Good night Kiyotaka.”

“Yeah, good night.”

After I cut the call, the words ‘I love you’ Kei said to me resounded in my ear.

“Not bad.”

The thing called love is truly interesting.

It was a moment in the night when I thought that.

The Treasure Hunt of Troubled Women – part 9

Past five in the afternoon. Before the dinner at 6pm, I had arranged to meet with a certain person and was now waiting for them.

When I left my room and headed for the 5th floor, I happened across Sudou who was 2 rooms away.

“Where are you going? It’s about to be dinner.”

Sudou seemed like he was returning to his room. He asked me.

“I’m taking a little walk before mealtime.”

“You kinda sound like an old man. Then let’s meet at the restaurant.”

I exchanged light words with him and tried to leave, but as if he had remembered something Sudou raised his voice.

“No, sorry sorry. Right, the thing is I’m a bit surprised about something!”

“That Ike and Shinohara are going out?”

“Wha-what the heck you already knew!”

“I just overheard it.”

“No, of course I’m surprised about that too since he started before me… anyway, that guy said he wanted to study with me. He told me to let him join Suzune’s study group.”

That was unexpected. But more than unexpected it was faster than I thought it would be.

“Being bad at academics is fatal in this school after all.”

The thing that would put you in danger of being expelled the most was, sure enough, studying; the duty of students.

“That’s my precious time where I can be alone with Suzune, but if that guy is determined then I have no choice but to help him do I? So now for our summer studies Kanji will be studying hard with us too.”

Summer studies. Somehow it looks like once this trip ends, they intend to start studying right away.

Whether he’ll produce results right away is up to how hard Ike works, but he might show very quick growth in the 2nd term. Sudou and Ike could both be transforming because of love.

“Even more members might join.”

“Ah? Really?”

“The students who started wanting to study with Horikita aren’t limited to Ike.”

“It’s not a man is it?”

He put on a serious expression, closed his distance with me and grabbed my shoulders.

“No… it’s not. It’s Satou, Satou.”

I hadn’t intended to say the name, but since he was pressuring me I confessed.

“A girl huh. Well then that’s… I mean, is it Satou? If she knows that not only I but also Ike will be in the study group won’t she not participate?”

“I think she’s expecting something like that to some extent? It looked like she was strongly determined.”

“Hmmm. Well, that’s fine. No matter who comes, I won’t feel like giving up after all.”

He breathed through his nose with a fufufun. He made me feel another strong desire to study from him.

“Won’t it be hard with your club activities?”

“It will be hard. But in the first place I’ve always been confident in my physical strength. My head would spin and I would want to sleep in one minute, but now, I don’t… no, I can focus for about an hour.”

If he can focus on studying for just that long then there’s no problem.

A single hour of studying, rest, and another hour of studying. Repeating this cycle is more than enough.

“But – damn, I can’t accept that Kanji got a girlfriend before me-“

Sudou lamented as he laughed with frustration from his heart.

“For that, I’ll be blaming him while tempering myself. With the basketball club’s spartan training.”

It seems like he’ll train harshly with the love and hatred for his friend in mind.

“In moderation. It’s not easy to start liking studying if you hated it before.”

“I know. I really hated studying myself huh.”

After he said that, he stuck out his tongue as if he had eaten something bad.

After I separated with Sudou, I arrived at my destination. I saw Kushida on the deck once and hid. It was five minutes after the time we had arranged to meet, so of course she’s waiting.

I took out my phone and called her. She picked it up on my second try.

“Hello?”

After I was able to confirm her voice, I started walking towards her on the deck.

Phones by nature prioritize 『calls』.

Hypothetically, even if you’re in video recording mode, if a call starts then it automatically exits it.

In other words, the conversation between Kushida and I here will be kept between us.

“Sorry Kushida, I’m late. I was in the middle of buying something. Are you still waiting?”

“Yeah, um – ah, here-!”

Kushida looked left and right, spotted me and waved.

Without cutting my phone, I quickly arrived in front of her.

At about the same time, we cut the call.

“Sorry for making you wait. I got a little lost.”

“You’re clumsy too. But what happened? You said you had something to talk about.”

“I was a bit hesitant on what I should do for some time, but as I thought, I think I should reveal it.”

“Hm? Reveal? What?”

“You know that I was participating in the Treasure Hunting Game right?”

“Yeah. You were paired with Satou-san weren’t you?”

So what? She was curious because she wasn’t able to understand where I was going with this.

“In the Treasure Hunt, the code I scanned was worth 100,000 points. So, apart from the participation fee, that’s 90,000 points. If we divide that by two, it’s 45000 points. I think it’d be correct to give you that half.”

