Yukio really didn't know whether Kiryuin had caught any thrills; anyway, he had carried things through to the end and done everything he could.
As expected, persistence paid off. In the end Kiryuin was pretty beat and wanted to go back to the port to rest in the middle of the day.
Of course "rest" was just an excuse. Kiryuin's stamina wasn't actually that bad—she probably just wanted to shower—so Yukio handed her the keys to drive the SUV and they sped back to the port.
After seeing Kiryuin off, Yukio suddenly noticed a patch of reflected light on his car door. Following the reflection he saw Sakayanagi on the nearby beach under a sun umbrella, using a small tablet as a mirror—apparently trying to get his attention.
When she realized Yukio was looking, Sakayanagi put the tablet away with a satisfied look. Yukio walked over and found that, compared to those of them officially taking the special exam, Sakayanagi looked more like she was vacationing on a deserted island.
She wore a simple white T-shirt. Her usual beret hung on the folding chair; probably because of the heat, her normally loose white hair was tied back with a hairband into a short single ponytail.
Her pale, delicate neck was exposed; in the sunlight the thin veins at her throat seemed almost visible through her skin.
She sat under the umbrella looking out at the sea with the tablet in hand. If there had been a cold drink on the small table beside her instead of a bottle of mineral water, she would have looked exactly like a girl on holiday.
"How—" Yukio started to say as he approached, but Sakayanagi interrupted him.
She only twitched her nostrils a couple of times, then smiled in a way that suggested she'd noticed something interesting. "Not bad, Yukio-kun. You've got a certain… scent about you."
"There's a faint scent of sea-salt lemon body wash too. So Kiryuin-senpai likes that kind of body wash. And that rose-scent at the corner of your mouth—her lipstick is particular about scent too."
Yukio froze and stared at Sakayanagi. How had he never noticed this before? Sakayanagi had an incredible sense of smell—she could detect not only specific fragrances but even their components or brands? And she could smell hormones? That sounded exaggerated.
Yukio quickly adjusted—maybe what Sakayanagi smelled wasn't hormones at all but the residual scent from the fight he and Kiryuin had in the car.
"You're biased, aren't you, Yukio-kun." Sakayanagi's eyes narrowed slightly. "Kiryuin-senpai and I both seem to have been born with white hair. The only difference is senpai keeps hers long, and I prefer short hair."
"Are you saying Yukio-kun is partial to the long-hair type?"
Yukio's shoulder twitched. He wanted to laugh but it wasn't the time. He wasn't really biased by hairstyle—if he had to compare, he did tend to like Kiryuin's bigger type. Not that he looked down on Sakayanagi; her lean subtleness had its own appeal. But that was not something you say out loud.
Sakayanagi was perceptive; her sixth sense was sharp. "I have a feeling your head's filled with very rude thoughts right now."
"Cough." At that, Yukio straightened his face, putting on a stern look that could rival Nanase's. "You misunderstand, Arisu. What's going on in my head is a hundred times worse than you think."
Sakayanagi hesitated, unsure how to follow up. Yukio seized the pause to change the subject. "By the way, if you weren't feeling well, shouldn't you have stayed on the cruise ship? Why come all the way to the port to rest? The port's conditions are okay compared to the island, but they're still a lot worse than a luxury ship."
Sakayanagi didn't let him divert the topic. Using his remark about the cruise, she steered things back. "If I stayed on the luxury ship, I wouldn't be able to see you for two straight weeks."
"If I'm at the port, at least you'd be coming back to rest every night, right? I was thinking I should act sooner."
"But I didn't expect Kiryuin-senpai to move this fast. I hesitated."
"Uh." Yukio blinked to make sure he'd heard right. "When you said 'act' before, you meant—?"
"Obviously that kind of thing." Sakayanagi had a bold mouth and could say anything. "Now it looks like I'll change my mind."
"The port's environment isn't great. Kiryuin-senpai's probably off to shower, and Yukio-kun, you still smell strongly of sex."
"If possible, I'd rather… do it on the luxury cruise ship."
Yukio understood what she meant. His gaze dropped, not to inspect Sakayanagi's meager chest but to the area over her heart.
Sakayanagi's heart had never been good. A congenital heart condition meant she couldn't even participate in this deserted-island special exam; she could only serve as an eliminated member of a team—giving orders or helping teammates remotely via radio to finish academic tasks.
If things got intense like they had with Kiryuin, Sakayanagi might not be able to handle it.
"Don't worry." She seemed magnanimous, unconcerned as Yukio's eyes wandered over her chest, but her own gaze was a little evasive. The chest wasn't just the heart, after all; it was an awkward subject.
"I've been feeling fine these days. My condition isn't a problem at all."
Given Sakayanagi's request, how could Yukio refuse?
He couldn't say no—but a new problem occurred to him. "If we wait until we're back on the cruise ship, my schedule might be uncertain."
"You know how it is, Arisu. Classmates or others—someone like Kiryuin-senpai—might come looking for me."
Sakayanagi, like a cat that had long plotted this, smiled as if Yukio were a fish she'd catch for sure. She even had a weasel-like glint. "Leave that to me, Yukio-kun."
"When we're back on the ship, if you—the student council president—organize a shipwide event, no one will come bother us." She finished with an inviting tone.