5.3

At the time, I had no way of knowing that there was a war going on between Ryūen, Tokitō, and Hōsen. After the bath, I was sitting on the sofa in the lobby, leisurely looking at the ceiling.

It was right next to the seat where Sakayanagi was sitting this morning.

The investigation Hashimoto requested—I made contact this morning and was personally satisfied with the results, but I hadn't reported anything back, so he was probably still expecting me to produce results. Even though I didn't feel like it, I thought I should at least do something that looked like it, so I came here.

"Ah~! Ayanokōji-kun! Hey, can you listen to my story~!?"

Satō, who was about to return to her shared room, changed her course when she saw me and approached with a frustrated look.

"What happened?"

"It's the exchange meeting—the exchange meeting. I was seriously aiming for the top, so..."

She didn't try to hide her disappointment, and her shoulders slumped dramatically.

"I wanted to buy something, and I tried my best in my own way. Ugh."

Satō's group had finished 12 matches in two days, garnering seven wins and five losses.

They were doing well enough, but they were in a tough spot if they wanted to finish in third place.

"If you keep up the good work, there's a pretty good chance you'll finish in the top ten, isn't there?"

They could get 5000 points just by achieving that placement. Not a bad amount.

"Yeah, that's definitely the goal. But what worries me is that the group's motivation has dropped quite a bit because of today's results..."

If they were aiming for a high ranking, it was natural to feel down.

The difference between the top and bottom was extreme in this exchange meeting.

The losing groups had 11 or 12 losses in 12 games, and they just couldn't win.

As a result, the wins were concentrated in groups like the Nagumo group, who were taking it seriously.

The difference between the third-place group and Satō's group was three wins. Quite a significant amount.

"The last game for today—I regret it..."

"Which was the last group you were up against?"

I asked because I didn't know which group Satō's group was fighting against.

Satō showed a slightly regretful face, but told me.

"—It was Minamikawa-senpai's group."

She was from Class 3-C. I remember Onodera being in Minamikawa's group.

It was a well-known fact that Satō and Onodera, who had been at odds to begin with, were not on good terms. If they felt they had misspoken, it seemed reasonable to assume that was the cause behind their discord.

Both Satō and Onodera were typical female students as far as I could tell.

From an outsider's perspective, it wouldn't be strange for them to get along, but that wasn't how human relationships work.

Is she still not fond of Onodera? It would be easy to ask, but it wasn't something I should ask.

"You have no choice but to carry that regret into tomorrow. There's still a chance depending on how hard you try."

"...Yeah."

After changing the topic and talking for a while, Satō was called by her group and left.

After that, without gaining anything significant, I returned to my shared room.

"There's no one here."

The room was empty except for a slightly disheveled futon.

When I turned on my phone, I found a message from Hashimoto that had arrived about ten minutes ago.

[I'm going to the girls' room, so let's meet up there.]

He was quite carefree for someone who requested an investigation.

Well, going to the opposite sex's room to play might be one of the staples of a training camp.

After restoring the trampled futon, I decided to head to the girls' room.

About five minutes after reading Hashimoto's message, I arrived at the girls' shared room.

The same building, the same layout, the same furniture, and decorations.

It was a matter of course, but there really was no difference from the shared room the boys were using.

The only difference was the presence of the opposite sex.

Even though it's neither more nor less than our shared room, why does it look so different?

Whether you perceived this as a good or bad space was up to each individual.

From the first-year students to Kiryūin in the third-year, all the girls were present.

All the first-year boys looked tense but somewhat happy.

Yamamura looked a bit down, her expression darker than usual. She had no role in this exchange meeting, and I knew the least about how she was spending her time in the group.

"Hey, you came."

"You called me."

The boys seemed to be having more fun than I thought.

But the girls' energy was lower than I thought it'd be. In other words, they didn't seem to be having fun.

Those two pieces of information entered my brain in an instant.

Hashimoto probably brought the boys to the girls' room to play, somewhat forcibly.

"We're a bit stuck. Do you have anything to liven things up? The room's atmosphere is a bit heavy, isn't it? How about a one-liner to dispel that?"

