The cabin door was slammed shut, heavily cutting off all the noise and gazes from the outside.
Kikyo Kushida leaned her back against the cold door panel and slowly slid down to sit on the floor.
The mask of calm she had barely maintained shattered completely, replaced by a twisted expression mixed with humiliation and rage.
The undisguised looks of disgust on the deck, the whispered insults, and Subaru's indifferent gaze—as if he were looking at a lab animal—all of it eroded her heart like venom.
"Traitor... Mole... Disgusting..."
"Ruined you... I will definitely destroy all of you!"
"You were the ones who voluntarily told me your secrets, yet now you turn around and blame me. It's truly disgusting."
She hissed in a low voice, trembling with suppressed fury, yet a near-fanatical dark flame burned in the depths of her eyes.
Subaru wouldn't let her drop out?
Fine, that suited her perfectly! By staying in this class full of hostility and looking at those hypocritical faces, she could carve this hatred deeper and clearer into her memory, and have more opportunities to exact her revenge!
Kushida could not forget the look Subaru gave her.
It was as if he treated her as some kind of test subject, craving to obtain something from her.
That sensation made Kushida's hands and feet turn ice-cold.
But this also made her hatred for Subaru even more intense.
She had to make Subaru pay the price.
It was Subaru who tore apart her disguise in front of the entire class.
Unforgivable. Absolutely unforgivable.
Even though this guy wasn't even on Horikita's side to begin with.
What a truly baffling guy.
However, Kushida was also well aware that relying solely on herself was far from enough to deal with the unfathomable Subaru and control the situation.
She needed outside help, a helper who could leverage greater power.
Kushida took a few deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. She stood up from the floor and walked to the bed.
Picking up her personal terminal, her fingers slid quickly across the screen as she dialed a certain number.
After a brief waiting tone, the call was connected.
A male voice came through, carrying a hint of playfulness and condescension.
"Oh? Contacting me at this time... It seems something very interesting happened on the Uninhabited Island, Kushida-san."
That was Miyabi Nagumo's voice.
A different expression, starkly contrasting with her inner feelings, instantly appeared on Kushida's face, and her voice was adjusted to the perfect pitch:
"Nagumo-senpai... I apologize for disturbing you. You were right, this exam... far too many unexpected things occurred."
"I heard."
Nagumo's voice sounded full of interest.
"That guy Ryuen completely crashed and burned? What a surprising outcome. Tell me the details?"
Nagumo had already heard about the events regarding the first years.
Year 1, Class D had achieved a complete victory in this Uninhabited Island Exam, even surpassing Class C and replacing them.
To Nagumo, this wasn't anything strange; lower classes defeating upper classes wasn't a rare occurrence.
He himself had led Class B to surpass Class A.
What Nagumo cared about was the specific outcome of this exam.
As the Student Council Vice President, Nagumo naturally knew some things.
For instance, that aside from Subaru's class, all other classes scored zero points.
For instance...
This exam saw the outbreak of the worst accident in the school's history.
More than thirty students were injured, and very seriously at that.
Such a thing had never happened in the school before.
Nagumo was a very extreme student.
In his eyes, this school was a meritocracy.
Only those with strength were qualified to remain.
According to Nagumo's plan, if he were to control the school one day, he would definitely expel a large number of students.
This school did not need those without ability.
But even Nagumo wouldn't do something like this.
Even if he would use any means necessary for victory, Nagumo couldn't possibly cause such a large-scale injury incident.
That would bring danger upon himself.
However, Nagumo also couldn't understand.
How exactly did Subaru do it?
To create various accidents single-handedly... that should be fundamentally impossible.
After all, it was impossible to predict everyone else's movement routes.
This made Nagumo increasingly curious about Subaru.
"I want to know everything, including your thoughts, Kushida."
Nagumo's words carried a smile, but also an undeniable danger.
Since things had come to this, Kushida quickly reported the process—how she followed the plan to leak Class D's intelligence to Ryuen at the beginning of the exam, and the whole series of events.
This included the fact that she was bugged by Subaru in the end and had her movement trajectory investigated.
"Afterwards, because of my injury, I had to withdraw from the exam. I don't know what happened after that. I only know that Ryuen and his group withdrew the next day, and... all of them were seriously injured."
Kushida did not mention the fact that her identity had been publicly exposed by Subaru.
"Was it really an injury? I'm guessing your true nature was exposed by Subaru, so you had to withdraw from the exam, right?"
Nagumo's voice carried a smile as he mercilessly exposed Kushida's lie.
The smile on Kushida's face vanished instantly.
Listening to Nagumo's words, her emotions had reached a critical point.
"Hey, do you think just because you're the Student Council Vice President you can do whatever you want, you bastard? I did exactly what you said! And the result?! You told me to hinder Subaru, but from start to finish, you didn't help with a damn thing! And a guy like you is still here making snide remarks?"
At this moment, Kushida had no disguise left. Even though the person she was speaking to was Nagumo, she wasn't polite in the slightest.
"Interesting. You actually dare to speak to me like that. However, I find it quite amusing. Kushida-kouhai, for the sake of your reasonably cute face, I'll spare you this one time."
Nagumo didn't seem to take Kushida's words to heart at all.
To him, a student's moral conduct was irrelevant.
As long as they had talent, they had the right to speak.
Kushida being able to disguise her true nature until now counted as a display of ability.
"Although I can forgive you this time, if you dare speak to me like that again in the future—"
"So what if I speak to you like this? My reputation in the class already stinks anyway. They know about everything that happened in the past. Nagumo, you can't threaten me anymore."
"Is that so? And here I thought you called me because you wanted to seek my help."
"You..."
