Early the next morning, Nanase Tsubasa stepped out of her tent and found Mitoma Kaoru already packing up his own.
The cuffs of his trousers looked slightly damp.
Had he gone somewhere?
Tsubasa found herself a little curious.
"President, you're up early."
"Sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No. I set an alarm. I just didn't expect you to wake up before me."
Tsubasa stretched, then belatedly realized she had not put on her jacket yet.
A breeze passed through the campsite, and she quickly tugged down the hem of her T-shirt, her ears turning faintly red.
Kaoru did not seem to notice.
For some reason, that made her relax.
Ever since Tsukishiro Tokinari had ordered her to win Kaoru over, Tsubasa had become increasingly conscious of how she appeared in front of him.
Perhaps she did not want him to think she was shameless or that every interaction was merely part of some attempt to seduce him.
Especially after the embarrassing things she had done alone the other night.
Just remembering them made her want to disappear.
'That was awful. It's going to haunt me forever.'
Tsubasa lightly slapped her cheeks to wake herself up, then went to wash and brush her teeth. The school distributed basic toiletries for free, so students could take as many as they needed.
Since everyone else was still asleep, she realized that she and Kaoru were effectively alone.
"Did President also act alone during the previous uninhabited island exam?"
As a first-year, it was perfectly natural for her to be curious about the last exam.
"No. Last time, each class operated together from its own campsite."
Kaoru thought for a moment.
"Although I occasionally moved around alone to gather information. The exam was less complicated than this one."
The previous island exam had focused on only two main objectives: preserving or increasing class points and identifying the leaders of rival classes to make them lose points.
This time, every year was divided into competing groups, which naturally made the structure far more complex.
Since Tsubasa seemed interested, Kaoru explained a little more. The information was outdated now, so there was no reason to conceal it.
After listening, Tsubasa said with admiration, "President really was impressive. You only needed to make a few moves to reverse the whole situation."
"I was lucky at the time."
Kaoru did not think it was anything special. If Tsubasa had not asked, he might barely have remembered the details.
"I don't think it was luck."
Tsubasa's expression became serious.
"Ayanokōji-senpai was probably considering making a move against you back then. President stopped him through deterrence."
"I don't know what agreement the two of you reached, but the strength you showed was probably the decisive reason Ayanokōji-senpai accepted your position."
Without sufficient strength, nobody could have intimidated Ayanokōji Kiyotaka.
At the time, Kiyotaka had genuinely suspected Kaoru of being someone sent by the White Room. Even if he appeared calm, he had likely been far more alarmed internally.
He had only been at the school for one semester. The possibility of being expelled and dragged back so soon would naturally have been frustrating.
That was why Kiyotaka had not attacked Kaoru recklessly.
Once he realized Kaoru had not come specifically for him, he chose to observe the situation from the shadows.
Later, Kiyotaka cooperated with Kaoru because Kaoru had demonstrated power capable of opposing the White Room.
Tsubasa suddenly noticed Kaoru looking at her as though she were some rare animal.
"D-did I say something wrong?"
Although she kept her face composed, tension rose inside her.
She quickly checked her shirt and trousers.
Nothing was out of place.
Had she slept badly and somehow gotten something on her face?
"No. I'm only surprised."
Kaoru touched his chin.
"I thought Nanase-san would consider me a corrupt Student Council president who abuses his position to bully younger girls. Hearing such a high opinion of me feels rather good."
"President, please be serious."
Tsubasa's face became blank.
So that was all.
She suddenly wanted to hit him.
"I am being serious. Any normal man would react after waking up and immediately seeing a cute junior standing in front of him."
The moment Kaoru's gaze shifted, Tsubasa instinctively almost folded her arms over herself.
Her shirt was not transparent, but without her jacket she felt strangely exposed under his attention.
"I think President should pay more attention to the exam."
Tsubasa maintained a stern expression, though she did not cover herself. Doing so would make her self-consciousness far too obvious.
"I heard Nagumo-senpai wants to settle things with you during this exam. There are also White Room students watching you and Ayanokōji-senpai. We should prepare in advance."
Kaoru had already told her about Yagami Takuya, so it was natural for her to treat the matter seriously.
"You don't need to worry about Nagumo."
Kaoru looked interested.
"Who do you think the White Room student is? How many do you think are still inside the school?"
Tsubasa hesitated for a moment before answering.
"I think Amasawa-san is very likely one of them."
"Amasawa-san?"
Kaoru blinked, as if reluctant to believe it.
"She showed the strongest reaction when Yagami-kun was expelled, and she later questioned students from Class 1-B about what happened."
Tsubasa analyzed the situation calmly.
"They were in different classes, yet she paid unusual attention to him."
"Maybe she was simply curious about the first expulsion."
"I considered that too, but she previously helped Horikita-senpai and the others search for me. Her objective was suspicious."
Tsubasa lied without blinking.
"Also, Amasawa-san was the one who approached me and asked to form a group for this exam. Doesn't President find that suspicious?"
Kaoru looked at her strangely.
So she had decided to sell out her own teammate like this.
He had to admire the amount of effort she had put into inventing those reasons.
"You may have a point. What do you think I should do about her?"
"If she intends to target Ayanokōji-senpai, she'll eventually try to act alone. But she may also be targeting President."
"Targeting me?"
"You forced Yagami-kun's expulsion. She may want revenge and could use this exam to find an opportunity against you."
"So I should remove her from the group?"
"No."
Tsubasa shook her head.
"President should deliberately give her an opportunity to act. If she reveals herself, then we control the situation."
Her analysis sounded objective and perfectly reasonable.
The more reasonable it became, however, the less Kaoru understood what was happening.
What game were those two playing?
Kaoru had already known Ichika's identity for a long time, and Ichika knew he knew. Yet Tsubasa did not appear to be acting.
