The school had already made it clear: students could enjoy a full week of fun on the cruise as compensation for summer break, and they guaranteed there wouldn't be any more special exams during that week—pure relaxation, start to finish.
Everyone was thrilled.
For three straight days, the ship was basically in party mode. Students played themselves silly, having the time of their lives—and Yukio was no exception, taking it easy and savoring the downtime.
Even if his class had the easiest run on the island thanks to the vehicles, a special exam was still a special exam. After that kind of pressure, anyone would want to properly decompress.
But then Sakayanagi sent him a compressed file.
Yukio opened it, skimmed the contents, and couldn't help murmuring in surprise, "Do you really need to go this far?"
"Hm? What is it?" Ibuki was lounging with him by the pool, soaking up the sun, sea breeze on her face, sipping a chilled sea-salt lemonade. Hearing him mutter, she immediately leaned over to look.
Nearby, Shiina—resting under the shade with a book—also closed it and glanced up.
"It's nothing. Just a proposal." Yukio held up his phone and let them see a quick glimpse—only the extracted files, not the sender.
"Huh? This looks kinda fun," Ibuki said at once, interest lighting up in her eyes. "Is this some Student Council thing?"
Shiina didn't seem especially invested, but she didn't offer any objections either.
Yukio thought it over. "…It might be worth trying."
Then he stood. "You two keep playing. I'm going to ask Acting Director Tsukishiro."
Tsukishiro's office being on the top deck wasn't exactly a secret.
Yukio got approval almost immediately—which honestly surprised him. He'd expected Tsukishiro to start treating him a lot more carefully after the island incident, but instead the man stayed friendly, greenlit it without hesitation, and even sounded… almost pleased.
An hour later, everyone's phones received an official school message, and the ship-wide announcement echoed through the cruise.
Students all over the vessel froze—some staring up at the speakers, others snapping their eyes down to their screens.
"I swear to god… Didn't they say no more special exams for seven days?!"
"See?! I knew it was a lie! This school can't go a week without pulling something!"
"Wait—look properly. This… isn't a special exam."
Sure enough, after reading the details, plenty of students realized it really wasn't.
…
[Student Council Special Event: Summer Cruise Hide-and-Seek]
No restrictions by grade or class. Participation is optional. Duration: 3 hours.
Teams of 11: 1 seeker, 10 hiders. After forming a team, participants may not leave their current deck.
Hiding in personal cabins is forbidden; violation results in disqualification.
Each team will receive a QR code. Every time the seeker catches a teammate, they may scan the QR code to confirm the catch.
Each catch awards 3,000 private points.
Any hider who remains uncaught until the end receives 5,000 private points.
Each student may participate at most twice. Do not deliberately farm points.
If abuse is discovered, the Student Council will confiscate the points and issue one minor demerit.
…
The announcement was short, but the event itself was huge.
Hide-and-seek? Everyone had played it at some point. And the fact that it offered rewards with no risk immediately hooked the ship.
"Scared the hell out of me—so it's not a special exam, it's just a big activity? When did the school ever do stuff like this?"
"The Student Council changed leadership, didn't it? When Horikita was president, she never organized events. But now it's Yukio… honestly, a big activity like this fits him."
"Stop talking and find teammates! Who's forming a group?! You need a full team for the QR scans—if you're not on the same team, scanning won't count!"
"Me!"
"Count me in too!"
The entire cruise ship instantly caught fire with excitement.
Students who were close friends threw themselves into the festivities without hesitation. Who wouldn't? It was the first time they'd seen a "game" that was nothing but upside—pure points, pure fun, no punishment attached.
Even if someone didn't care about the amount, it was still entertainment. Most people would only get one chance in their lives to use an entire deck of a luxury cruise ship as a giant hide-and-seek arena. Miss it now, and it'd probably never happen again.
And once it started, it was absolute chaos—in the best way.
The rule that you couldn't leave the deck where you formed your team was clearly meant to stop people from sprinting through the whole ship… but students immediately proved that creativity always beats restrictions.
Some stuck to the basics—behind doors, under tables.
Others went full insanity.
One guy grabbed a straw and sank to the bottom of a pool like a human submarine.
Someone else bribed a staff member and slipped into an employee uniform.
A few even ran into the ship's theater and begged the performance crew to cake their face in powder makeup—then blended into the backstage props like they were born there.
The hiding strategies got so ridiculous that people couldn't stop laughing.
Meanwhile, Yukio—moving like an actual criminal—snuck into Sakayanagi's cabin.
Even she chuckled when she saw him. "Yukio-kun… why are you being so cautious?"
"You don't get it." Yukio shut the door and shook his head, helpless. "Everyone else is playing hide-and-seek the normal way—one person hunts, ten people hide. My class? They decided it's ten people hunting… and I'm the only one hiding."
Shiina had suggested it. Ibuki immediately teamed up with Ishizaki and dragged the whole class into a manhunt.
Yukio couldn't help smiling. He acted like it was a pain, but honestly? It was very funny.
"Oh?" Sakayanagi stepped closer, her cane tapping softly as she approached. "Then you should go play first. If you come here this early, you'll lose event eligibility."
"Let it go." Yukio didn't look bothered at all.
Because this whole big event might look like a cruise-wide party… but in truth, it was Sakayanagi's smoke-and-mirrors play—meant to distract the people who were constantly stuck to Yukio's side, like Shiina and Ibuki.
If Yukio vanished for a while, it would simply be written off as "part of the game."
And with the rules forbidding personal cabins and restricting movement by deck, no one would come looking here.
That was why Sakayanagi had said, confidently, that nobody would interrupt them.
Sakayanagi seemed satisfied with his answer, eyes bright with amusement. "Still… don't you think it's a shame? Three hours is a long time. You could enjoy the game first and—"
She didn't even finish.
Yukio swept her up—cane and all—pulling her into his arms so suddenly that her cheeks went instantly red.
"Y-Yukio-kun?"
"I need to correct one thing." Yukio looked completely serious as he spoke. "I actually think… three hours might not be enough."
"???" Sakayanagi's eyes went blank for a second—then the meaning hit her, and her face burned even hotter. "N-no! I can't handle that. Three hours—my heart might actually give out!"
In the end, Yukio had to go back out and watch other people play hide-and-seek.
Because Sakayanagi was right.
She really couldn't handle three hours.
She was sprawled inside afterward, completely drained.
And Yukio found himself thinking—half amused, half sincere—that he'd better start giving her some proper herbal tonics in the future.