Chapter 64

Chapter 64

"Let's go and check on it," I replied, shoving my way through the crowd.

Hirata-kun and Kushida-san both joined me quickly, and we set off towards the other spot we occupied. It wasn't a spot that we used, but we found it unoccupied on the first day and decided to occupy it for the sake of points.

After around seven minutes, we arrived, but sure enough...

Class D

06:55:49

"This one too...?" Kushida-san muttered dejectedly.

"They must've taken them while we slept," Hirata-kun deduced solemnly.

"Is that allowed?"

"Yeah," I answered flatly. "We have the right of exclusive possession while we occupy the spot. In other words, when the spot's eight-hour duration expires, any class is free to enter and occupy it."

"We should've taken into account sleeping time when renewing our spot. We just reclaimed our spot whenever we could, disregarding the chance of anything like this happening. We last occupied the spot at around six PM yesterday, which means it would've ran out in the middle of the night." Hirata-kun added, looking down.

"Do you think that we're the only ones who had this happen?" Kushida-san asked.

She raised a good point. We'd neglected to consider that our spot would run out during the night, but we didn't know whether the same would be true for the other classes.

"Let's go and meet up with Ichinose-san, and see if Class B is in a similar situation," I suggested, garnering nods from my two companions.

We sombrely trudged through the forest, heading back to and along the river until we reached the waterside spot occupied by Class B. One thing immediately stuck out to me – they were all awake even though it was quite early, but their usual unified and jovial atmosphere was gone. I immediately assumed the worst.

"Ah, Horikita-san, Kushida-san, Hirata-kun. Welcome."

Ichinose-san spotted us, and waved to us. Nobody missed the fact that she just didn't have her usual energy.

"You too?" I asked as we approached her.

"Yeah. Look," she beckoned us over to the spot facility.

We walked over to it and huddled around the screen. As expected, it was also sealed off from Class B.

Class D

06:09:57

"Yours is about half an hour ahead of ours. They must've done an entire lap around the island, visiting every spot systematically." I surmised dryly.

Thinking back, on the first day, Ayanokōji-kun openly claimed a spot right before Kushida-san, Kōenji-kun and I. The one at the tower. It'd been in the back of my mind, but I hadn't paid it much attention until now. That guy must've been the one behind all this.

I couldn't understand him at all. What did he gain by revealing that he's the leader? Even if they captured all of these spots, they'd lose all the bonus points when everyone guesses their leader correctly. His strategy made no sense.

Knowing Class D, there must be more to it, but I couldn't see any possible way for them to wriggle out of the pit they'd put themselves in. Once every class figures out that Ayanokōji-kun is the one going around taking all of these spots, it'd only be a matter of time before they lose 200 points from his identity as the leader being guessed.

"I think we should go and look at Class C and A," Hirata-kun said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Good idea. Then we'll be able to get a picture of how many spots they've actually taken. Are you coming, Ichinose-san?" Kushida-san agreed heartily.

"Eto... Yeah, I think it'll be for the best if I join you," Ichinose-san thought for a short while, before agreeing to join us. "Hey guys, I'm just going to go check out the other class' situations! I'll be back soon!" She called out to her classmates and, with that, we turned to leave.

We made our way through the dense forest, toward where the beach that Ryūen-kun occupied. We pushed out way through the trees and, eventually, stepped out onto the coarse sand.

"They're... gone?"

It was like a ghost town. Not a single person was in sight – all I could see was the occasional gust of sand that was kicked up by the passing winds. The only remnant of life at all was the spot monitor. The monitor that clearly displayed:

Class D

05:41:22

"So Ryūen-kun had all of Class C drop out... Him and that Ayanokōji-kun... I can't understand them at all." I muttered as I read the display.

"Ayanokōji-kun? Why mention him?" Ichinose-san shot me a quizzical look.

I exchanged a glance with my classmates, asking for confirmation. I received two nods in return, so I went ahead with my explanation.

"On the first day, Ayanokōji-kun openly captured a spot, in full view of Kushida-san and me. It was the one at the tower. At first, we thought he was just joking around but we checked the screen and he actually did occupy it." I narrated, recounting the events of the first day.

"So Class D's leader is Ayanokōji-kun... Why would he make it that obvious?" Ichinose-san tilted her head in confusion.

"We're not sure either," said Hirata-kun as he began walking away from the monitor.

The three of us quickly followed to catch up with him, and matched his pace. We wordlessly agreed to head towards Class A next.