"I don't have such a gag, but how about this for a bit of fun?"

I took out a certain case that I had stuffed in my jersey pocket and showed it to him.

"Oh, that's nice. You're quite thoughtful."

Since the game list for experiential learning also included cards, there were plenty of them prepared and they could be obtained immediately.

Hashimoto seemed to welcome this, reaching out his hand and asking to borrow it.

When he took it, he opened the case and took out a deck of cards.

"Playing cards is the most classic of classics, isn't it, Ayanokōji?"

Kiryūin, who had been sitting and looking at her phone, spoke to me without getting up.

"I was once told by a blonde senpai that playing cards is a staple of training camps."

"Huh? Could it be Nagumo?"

She sat up, leaning back in her chair, and asked with interest.

When I nodded in confirmation, Kiryūin laughed a little as if she found the fact amusing.

"That man also does such cliché things."

"Besides, today was the first time our group lost in a card game, so I'm also reflecting on it."

"Playing cards, huh?"

Morishita, who had been looking out the window near Kiryūin, muttered as if she had noticed something.

Then, while sitting in seiza[15], she approached by kicking the tatami mats with both hands.

[TL/N: (正座) Seiza, where one sits on their heels with legs folded underneath the thighs and the buttocks resting on the heels, maintaining an upright, straight back]

"Let's do that. That. The game where the person who has the Joker at the end loses."

"You seem very excited... Do you like playing cards?"

"I can't say whether I like it or not. I've never done it before."

"You've never done it? There really are fossil-like people who still exist?"

Hashimoto was surprised, his eyes wide.

"There were no people worth playing cards with."

Does that mean she didn't have any friends that she could do this with until now?

"Wait a minute. That's strange. Didn't you give yourself a five for being good at cards?"

Indeed, Morishita had given herself the highest rating, a five, for playing cards.

"I thought I would excel even if I was inexperienced, given my talent. After all, it was not a confirmation of whether I was good at it or not, but a one-to-five evaluation of whether I had confidence, right? So, it's a five."

She answered confidently, puffing out her chest. She certainly seemed sure of herself.

"But you didn't seem to be called for today's game."

Only Kiryūin, the leader, knew the answer to why she wasn't chosen.

"That's right. Why didn't you choose me?"

"Isn't it suspicious to say you're confident in playing cards? That's why I left you out."

It seemed she made that judgment based on the rating list. Her impression was correct.

"Well, never mind that. Let's play cards anyway. Please distribute them quickly, Ayanokōji Kiyotaka."

I can tell that she really wants to play, so I don't feel bad for bringing it. But not everyone can play at once, so what to do?

"How about this? Four players per game. A game for boys only and a game for girls only. Then a mixed game."

Hashimoto, noticing my indecision, suggested a way to arrange the players.

"That's not a bad idea. Let's go with that."

Morishita was already eager, showing no signs of refusal. I thought the quiet Tsubaki might not have wanted to play, but it seemed that the other first-year students, Tsubaki included, were surprisingly enthusiastic.

"How about you come over, Yamamura?"

I called out to Yamamura, who was sitting alone in the distance, but she shook her head from side to side.

"Um... I'll... watch."

"Are you sure?"

Yamamura, who seemed to have no intention of participating, nodded slightly in refusal.

"There's no need to include someone who says they don't want to play. Come on, let's get started."

Under the pressure of the energetic Morishita, the girls' card game match immediately began.

"This exchange meeting is a good exchange meeting."[16]

[TL/N: This just the way she speaks]

"That's a cheap evaluation. Are you satisfied just because you can play cards?"

Hashimoto, sitting cross-legged, muttered, resting his elbow on his knee.

"I'm satisfied, but please don't look at my cards from behind."

"I won't reveal your hand."

"I don't know when Hashimoto Masayoshi might betray us."

While saying that, she hid her hand with her body.

Hashimoto's smiling bitterly, but he really is a traitor...

"But it's starting to become clear now."

Morishita was having her first experience, but she wasn't just enjoying it, she was also doing her own analysis.

"There are several strategies in this game."