I said that, produced my phone and showed the record of my money.

The fact that I had just received 100,000 points from now was written clearly.

“Eeh? That was a game, you don’t need to worry that much you know~”

Kushida was surprised since she hadn’t thought of this. She made an arch with her hands and refused.

“Honestly, at first I also thought that. I definitely thought that, but I started to feel that was wicked and unfair. There was also a possibility that you would say you didn’t need it, but I wondered if I could live silent without telling you this. I’m ashamed of my way of thinking, so it’s only reasonable to give you this.”

“But-“

No matter what kind of reasoning I introduced, it would be hard to accept from Kushida’s standpoint.

“If I were to say what I really think… I want you to accept this as my sincerity.”

“Sincerity…?”

“By giving half of the private points I receive, I’m buying safety from you. As long as I keep my sincerity in this, I think you can also keep your sincerity.”

Am I wrong? I appealed with my eyes.

“There’s no harm in getting even a little bit more private points. Right?”

“Right, but isn’t it really hard for you?”

“It’s fine. It’s not a big deal compared to fighting with you.”

“Like… on the contrary this is kinda scary.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re-look, people say a lot of things about you and that you’re an amazing student. Are you really giving me half of your points for a truce?”

“From my viewpoint, I’ve judged that more than Sakayanagi and Ryuuen who fought on the island, making an enemy out of you, who I see everyday, is dangerous.”

Even while keeping some of her guard up, Kushida nodded to signify that she had more or less understood.

“I get it. So it’s fine right?”

“Of course.”

I used my phone and transferred the private points from today as well to Kushida’s account.

“I said I’d give you money, but if you ever have a problem related to money then I might help.”

“Eeh~? That’s kinda uncool Ayanokouji-kun.”

As if me being pathetic was funny, Kushida laughed a little.

“But I think this is far, far smarter than what Horikita is doing. I don’t hate it.”

“Really?”

“I also think that I don’t want to make an enemy from you of all people. Please take care of me.”

“Yeah. Please, let’s have a relationship where we can give-and-take.”

After that, having no business left with Kushida, I separated from her.

The Treasure Hunt of Troubled Women – part 8

The students who had scanned their codes for the Treasure Hunting Game still had to report back to the school.

Satou and I returned to the starting point and headed for Horikita at the reception.

“Good work. Your procedure is now finished.”

Satou honestly showed happiness from receiving such words.

“With that, thanks Ayanokouji-kun, for today. Let’s play together next time.”

Saying that, she waved her hand and happily walked away.

I’ve suddenly made some money, so it’s not a bad idea to pass the time on this luxury cruiser.

“Subtracting the participation fee, you two gained 180,000 points. Good work.”

“Yeah.”

By now it looked like most students had already reached the goal. Not many people were coming.

“Looks like you had it rough too. Were you able to rest?”

“Yes, for an hour. But I won’t complain. I thought about this measure to defend against foul play on my own and appealed to the school for it.”

“An appeal huh. It’s not much but you took a step to becoming the Student Council President huh.”

If she improves her image with things like this, she’ll be evaluated highly by the Student Council and the school.

“That’s not it. Even if I hadn’t done that people probably wouldn’t have cheated, would they. It’s just… I’d just like to be of some use.”

I don’t really get it, but Horikita’s gaze looked at the future.

“So, who got the most private points in our class?”

“Who do you think?”

After I was asked that, I phrased it as a question and replied.

“I hope it’s not us.”

“Good for you, that’s the correct answer. There’s a pair who got 500,000 private points. Yui Wan-san and Kouenji-kun.”

“Kouenji? I thought he would participate, but not with a partner.”

There were many people in the hall, so I didn’t notice Kouenji.

“I thought the same. I don’t know the details of why he participated with a pairmate, but now he’s saved up a lot of money from these past two weeks.”

“Everything Kouenji does is out of the ordinary.”

To think that in addition to his frightening physical prowess, he even had luck.

Though I don’t know if his partner was the one who found that 2D code.

“Not being able to use that Kouenji from here is a big minus for our class.”

“He never moved before. Can’t you be satisfied with him taking 1st place this time?”

“Of course I can’t, can I? In order to rise to A-Class, not being able to use his power is too wasteful. Didn’t you think of anything?”

A way to use Kouenji effectively? Even trying to think of that in itself is a waste of resources.

“We can’t.”

“An instant reply.”

If the other party measured up to a certain extent, I would’ve been confident that I could control them myself. But it was Kouenji, the sole exception to that.

I’ve simulated how I would control everyone in our class several times. The only one I couldn’t place under my control no matter how many times I tried was Kouenji.