When we got there, they were all still asleep. Taking care not to wake anybody, we crept over to the facility and peered down at it.

Class D

05:32:59

"So, every class..." Kushida-san breathed.

"Looks like every other class also had the same oversight as us. We should've timed our renewals, and made sure to wake up before it expired." Hirata-kun whispered.

This strategy was quite simple when you think about it. It wasn't one that outmanoeuvred the other classes – no, it was one that relied on the other classes making a mistake.

If we didn't mistakenly overlook our spot timings, we could've easily countered their strategy by waiting intentionally until right before we sleep to reclaim our spot, and then ensuring that we wake in less than eight hours.

However, once again, I took everything at surface level, and didn't even stop to think about the moving parts behind the scenes. There is probably much, much more to this exam than what first appears, but I had overlooked all of it. Once again, I'd made the same blunder that Sora-kun had been trying to teach me not to make.

Perhaps, my way of thinking is flawed, and I'm not the all-too-superior student that I think I am. Just maybe.

"What should we do now?" Ichinose-san cut into my thoughts quietly.

"I think that we should go to Class D's camp." Kushida-san suggested.

"Yes. I think that's the best move, too. It's not like we have anything urgent to do right now." I agreed.

"Okay. I'm in. Let's go," beckoning us to follow, Ichinose-san began to leave Class A's camp and headed toward where Class D's camp was located.

We began walking and, once we got out of hearing range of the Class A camp, Ichinose-san struck up a conversation as we walked.

"Ayanokōji-kun is an interesting one, isn't he?"

"Mhm. He seems to have extraordinary ability, but doesn't like to show it. He could easily be praised as one of the best students in the school, if not the best, if he so pleased." I responded dryly.

I couldn't ignore it anymore. I had to bring myself to acknowledge Ayanokōji-kun's abilities. He'd proved his prowess repeatedly, whether it be by his perfect scores in the midterms and finals, or by him beating my brother in a skirmish.

Curiously, Kushida-san twitched subtly as I mentioned that he could be the best student in the school. I briefly wondered what that was all about, but quickly let it go.

"He always looks so calm too... Maybe he has like a secret dark and cold side to him!" Ichinose-san punched her fist against her hand with enthusiasm, grinning widely as she said that.

"Hmm, like a cold calculating and evil side that he never lets anyone see?" Kushida-san asked, cocking her head to the side.

"That's nonsense." I cut in. "Ayanokōji-kun is nothing more than a good-hearted idiot. Do you really think that someone like him could have a dark and twisted personality?"

Ayanokōji-kun was someone who tried not to stand out during the first month, and he never did anything out of spite. Someone like that could never be ruthless.

"Or maybe that's just what he wants you to think." Hirata-kun added half-jokingly.

I noticed Kushida-san was uncharacteristically quiet, another odd behaviour from her. She'd been acting strange ever since the topic of Ayanokōji-kun came up.

"We're here," Ichinose-san announced as we reached the alcove outside Class D's cave.

What I saw baffled me. They had a net set up, and were currently playing volleyball. Lelouch-kun, Sora-kun and Shiro-san were sitting on a long, while Ayanokōji-kun and Ryuzaki-kun played a match against Light-kun and Kururugi-kun.

The ball floated over the net, over to Ayanokōji-kun's side. Ryuzaki-kun hit the ball upwards, and Ayanokōji-kun leapt upwards to meet it, spiking it down harshly.

The ball shot downwards ridiculously fast but, somehow, Kururugi-kun was even faster. He went from standing to diving just above the ground within a blink of an eye, and saved the ball from hitting the floor.

The ball spun over the net again, right to where Ryuzaki-kun was standing. He returned it apathetically, firing it in a long arc towards the far-side of the opposition's net.

Light-kun tracked backwards to meet it, sending it back to the other side. However, he'd made a miscalculation. The ball began to slow down right after it passed the net, and Ayanokōji-kun didn't miss the opportunity.

He rose up into the air and, with Light-kun still at the far side and Kururugi-kun only just having scrambled to his feet again, there was nobody to prevent Ayanokōji-kun from slamming the ball into the dirt.

"It's pretty incredible that you're always in the perfect place to return a shot, Ayanokōji." Sora-kun remarked.

"It's just a matter of predicting how your shots will be returned," replied Ayanokōji-kun, not a trace of sweat present on his face.

Getting slightly irritated that nobody had notice us standing here yet, I cut in loudly.