Chapter 130: An Interesting Battle, Airi Sakura's Desire (Two-in-One 5k) (Patreon)

Naruse kept wandering through the forest, his thoughts drifting on and on.

If the original storyline held true, Ryuen and Class C should already have planted moles in Class B and Class D by now.

Class B kids were all good-natured — they wouldn't overthink it and would let someone blend right in.

As for Class D, as long as Yosuke Hirata's nice-guy instincts kicked in, that wouldn't be much of a problem either.

On the surface, Class C had indeed withdrawn from the competition, but Ryuen himself planned to go it alone, surviving on the deserted island by himself, all so he could catch everyone off guard at the very end and come out the final winner.

The one difference from the original story was that, because of Naruse's early interference, Ryuen hadn't fully taken control of Class C yet.

That state of affairs probably wouldn't last much longer, though. The boy knew well enough that, given the overall caliber of Class C's students, Ryuen would eventually rise to the top regardless.

After all, if anyone in that class wanted to climb higher, they'd have no choice but to rely on his ruthless, unscrupulous schemes.

None of that mattered much right now, though. Naruse's immediate task was to finish his own business first.

Besides checking in at the outposts, he also planned to scout out Ryuen's outpost — without being spotted, of course.

For now, he'd let Ryuen keep thinking he was untouchable — let the guy float on his own hot air a little while longer.

He'd been wandering the forest for a little over an hour.

Then Naruse suddenly heard movement coming from the trees behind him.

It didn't sound like footsteps on wood or stone — more like the whooshing rustle of some animal darting and leaping between trunks and branches.

"What's going on?"

Naruse turned to look, and the next moment he found himself staring at an utterly outrageous sight.

A tall, golden-haired man was leaping through the branches overhead like some impossibly agile ape.

His movements were seamless, his powerful body tracing graceful arcs through the air, soaring high and landing squarely on each branch.

He looked less like a high schooler and more like a professional acrobat.

Rokusuke Koenji.

"This guy... he really is something else."

Just as Naruse was staring up at him, Koenji caught the gaze. He looked down, and their eyes met in midair.

The next instant, a smile tugged at the man's mouth, and he dropped straight down from the tree.

Thump!

He landed squarely on the ground, then looked at Naruse and spoke.

"Naruse boy."

Koenji's voice was booming, brimming with confidence. He'd always carried himself that way, never once caring what anyone thought of him.

By any measure, the man really was formidable.

"I didn't expect to run into you out here. Must be fate."

Naruse looked at the flamboyant expression on his face and just smiled faintly.

"Good afternoon, Koenji."

Koenji waved a broad hand, his whole presence swelling even more grandiose.

"Naruse boy, I've pretty much finished exploring this island."

"Honestly, this place isn't worthy of my talents," Koenji paused, then laughed heartily. "Now that I've had my fill, I don't feel like playing house with the rest of you anymore!"

"Hm?"

Naruse already knew he'd drop out partway through, so he rubbed his chin and asked, deliberately playing along.

"Don't tell me, Koenji... you're planning to withdraw?"

"That's right!"

Koenji had never once cared about the group. All he ever pursued was his own comfort.

"If you withdraw partway through, it'll cost Class D points."

"Naruse boy, do you really think someone as perfect as me would care about something so trivial?"

Koenji remained utterly breezy about it, his reasoning apparently airtight in his own mind.

"I won't lower myself for a bunch of defective goods — I'm a man destined to carry this society's future on his shoulders!"

As the only son and heir of the Koenji Zaibatsu, Koenji actually had every right to say such a thing.

"As for what I mentioned last time, Naruse boy, feel free to keep thinking it over."

The golden-haired man seemed to genuinely admire Naruse, and he extended the invitation once more.

"If you're willing to become my right hand, I'll share both glory and fortune with you!"

"That does sound tempting."

Naruse chuckled, then raised a hand and pointed ahead.

"But more important than recruiting me — someone else just heard everything you said."

"He's... a student from your class too, isn't he?"

Following the direction of Naruse's finger, Koenji turned to look and saw an expressionless boy stepping out of the trees.

The boy's features were rather handsome, but his blank expression gave off a distinctly gloomy air.

Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

He stood about five meters away, hands tucked in the pockets of his tracksuit, calmly watching Koenji.

"Ah, it's Ayanokoji boy."

Koenji glanced back at him, apparently unconcerned that his words had just been overheard.

"He's the tight-lipped one in our class. He probably won't try to stop me from withdrawing."

Naruse shook his head slightly at that.

"That's something you'd need to ask him yourself. You can't just decide for him."

The next moment, it was Ayanokoji, standing off to the side, who picked up the thread.

"That's true enough."

Ayanokoji said slowly, his tone giving away nothing.

"I'd rather my classmates not withdraw from the exam. It's a group test, after all."