There was no doubt that Ichika was planning something mischievous.
The real mystery was Tsubasa.
Was she genuinely trying to help him eliminate Ichika?
Or were the two of them cooperating to lure him into a trap?
Kaoru glanced toward their tent.
The two girls slept together every night, making it very easy to discuss secret plans.
Before long, Ai and the others woke as well.
Ichika seemed surprised to find Kaoru and Tsubasa already awake. With a mischievous smile, she waited until nobody was looking and silently mimed a kiss toward Kaoru.
Kaoru remembered yesterday's teasing and took several slow breaths.
He had spent far too much time fooling around with Kei and the others recently. Now even a small gesture was enough to stir his imagination.
At this rate, he might genuinely become a hopeless pervert.
Everyone packed their equipment, ate a simple breakfast, and prepared to move toward the next designated zone.
Perhaps because it was still early, they were fortunate during the first movement instruction of the day.
Kaoru arrived first.
Ichika and Tsubasa followed in second place, while Ai's group arrived third.
Ai had not forgotten her bottle trap.
The moment she reached the designated area, she forcibly dragged Kaoru back toward the river to retrieve it before anyone else could find it.
Naturally, Ichika refused to miss something that sounded entertaining and followed them.
The three soon returned to the riverbank from the previous day.
"Oh, it actually caught something!"
Ichika leaned closer to inspect the homemade trap in Kaoru's hands.
"Let me see. There are river shrimp... and a few tiny fish."
The night's total harvest consisted of four shrimp and two fish.
Ignoring the low number, even the largest fish was only about as thick as Kaoru's finger.
He seriously doubted whether it qualified as food.
"My method was correct after all."
Ai looked proud, completely unconcerned with the size of the catch.
"Yamamura Miki thought I was an idiot. Clearly, she was the foolish one."
"Morishita-senpai is amazing. When do we get our grand fish banquet?"
Ichika enthusiastically played along.
"We can make river-seafood soup for lunch and add instant noodles. It should taste decent."
Ai had already decided how to use them.
Eating them by themselves would be pointless, but simmering them into broth might add some flavor.
Kaoru wondered whether this counted as eating wild game.
Probably not.
"Strange. Where are the crabs?"
Ai shook the trap and frowned.
"There are shrimp, so why aren't there any crabs?"
"Why does there have to be a crab?"
Kaoru doubted most crabs could even fit through the bottle opening.
"Because I like crab."
Ai shook it several more times, probably stunning every creature inside.
Only after confirming there were definitely no crabs did she stop.
Then she began searching along the riverbank.
"Did you drop something, Senpai?"
"No. I'm looking for crabs."
"..."
This time, even Ichika fell silent.
She exchanged a glance with Kaoru, and they sighed at the same time.
A moment later, Ichika seemed to find the situation amusing, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.
"Senpai, aren't you going to help her look for crabs?"
"No."
"Eh? I thought Senpai might suddenly pull out a crab you'd been secretly saving and move Morishita-senpai to tears."
"She wouldn't be moved. She'd only decide I was extremely useful."
"Oh my. Why does that sound like something only the person who understands her best would say?"
"Morishita-san and I are very close. I've always thought she would make an excellent wife."
Ai finally had enough.
She looked at them without expression, especially Kaoru.
"I can hear you. I am neither blind nor deaf, Mitoma Kaoru."
Kaoru showed no embarrassment.
It was not as though this was the first time he had openly admired her. She had been insulting him for it for ages.
"Senpai has finally stopped pretending."
Ichika shook her head in disappointment.
"I've heard that some people call fictional characters their wives. Is Senpai one of those people?"
"I'm different. I can actually touch the people I like."
Kaoru rejected the comparison.
"Who does Senpai like?"
Ichika paused.
"No, that's too broad. Who do you like the most?"
"I like you the most."
Kaoru lied without hesitation.
Ichika blinked, then smiled, a faint hint of charm entering her gaze.
"I don't believe you."
"Then why ask?"
"It sounded too fake, so I'll forgive you."
Ichika hummed.
Right now, she looked like a perfectly lively, ordinary girl. Nobody would ever associate her with the White Room.
Since Ai failed to find any crabs, she could only reset the trap and place that day's catch into another empty bottle before returning to the designated area.
Miki and Tsubasa were both surprised to see the shrimp and fish. They had not expected Ai's trap to actually produce food, even if the catch was far too small to satisfy one person.
If future results remained this poor, they would need to abandon the trap strategy.
Traveling back to the river every day consumed too much energy for such a small reward.
At nine, the second designated zone appeared.
They were not as fortunate this time.
Only Kaoru earned a placement, and even then, he came third.
However, the day's new tasks appeared around the same time, so everyone gathered to discuss their plans.
Since Kaoru was operating alone, he could only compete efficiently in individual tasks. He therefore suggested separating from the others while they focused on group events.
The reasoning was perfectly sensible, and nobody objected.
Just like the day before, they agreed to regroup at the designated area announced for one in the afternoon. Once the zone appeared, everyone would head there directly rather than wasting time meeting along the way.
If the new destination was the random zone and the distance proved unreasonable, they would instead return to the second designated area.
With that settled, Kaoru temporarily left the main group and continued alone.
The closest task to his position was a ball-juggling competition in F5.
Each group could send only one participant, and first place awarded five points.
It appeared easy.
Before Kaoru reached the site, however, he spotted a familiar figure and slowly stopped smiling.
Unsurprisingly, she noticed him as well.
"Stop right there, Mitoma!"
Ibuki Mio glared at him aggressively, ready to chase him down at the slightest movement.
"Don't you dare run!"
Kaoru blinked.
In a deserted place like this, should he not be the one worried about Mio trying to escape?