"Are you willing to just swallow this? I thought you were someone who seeks revenge for the smallest grievance. It seems you don't hate Subaru that much after all?"
Kushida didn't answer; she just remained silent.
"What's wrong? If you don't speak, I'm going to hang up."
Kushida spoke up quickly, and her voice returned to that of the cute, obedient junior.
"...Senpai, that person, Subaru, cannot be measured by common sense at all. He saw through everything, including my cooperation with Ryuen. His ability to act, his combat capability, and that... indifference towards rules and human life, all exceeded our previous assessments. Ryuen was... utterly defenseless before him. My infiltration has lost its meaning, and instead..."
She paused, her voice dropping lower.
"Instead, it caused me to lose my footing in Class D."
The silence on the other end of the line lasted longer, with only the faint static of an electric current.
This silence felt more tormenting to Kushida than a reprimand.
After a long while, Nagumo's voice came through again, still steady, but Kushida seemed to hear a trace of... strange excitement?
"Interesting."
Nagumo slowly spat out the word.
"To think he could crush trash like Ryuen so easily... It seems I was right to send you to test him. Although the cost was losing a decent pawn, it allowed me to see something even more interesting."
His tone allowed Kushida to breathe a slight sigh of relief, but her heart remained suspended.
"Senpai, then what... what should I do next? There's no place for me in the class anymore. Subaru, he..."
She hesitated for a moment.
"He doesn't seem to plan on expelling me. But that attitude... it's more like he's treating me as a... sample worth observing. He keeps saying things about wanting to see my 'color'."
This term made her feel incomparably humiliated.
"Not letting you drop out?"
Nagumo was somewhat surprised, but then he seemed to chuckle lightly.
"That does indeed fit his style. A sample that has lost its infiltration value yet is full of resentment, staying in a turbulent class, can indeed catalyze more chemical reactions. I'm afraid he is enjoying the process, Kushida."
Having it pointed out by Nagumo, Kushida felt a chill.
Subaru and Nagumo, on some level, seemed to possess a terrifying similarity—they both liked to place people in setups and observe their reactions.
"Kushida-kouhai, you hate Subaru, don't you?"
"Yes, Senpai! I hate him! I hate him, and Horikita, and those classmates who abandoned me so easily!"
Kushida immediately revealed her true feelings, practically gnashing her teeth as she spoke.
"Very good. Remember this hatred, but don't let it rush to your head."
Nagumo's voice became calm and filled with guiding intent.
"Since Subaru wants to observe you, then let him observe to his heart's content. Stay in Class C, endure the pressure, and even actively create some 'fluctuations'."
"You mean..."
"I don't know what he means by 'color,' but it looks like he's expecting some kind of change. In that case, show it to him."
Nagumo said indifferently,
"Use your current situation and your understanding of the class members to spread some... unsettling truths or rumors. Let suspicion breed, let the cracks widen. An internally unstable class will be a form of restraint, whether on Subaru's personal plans or his influence at the grade level. And you, in this process, can rebuild your intelligence network—not as an infiltrator, but as a spreader of chaos and... an observer. I will need to know what Class D—oh, it's Class C now—will become under Subaru's influence and your catalysis. This is very important for my next layout."
"I understand, Senpai! I know what to do!"
Her voice regained a trace of strength.
The other party's words were exactly the same as Kushida's original intentions.
What happened in middle school was likely about to be re-enacted here.
"I'll send you a private account later. You can send any information anonymously without your identity being traced. You know what I mean, right?"
"Understood."
"Act carefully and stay in touch. Subaru is very sharp, don't let him catch you by the tail."
Nagumo said with a smile.
"Mn."
The call ended.
The screen went dark, reflecting Kushida's face, which was currently gloomy but flickering with the light of calculation.
Did she fail? No, perhaps this was a new beginning.
Nagumo needed her to disrupt the class and observe Subaru; and she needed Nagumo as a shield, and to take the opportunity to exact her revenge.
She opened the terminal. A stranger's account had sent her a set of login credentials.
This account belonged to a certain second-year student.
However, almost the entire second year was under Nagumo's control.
"Cunning guy, not leaving a single handle behind, huh?"
Kushida let out a cold laugh.
If anything happened, people would only trace it back to that second-year student, having nothing to do with Nagumo.
She logged into that anonymous account, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.
Since she was going to create chaos, let it begin right now.
Soon, a series of messages, hard to distinguish between true and false but striking straight at the vital points, began to appear in the class group chat like a venomous snake spitting poison...
[Anonymous User]: "Celebrating the promotion? Don't be happy too soon. Do you know why Karuizawa-san has so much say among the girls? I heard that in middle school, she relied on 'special' means to make many girls 'obedient.' Was that bullying really forced? Or... did she enjoy it?"
[Anonymous User]: "Horikita-san wants to rise to Class A so desperately, is it really for the class? Her brother is the Student Council President, right? Tsk tsk, having such an amazing brother yet staying in Class D... is it an ability issue, or is the sibling relationship too 'special' that it affected the evaluation? I heard she privately sought her brother's help more than once."
[Anonymous User]: "Hirata-kun is truly gentle, so good to everyone. But does such a 'perfect' person really exist? Has anyone heard that in middle school, he had uncontrollable violent tendencies and nearly beat a classmate into a disability? Beneath that gentle face, is there something more terrible suppressed?"
[Anonymous User]: ...
After sending a series of messages, the smile on Kushida's face became increasingly twisted, as if she had vented all the emotions accumulated in her heart for so long.
Some true, some false; that was what made it hard to distinguish.
However, Kushida felt it wasn't interesting enough yet.
So, she edited one more message.
[Anonymous User]: "Natsuki Subaru, in the past, has killed people."
____
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