Hearing this, Naruse kept studying the look on Ayanokoji's face.

As the greatest masterpiece the White Room had ever produced in the original story, Ayanokoji had taken certain matters into his own hands before the uninhabited-island exam began, after Sae Chabashira deliberately fed him false information.

Though he'd ultimately pushed the credit onto Suzune Horikita, Ayanokoji hated being deceived, and his relationship with Chabashira had grown considerably strained because of it.

And the attitude he was showing now suggested he genuinely wanted to stop Koenji from withdrawing.

"See? I told you your classmates wouldn't approve of this, Koenji."

Naruse deliberately poured a little fuel on the fire, curious to see how Koenji and Ayanokoji would handle the situation.

The next moment, the golden-haired man turned fully around to face Ayanokoji.

"Ayanokoji boy, are you actually trying to stop me?"

"If words alone could talk you out of withdrawing, that would be exactly the outcome I want."

"But I'm not really one for listening to others. If you want to stop me..."

Koenji flicked his wrists, a savage grin curling at the corner of his mouth.

"...you'll have to beat me. Do that, and I'll agree to stay in."

Before the sentence had even finished, Koenji's body was already moving.

He surged forward like a roaring beast, charging straight at Ayanokoji.

Bam!

His fist shot toward Ayanokoji's head, but it was blocked by an arm in an instant.

"Interesting."

Naruse could see it clearly — Koenji's burst had been near-instantaneous. Even from a few meters away, an ordinary person would never have reacted in time.

But Ayanokoji hadn't just reacted — his block had been textbook.

With a flex of the arm, he'd absorbed the force of the punch and pinned Koenji's arm in place.

The next instant, Ayanokoji's counterattack came just as fast.

His right hand rose with unbelievable speed and shot straight for Koenji's stomach.

Smack!

This time his fist met Koenji's knee instead, and the two of them collided again.

Without another word, the two of them suddenly broke into close-quarters combat right there in the clearing.

Fist against fist, kick against kick.

To Naruse's eyes, the exchange was thrilling to watch.

Koenji's fighting style was all brutal aesthetics, probably the flashy result of training since childhood — every strike sharp and packed with raw power.

Ayanokoji's offense and defense, by contrast, moved at a steady, deliberate rhythm. He seemed to care less about looking good than about efficiency — every motion precise, whether attacking or defending.

On the surface Koenji was bigger and stronger, but Ayanokoji still held his own.

"Splendid. If only I had popcorn."

Naruse was thoroughly enjoying the show. He even pulled a water bottle from his backpack and took a sip.

Unfortunately, the fight didn't last long. After trading maybe a dozen or so blows, both of them pulled back and put distance between themselves.

"Not bad at all. Looks like my read on you was right."

Koenji shook out his arms, his joints popping all over.

"Ayanokoji boy, you really do have hidden depths."

"You flatter me."

Ayanokoji rubbed at his wrist. Truth be told, Koenji was no ordinary opponent. Ayanokoji hadn't lost, but he hadn't dominated the fight either.

A situation like this had never once come up back at that place.

"So, what's your decision, Koenji?"

"Hahaha, I'm not changing my mind."

The golden-haired man laughed heartily.

"Whether it's you or Naruse boy, nobody's going to change my mind."

"I'm heading back to the cruise ship to enjoy my own life. See you both around."

With that, Koenji spun around, planted his legs, and sprang upward, landing on a nearby tree once more.

"Catch you later, Naruse boy!"

His figure kept bounding through the treetops, crashing through the canopy, and in the blink of an eye he vanished into the deep forest.

Naruse watched the direction Koenji had disappeared in and just smiled faintly.

Then he turned his gaze to Ayanokoji, standing across from him.

"Looks like your class is about to lose thirty points."

"I already expected that. Even if he'd lost, Koenji would've withdrawn anyway."

Ayanokoji replied calmly, and then he heard Naruse address him directly.

"Ayanokoji, this isn't the first time we've met, is it?"

"No, we met before, at the study session."

Ayanokoji's manner was cold, but with Emotion Perception at his disposal, Naruse could tell the other boy had more he wanted to say.

Ayanokoji had been trained to a formidable degree, but that didn't make him some emotionless machine.

"Seems like Koenji's pretty interested in you."

"He's probably more interested in you."

"You think we don't have much to talk about?" Naruse arched an eyebrow slowly.

"What are you planning?" Ayanokoji asked, just as sharp, cutting straight to it.

"I just think you're an interesting person. If I ever want to get something done, I might need a partner I can trust."

"A partner?"

"Don't answer a question with a question, Ayanokoji. I actually know quite a lot about you."

Ayanokoji fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"You're interested in men?"

"Don't say things that'll get misunderstood. Obviously I only like cute girls."

Naruse's expression barely shifted as he went on.

"I see potential in you. If the opportunity comes up, we might really end up working together."