“Even if you give up, I will not. His power is necessary.”

She’s trying to control something that can’t be controlled. That was a simple contradiction.

“Even if it were a waste of time?”

“Are you saying we don’t need Kouenji-kun?”

“I think that if he won’t harm us, the best thing to do is to leave him alone. Kouenji has also gained a protection point, so it’s even safer to leave him alone.”

“Surely a reasonable thought, isn’t it.”

“If we can’t win without Kouenji, I’d understand being desperate. But your class has already grown into one that can fight sufficiently with other classes. And they will continue growing from here on out.”

“Yes. Indeed, if you compare them to how they were last year they’ve become considerably reliable.”

But – Horikita continues.

“Aiming for A-Class is my first priority and my final goal, but I want to unite our class into one. I want to guide them into joining all of their power.”

She doesn’t want even Kouenji to be missing huh.

The eyes with which Horikita was staring at me were too honest. Without thinking I was left speechless.

If the man known as Kouenji could be dragged into becoming Horikita’s comrade, he would become an ally hard to replace with anything.

But that hurdle is probably even more difficult than reaching A-Class.

Before, I wouldn’t have seriously accepted this declaration.

Nonsense beyond her means. I likely would have written it off as that.

Horikita’s growth is slow, but it’s advancing step by step.

Well… be that as it may, I can’t say when Horikita will cause even Kouenji to move.

Because the man named Kouenji was truly incalculable.

“What is it?”

“What?”

“It looked like you were thinking about something.”

“No, I’m just worrying about what I’ll spend the private points I got on.”

“…I see. You’ll give half of those points to Kushida-san, so you should value the private points you gained today and stop wasting them.”

“Yeah. I’ll do that.”

Even if I stayed any further I would only bother their work, so I made to leave in low spirits.

The Treasure Hunt of Troubled Women – part 7

Past 2pm. There is quite some time until the Treasure Hunting Game ends, but we can probably say that we’ve looked everywhere. The 2D codes saved in my pictures numbered six. Among them, the ones whose difficulties I objectively evaluated to be 4/5 numbered three. We could probably pick one of these to scan.

“Please on the cam.”

“Which will we scan?”

“You can pick whichever feels best for you.”

“Eh-ehhh? Is it okay to let me pick? What if I get it wrong?”

“In the first place we only preserved a select few 2D codes. And there’s a chance that all of them are already scanned, so we might end up scanning all of them.”

Our chances would probably be better if we decide right away rather than if we think about it slowly.

“U-understood.”

Satou produced her phone and I let her slide through my pictures.

It looked like she was worrying about something for a few seconds, but she picked a picture and faced her camera towards it.

That’s the 2D code I had found under the sofa.

But-.

“Aah it doesn’t look like any good. It says it’s already received.”

It was considerably difficult to find, but it looked like other students had also found it.

“Don’t mind. Let’s go next.”

She nodded and scanned this 2D code without hesitation.

But it looked like the 2nd one had also been received already, Satou stamped her feet in frustration.

“Even though they were so hard to find! How annoying!”

She hurriedly scanned the 3rd 2D code.

From there, Satou stared at the screen before jumping high.

“It scanned! Look! Something like a treasure chest appeared!”

There was a simple illustration of a treasure box with the word TAP written.

“I wonder how many points we can get…”

Satou tried to move the treasure chest up with her index finger, but she stopped it before it could touch.

“A-Ayanokouji-kun push it!”

It looked like she was somewhat afraid to see the results. She handed me the phone.

From her perspective she participated at the cost of her precious 10,000 points. She seemed afraid to know the result.

(TN: These two sentences really are extremely similar even in the raws)

I accepted the phone from Satou and touched the treasure box on the screen.

“Wah, Ayanokouji-kun is so bold!”

I didn’t do anything big enough to be called bold.

The treasure chest simply lit up and a pale light shone from inside.

And-

“Ah! …Ah~”

Satou was extremely surprised for a second, but when she noticed reality her happiness ended weakly.

That’s because 1,000,000 points…  didn’t appear from within the treasure box, but 100,000 points. Just because she was hoping for 300,000, 500,000, or even 1,000,000 points, her shoulders stooped slightly.

“It looks like the 2D code we found wasn’t as rare as we thought it was.”

“Okay~… too bad. But-but, even if you take away the participation fee 90,000 points is enough!”

She didn’t even need to make sure that this was enough to make her openly glad that she had participated.

“Thank you Ayanokouji-kun.”

“I should be thanking you. The one who found this unscanned code was you after all.”

“…Hehe.”

Satou showed a happy and embarrassed face.