Chapter 129: The Spy's Actions, Airi Sakura's Adventure (2-in-1 5k) (Patreon)

News that Class C had withdrawn from the exam spread across the whole deserted island in no time.

After Class A received Taiga Shijou's report, Katsuragi also sent two students to the beach to check things out.

The result: the news was true.

Class C's people really had gone back to the cruise ship.

Looking out from the beach, Class C's students were scattered in twos and threes across the towering ship's deck. Some even leaned deliberately against the railing, sipping juice, waving down at everyone still stuck on the island.

The stark contrast in treatment weighed on everyone's mood to some degree — after all, they still had to camp and chop wood, while Class C was already enjoying first-class service aboard ship.

Beyond Class A, the other classes had confirmed the same fact, and the news sent ripples through all three of them.

Given their different classes and standpoints, reactions to the news varied widely once it got around.

Some were shocked, some confused, some angry — every kind of reaction was on display.

But whatever anyone thought of it, Class C's withdrawal was now simply a fact.

Hikaru Naruse, for his part, had no time to spare on the matter.

After breakfast, he shouldered his pack and headed back into the depths of the forest. Check-in time hadn't come yet, but going in early meant gathering more information.

Before setting out, he made a point of giving Kohei Katsuragi some instructions.

"Katsuragi-san, we don't need to worry too much about Class C's situation,"

Naruse's tone was calm — after all, if things followed the original story, Kakeru Ryuen should already be lying low somewhere on the island, waiting for his final payoff.

"We can keep improving the camp and raise everyone's quality of life, to make this exam a little easier on us."

The boy paused, then went on.

"As for the camp — if anything goes wrong, you should be the first to step in and handle it, Katsuragi-san. Try to keep everyone's attention fixed on you.

"If it's workable... you could even take that [fake card] out and use it now and then.

"It's meant to throw off the other classes' spies. As long as it has some effect, that's enough — enough to sway how the other classes decide whose name to write down in the end."

"Understood."

Kohei Katsuragi wasn't aggressive enough, but he had more than enough steadiness to hold the line.

Most of his strategies aimed for stability, and since Naruse had built an environment perfectly suited to defense, Katsuragi had always carried out his role well.

"Naruse-san, actually, we could put on a bit of a performance too."

"A performance?"

"Right. For instance, we could have some classmates deliberately bring up the card with me — and it'd be even better if it got passed around a bit."

For once, a hint of a smile crossed Katsuragi's usually stiff face.

"In any case, it's enough as long as the other classes get wind of it.

No one could guarantee there wasn't some pair of eyes watching from the grass beyond camp, so Naruse and Katsuragi's strategy was to keep treating the [fake card] as their core gimmick at all times.

Whether or not anyone was really watching aside, if Kakeru Ryuen ever actually made his way near Class A's camp, simply letting him spot that [fake card] would go a long way toward swaying his judgment.

After all, his plan was to hide out alone on the island, first burning through his class's full 300 exam points, then living out a "castaway survival" of sorts.

Once the points were gone, roll calls and rule violations would lose their power to deduct anything, leaving him free to act without restraint.

"Sure. And there's no need for anyone to call it 'the card' directly — they could just call it 'that thing.'"

Naruse smiled faintly. Generally speaking, information handed over too directly only made people suspicious.

Let the opponent work it out themselves — an answer they'd reasoned out on their own was the one they'd truly believe.

"Right, understood."

"All right, Katsuragi-san, I'll head off then."

"Remember to take plenty of food, Naruse-san. Your supplies matter more to us than anything else."

Katsuragi's tone was gentle. He understood full well how important Naruse was to Class A, so he'd spread that idea through the whole camp, and everyone had readily agreed.

At breakfast, Naruse had been given the most lavish portion, and no one had raised any objection.

"Mm."

Katsuragi looked at Naruse and gave a solemn nod.

"Please keep up the good work, Naruse-san. I'll make sure everyone in the class stays safe."

"I trust you."

Naruse smiled faintly, then turned toward the southern entrance and strode quickly back into the forest.

Meanwhile.

On the eastern side of the island stood first-year Class D's camp.

Breakfast had ended a while ago, and the camp had settled into a kind of temporary lull.

Some people leaned against their tents resting, while others, assigned different tasks, had already headed into the forest to gather firewood.

Suzune Horikita wasn't feeling her best, but since she'd been chosen as the one responsible for writing the name on the key card, she was busy working out the next step of the plan.

Meanwhile Yosuke Hirata, the class's well-liked good guy, was overseeing various camp duties, coordinating cleanup assignments and planning lunch.

Kikyo Kushida, the class's little angel, was busy cleaning alongside two other girls.