Ayanokoji had noticed Naruse long ago, but he still wanted to confirm what he already knew.

"What information do you have?"

"Oh, I know plenty. Like, say, the White Room."

After parting ways with Ayanokoji, a relaxed smile settled on Naruse's face.

Honestly, he'd always felt that the Ayanokoji of the original story was a man weighed down by a great many chains.

Because of his father and the White Room, he'd been driven to do a great many things.

He came off as effortlessly aloof, but at the end of the day, the guy just wanted to learn and experience things he'd never had the chance to before.

Naruse had settled on this approach back when Asuka Shiraishi was gathering intel for him.

Using someone as a partner would always be simpler than making them an enemy.

So long as the matters he actually cared about were resolved, Ayanokoji wouldn't be all that eager to climb up in class rank. In a sense, he was someone with far fewer ambitions than most.

"If I can put his hand to use, things down the road might end up a lot easier."

Take, for instance, dealing with whoever the White Room decided to send.

Naruse moved swiftly through the forest. It was nearly six o'clock, and the sun was sinking slowly toward the west.

Just after crossing a narrow trail, Naruse suddenly noticed a girl sitting in the forest.

She sat curled up at the base of a large tree, red hair falling around her, glasses on, her eyes downcast toward the ground.

Airi Sakura sat there at the tree's roots, arms wrapped around her knees.

It had been almost an hour since she'd slipped away from Class D's camp.

She'd figured she'd find Naruse in the forest fairly quickly, but the woods on this deserted island turned out to be far bigger and far more tangled than she'd imagined.

After walking for about forty minutes, she realized she wasn't even sure which direction she'd come from anymore, and her legs had started to ache.

So she decided to rest for a while and set off again once she'd caught her breath.

Airi didn't regret her decision to slip away at all — her resolve to find Naruse hadn't wavered for a moment.

Just then, she seemed to hear footsteps.

She flinched slightly at first, but the next moment, as though catching a familiar scent, color rushed into her cheeks.

The next instant, someone wrapped her gently in an embrace from behind.

A pair of warm, strong arms circled her waist, and a broad, warm chest pressed against her back.

Wrapped in that familiar scent, Airi spoke without even thinking.

"Hikaru-kun!"

Her voice trembled with excitement — she knew her instincts wouldn't be wrong. The moment his scent had drawn close, she'd recognized him instantly.

It really was the boy she thought about morning and night.

Sure enough, the boy's voice sounded right by her ear a heartbeat later.

"You haven't even seen my face, Airi. How'd you know it was me?"

Naruse held her from behind, resting his chin lightly atop her head.

"Because I already caught your scent, Hikaru-kun."

"My scent?"

Naruse sniffed at his own arm. By rights there shouldn't have been any smell to speak of.

"Sweat, maybe?"

"Nope."

Hearing his voice, Airi felt utterly content.

"It's the scent that's uniquely yours, Hikaru-kun..."

"All right, Airi, turn around."

"Mm!"

Airi slowly turned around, and finally she saw the face that had haunted her thoughts for two straight days.

A gentle, doting smile spread across the boy's handsome, elegant face, and he reached out to pat her gently on the head.

"Hikaru-kun!"

The next moment, she buried herself against his chest.

"Airi... this must be pretty far from Class D's camp. What are you doing all the way out here?"

Naruse stroked her hair and asked slowly.

"Because I wanted to see you."

Feeling how sincere her feelings were, Naruse said nothing more. He simply held her quietly.

The two of them stayed like that deep in the forest, holding each other close.

After five or six minutes of embracing, Airi lifted her head again, her eyes burning as she gazed at him.

"Hikaru-kun... could you comfort me?"

"Of course."

"...Could we go somewhere else?"

"Oh, that kind of comfort."

"Mm..."

Airi glanced around at their surroundings — it wasn't dark yet — and something seemed to occur to her, because her face suddenly flushed red.

"You really want me to have my way with you that badly?"

"Mm, I want you to have your way with me, Hikaru-kun."

"All right~"

Three hours earlier.

In another corner of the deserted island, at first-year Class B's camp.

Two Class B boys came walking back from the direction of the forest, trailed by a rather out-of-place figure.

It was a short girl in a tracksuit, her hair somewhat disheveled.

Miu Suzuhira, a first-year Class C girl, looked rather bedraggled.

The two Class B boys brought her to the center of the camp, then spoke to Honami Ichinose.

"Ichinose, we ran into her in the forest."

"This is Suzuhira, from first-year Class C. We're in the same club," the boy who spoke said, looking somewhat troubled, as though wrestling with something.

"Didn't Class C withdraw from the exam?"

"But she got into some kind of conflict with Ibuki, and now she can't go back to the cruise ship."

"What should we do now?"

Hearing this, Honami Ichinose's clear, deep-blue eyes flickered slightly.

Should they take her in?