Saying that, Morishita held only one card in one of her hands so that it stood out conspicuously.

"Please go ahead, Shiina Hiyori. Don't hesitate to draw any card you like."

"Somehow... I'm a little curious about this one card."

"Is that so? This is the advanced strategy I came up with."

By the way, Hashimoto couldn't see it anymore, but from where I was sitting, I could clearly see Morishita's hand.

Apparently, the isolated card seemed to be the Joker.

Because it was so suspicious, there was no way it'd be the Joker—that seemed to be the aim.

From a strategic point of view, it might not be a bad move.

Although it couldn't be proven that the likelihood itself increased, it seemed to have a big enough psychological effect to make her want to draw that one card, to make her want to try it.

"What should I do…?"

Hiyori, who was suspicious, tried to escape to the four cards on Morishita's right hand, but her fingertips stopped.

She seemed to be bothered by the one card in her left hand.

"Please choose as you like."

Morishita's lack of emotions, combined with her personality, made for a perfect distraction.

After a long thought, Hiyori was mesmerized and ended up drawing the one card on her left hand.

She pulled it towards her, turned it over, and was disappointed to find out that the card she had picked was a joker.

<Illustration >

Everyone must've realized who had drawn the Joker from her obvious reaction.

"You still have a lot to learn if you show it on your face."

After that, the game continued in silence for a few rounds.

The first one out was the first-year student Eikura, followed by Hatsukawa.

Morishita, who had successfully passed the joker early on, ended up losing to the two first-year students in the subsequent card matching, and it came down to the final showdown with Hiyori.

And then it led to a scenario where Hiyori held two cards and Morishita held the last one.

"Please go ahead, Morishita-san."

She smoothly held out two cards in the same way.

Morishita, staring intently, grabbed the trump card on the right side from our perspective with her fingertips.

But she didn't immediately pull it. She asked Hiyori a question.

"Is this it?"

"...What?"

"I thought it might not be the Joker."

"I can't answer that."

"I think it's the Joker."

"I see... then you might want to avoid it. Do you want to switch to the opposite card?"

"Is that okay? You'll lose, you know?"

"But I don't actually know which one the Joker is."

"You're naive, Shiina Hiyori. The mystery is all solved."

Morishita let go of the card she was holding, grabbed the one on the left, and pulled it out with force.

The card Morishita showed us was… a five of hearts.

"I win."

"I lost."

Hiyori seemed to be enjoying, even if she lost. However, she did look disappointed.

On the other hand, Morishita seemed to have been driven by a desire to win at all costs.

After that, they played a boys-only game, followed by a mixed game with both boys and girls.

"Let's move on to the next game! The next game!"

Morishita still wanted to play, but I voiced a concern that had been on my mind for a while.

"Isn't it about time for Yamamura to join in?"

"...No, I'm… fine..."

She had been watching us the whole time, but her gaze didn't seem to fall on the game.

She looked distracted and not at all energetic.

I had hoped that playing cards would cheer her up, but maybe that was too much to ask.

"Yamamura-san, won't you join us? It's fun."

At that moment, Hiyori approached and invited her.

"But..."

"Come on, please join us."

Unable to refuse Hiyori's gentle demeanor, Yamamura reluctantly joined in. But as soon as the game started, unexpected troubles arose.

"Um, it's my turn..."

"Oops, sorry, Yamashita-senpai. Please, go ahead and draw."

Yamamura, who was about to be skipped by the student next to her, hastily offered her cards.

They got her name wrong, yet she didn't even bother trying to correct it.

Even though we were all sitting in a circle, the student drawing from Yamamura's hand skipped her.

Maybe she had been avoiding the card game because she feared this would happen.

A single mistake could be overlooked, but when it happened repeatedly, it was noticeable even to me, watching from the sidelines.

Was Yamamura's presence really that faint?

I had known about her tailing skills for a while, but it was usually impossible to overlook her when watching with the naked eye.

However, it was unclear whether this was because I was consciously trying to be aware of Yamamura, or because others were not paying attention to her.

I decided to ask someone the next time I had the chance.