They'd only be living here for seven days, but a deserted island was nothing like a dorm room.

If they didn't keep the surroundings clean, they'd risk drawing flies or worse pests, so daily cleaning was essential.

Though her face stayed all smiles on the surface, Kushida's mind was actually elsewhere.

Yesterday, Kei Karuizawa had passed along a message from Naruse.

"Hikaru-kun asked me to tell you... if you get the chance, you should wander into the forest more."

Kei had relayed the message word for word, but she hadn't explained why — she'd just said it and left.

Kushida, of course, knew exactly what it meant. With no phones and communication so limited, meeting up meant either arranging a "chance encounter" or agreeing beforehand on a place to go.

She badly wanted to go see Naruse, but camp duties kept tying her down.

The downside of being too popular was showing itself right now.

Ever since the exam began, plenty of classmates had taken to seeking her out for a chat — sometimes to discuss what to do next, sometimes just to vent, letting off the stress of the exam and island life.

Weighed down by her role as the class's little angel, Kushida was thoroughly annoyed underneath, yet she couldn't let it show — she kept a smile for everyone.

It was a choice she'd made herself.

So today Kushida's mood was actually pretty foul. She wanted nothing more than to march straight into the forest and "run into" the guy she missed so much.

But precisely because of her little-angel role, the job of foraging outside never fell to her — her daily duties revolved around basic arrangements at the camp.

It was everyone's way of "favoring" her, and it left her with no way to just slip away.

Class D's camp actually had a decent standard of living. Between the girls' complaints and the boys' bickering, they'd ended up buying two separate toilets right from the start.

The living supplies they'd bought had eaten up a fair number of points too — nowhere near Class A's current level, but still a hefty 175 points spent in one go, leaving them with 125 remaining.

Beyond supplies, Class D's real trouble turned out to be basic character.

When the exam first started, everyone had genuinely pulled together, each person working for the class's benefit — or at least putting up that appearance.

But barely a night had passed before the friction among classmates began surfacing.

There were slackers among both the boys and girls, always finding excuses to dodge work.

To those actually working hard, that kind of behavior was naturally infuriating no matter how you looked at it, and arguments broke out often, with Hirata constantly playing peacemaker.

The sense of infighting left Kushida quietly contemptuous.

A little while later, three people suddenly walked in through the camp entrance.

Kushida glanced over and spotted the two boys she looked down on most in class, Haruki Yamauchi and Kanji Ike, along with a girl.

Hm...?

As someone with a formidable social network, Kushida recognized the girl almost the instant she laid eyes on her.

Nanami Yabu.

One of the delinquent girls under Shiho Manabe of Class C.

Once it registered, Kushida felt a jolt of surprise.

Someone from Class C — what was going on?

As soon as Yamauchi and Ike brought the girl close to camp, everyone else naturally noticed right away.

The girl wore the standard tracksuit, caked with dirt and bits of grass, and a clearly visible red handprint marked her cheek.

The mark was obvious — a single glance was all it took to spot it.

Her expression was grim too, head slightly bowed, as she stumbled straight into Class D's camp.

"Hey, Yamauchi, what's going on here? Isn't she from Class C?"

Quite a few people recognized Nanami Yabu — her reputation for trouble had circulated among the first-years for a while.

"Yeah, what's going on?"

"Didn't Class C withdraw from the exam? Why is she here?"

"Hm... that's a nasty red mark. Did she get into a fight with someone?"

Voices rose from the crowd in every direction, all expressing surprise.

Kushida, Hirata, and Horikita — who'd just gotten back from the forest — were all a bit taken aback.

Kei Karuizawa was surprised too, though what she felt more was an instinctive flash of satisfaction.

After all, back when Naruse had rescued her, this girl had been one of the ones bullying her.

Faced with the situation, Yamauchi wasted no time launching into the story of how he and Ike had found Nanami Yabu in the forest.

"So here's what happened."

"Ike and I found her in the forest!"

"She said she'd gotten into a fight with her classmate Mio Ibuki, who'd actually hit her, so once everyone decided to withdraw, she didn't go straight back to the ship."

"Because she didn't want to look at Ibuki's face."

When that came out, Class D's people started buzzing again.

"Ibuki-san... oh, she's the one in charge for Class C, isn't she."

"She actually hit a girl from her own class?"

"That's just awful."

"So how do we deal with this now?"

"Yeah, if everyone from Class C withdrew, what's she supposed to do?"

Voices rose and fell all around — some sympathetic, others wary or worried.

Seeing Nanami Yabu's pitiful, nowhere-to-go look, Yamauchi suddenly felt a surge of heroic impulse to play the knight in shining armor.

He thumped his chest and spoke up loudly.

"I mean, if a girl's stuck alone on this island, that's got to be dangerous, right? And she's got nothing to eat."

"I think we should show a little humanity and help her out."

Ike quickly backed up his buddy, adding,

"Yeah, it's just one more person, no big deal. I can help put together an extra share of supplies for her."

"We're all classmates, after all."

Once the two of them spoke up, a few other boys chimed in with agreement — after all, no one felt easy leaving a girl alone in the forest on a deserted island. Food aside, the forest at night was frightening enough on its own.

Of course, for every supporter there was an objector — not everyone was this soft-hearted.

As the one in charge for this exam, Horikita stepped straight out from the crowd of Class D students, fixing her striking eyes directly on Nanami Yabu at the center of the camp.

"I don't think this is a good idea. What if she's a mole for Class C?" Horikita asked, without a shred of mercy.

"What mole?"

Yamauchi, who'd been scolded by Horikita more than once before, instinctively snapped back at her.

"Class C already withdrew, all of them. What kind of mole could she be? Who's she even going to hand intel to?"

Maybe the crowd's support had emboldened him — Yamauchi's face twisted a little as he shouted at Horikita, his tone carrying a note of "how can you be so heartless" anger.

"Horikita-san, you're seriously heartless!"

Rude as the line was, it struck a chord with some of the crowd. Looking at the girl in front of them, so obviously bullied, plenty of people instinctively started weighing whether to help her, just this once.

But Horikita wasn't the type to be cowed by "crowd mood." She spoke on just as coldly.

"Can you vouch for her? Guarantee she's not a mole."

"I..."

Seeing the two of them about to come to blows, Hirata quickly stepped in between them, smiling as he smoothed things over.

"All right, I don't think there's any need to fight over this. Horikita-san, Yamauchi-san — helping someone out really is a good thing."

"Why don't we just vote on it? Majority rules. If most people agree, we'll take her in — one more set of chopsticks isn't a big deal, anyway."

"And if it really comes down to it, I'll vouch for her myself. We can't just leave a girl alone in the forest."

Hirata really lived up to his reputation as the "good guy." Once he'd spoken up, a lot of people's leanings shifted.

After several dozen minutes of discussion, a decision was finally reached.

Even though Horikita was displeased, Class D ultimately agreed to let Nanami Yabu stay.

She showed no particular gratitude, just found a patch of shade and sat down on her own.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka stood off to the side, a piece of wood in hand, and cast a deliberate glance at Nanami Yabu under the tree.

He said nothing, simply going on calmly with what was in front of him.

In an unnoticed corner of the camp.

Airi Sakura slung her backpack over her shoulders and slipped slowly out of Class D's camp.

She'd already told her friend Haruka Hasebe that she was heading into the forest to gather firewood on her own, but in truth she was going to look for Naruse.

The girl had no interest in the class taking in a student from Class C; she simply slipped quietly away.

Because last night, Airi had also overheard the message Kei had delivered to Kushida.

"Hikaru-kun said... you should wander into the forest more."

The line wasn't hard to figure out at all — Airi understood right away that Naruse was likely going to be spending a long stretch of this exam in the forest.

So... if she wandered around the forest too, wasn't there a chance she'd run into him?

Airi missed Naruse badly.

It was a simple wish, but a fervent one.

She hadn't seen Naruse in several days now. In the days before the exam, Naruse had thrown a celebration party; Airi had known about it but hadn't gone.

And ever since boarding the cruise ship, she'd stayed with Class D's group the whole time, with no chance at all to see Naruse alone.

Airi had grown quite a bit — she could stay basically composed in a crowd now, and hold a normal conversation with Hasebe.

But Sakura knew perfectly well, deep down, that she still wasn't very good at expressing her own feelings — it was something she still needed to work on and grow past.

In Class D's camp, Airi spent most of her time basically invisible; aside from Hasebe, she'd only exchanged a few brief words with a handful of other girls.

With the boys, there'd been none at all.

None of that mattered much, though. What mattered was that Airi already had someone in Naruse — the perfect person to pour her heart out to.

Beyond just talking, she also got to enjoy the sweetest comfort and care from him.

Airi felt lucky to have gotten to know Naruse. It had been him who'd first asked to meet her, but she was grateful to the version of herself who'd bravely shown up that day.

Her feelings kept building inside her, until at last they pushed the girl into a decision.

She decided to set out.

To go find him.

Airi's departure drew no one's notice at all.

She followed a barely visible trail deeper into the forest, her pace unhurried but steady.

The woods were thick with tropical, humid air, the canopy overhead swaying gently in the breeze.

"Hikaru-kun..."

The girl tightened the straps of her backpack, let out a long breath, and walked on.