Chapter 245: Have You Ever Kissed? / Kushida, Don't Drag Akira Down
Dragon Group: The Second Meeting
In the Dragon Group, the second discussion session was underway.
"Kanzaki, stop playing that little rotation game of yours!" Ryuen Kakeru's voice dripped with mockery.
"The people in the Rabbit Group already told me everything. Your class already confirmed that the VIP isn't in that group. Quite a clever plan, isn't it?"
Kanzaki Ryuji's expression stiffened. Ichinose had warned him after the first gathering that their strategy had been exposed, but he hadn't expected the news to travel this fast.
Ryuen ignored Kanzaki's face and turned his gaze toward the perpetually silent Katsuragi Kohei.
"It was that girl, Kamuro Masumi, who saw through it, right? She's likely not part of the Sakayanagi faction; after all, that woman wants nothing more than to see you fail these two island exams.
Katsuragi, is she one of yours? You're quite good at picking subordinates."
Katsuragi offered no response, maintaining his usual stoic silence.
Nearby, Horikita Suzune watched thoughtfully. When Akira had asked about the Rabbit Group earlier, she'd gathered that Class A's Kamuro Masumi had been the one to intervene.
Initially, she had almost agreed to Kanzaki's "rotation" proposal, but she realized just in time that it was a trap. With twelve VIPs distributed among the classes, once a class knows their own distribution, these "deduction games" become risk-free for them.
Kanzaki took a deep breath and admitted it.
"You're right. That was Class B's plan. There is no VIP in our group, so the VIP must be in one of the other three classes."
"Heh, interesting!" Ryuen laughed. "I didn't expect Class B to have someone like you who dares to admit it so openly. I feel like you're a bit wasted in Class B."
By admitting it, Kanzaki was turning his "clean" status into a weapon to push the discussion forward. It was a calculated move Class B had prepared as a fallback.
Ryuen had already used semi-coercive methods to check the phones of his group members, confirming there was no Class C VIP in Dragon Group.
"By the way, I have my people in Class A too," Ryuen lied smoothly.
"They told me Katsuragi, Nishikawa, Matoba, and Yano aren't VIPs. So, the VIP is in Class D, right, Horikita?"
He watched them closely. Horikita remained expressionless, Hirata Yosuke stayed mild-mannered, and Kushida Kikyo maintained her gentle, innocent facade.
"Ryuen! Stop talking nonsense!" Katsuragi finally snapped.
"I haven't communicated with the Sakayanagi faction at all. Don't lie to stir trouble!"
"Heh, I see," Ryuen grinned wider. "So you don't even know how many VIPs are in your own group. Katsuragi, you really are useless."
"Ryuen! You—!" Katsuragi realized he'd walked right into a verbal trap.
"Class B likely knows all three of their VIPs," Ryuen said, looking at the Class D trio. "As for Class D, if I'm not mistaken, you only have the identities of two VIPs, right?"
Horikita's eyes flashed with surprise before returning to neutral. Hirata countered immediately: "Ryuen-kun, I don't know what you're talking about."
"Heh. Can you three not even lie convincingly?" Ryuen leaned back, crossing his legs. "If your teacher, Chabashira, had put Shimizu Akira in Dragon Group, this might have been interesting."
In Ryuen's eyes, no one here was a match for him.
Ichinose was too cautious, and Katsuragi was choosing to do nothing.
His only real concerns—Shimizu Akira and Sakayanagi Arisu—were either in another group or not on the ship.
"Even if Shimizu-kun is in the Rabbit Group, that's no reason to underestimate him, Ryuen," Kanzaki retorted.
"Oh, Akira is strong. Very strong," Ryuen conceded with rare sincerity.
"Honestly, I'm afraid he'll deduce the VIP just by listening to people talk. So, I've decided: starting now, Class C will stop speaking. We won't push any VIP discussions. We're going to learn from Class A's methods."
The room erupted in shock. C Class was going to mimic A Class's total silence—all because of Akira's presence in a different group.
Horikita realized Ryuen's move was decisive.
By having half the group stay silent, no one, not even Akira, could extract information. Furthermore, she realized Ryuen was likely letting Shiina Hiyori—whose deductive skills were top-tier—summarize the VIP patterns in private while he stalled the meetings.
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The meeting ended at 9:00 PM. Once the others left, Kushida, Hirata, and Horikita remained.
"Things are getting complicated," Kushida said worriedly. "How did Ryuen know we only have two VIP identities?"
"Maybe a coincidence," Hirata suggested.
"But who is the third VIP?" Kushida asked.
"I don't know," Hirata sighed. "If they won't come forward, they probably have their reasons."
"What reasons? They just want the 500,000 personal points!" Horikita snapped, frustrated. Without the third identity, she couldn't find the pattern.
Hirata suggested asking Akira for help, but Kushida disagreed firmly.
"Akira-kun was exhausted after the last exam. Let's not trouble him. If the class starts taking his help for granted, he'll be the only one suffering in the end."
Horikita watched Kushida. She realized Kushida was being sincere.
Kushida had been the one defending Akira against complaints from the class for the past few days. Though Horikita didn't like Kushida, she couldn't fault her treatment of Akira.
Horikita also suspected that Akira had been the one feeding Kushida clever ideas over the past few months, such as the cooperation with Ichinose during Sudo's incident.
They were "mutually good" to each other.
This made Horikita feel a twinge of irrational annoyance.
Akira always gave her hints and made her figure things out herself, but he seemed to give Kushida a different kind of treatment. Even during the island exam, only Kushida had known about his recording pen plan beforehand.
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Hirata left for his dorm, leaving Horikita and Kushida alone.
"Horikita-san, I saw you eating with Akira-kun this morning. What did you talk about?" Kushida asked with casual curiosity.
"That's none of your business," Horikita replied coldly.
"Is that so?" Kushida smiled. "Then let me ask another thing. Horikita-san, have you ever kissed?"
Horikita froze, her cheeks flushing.
"I have no reason to tell you such private things!"
"Oh~ by that reaction, it looks like no. I see," Kushida's eyes curved with amusement.
Horikita wondered if Kushida was mocking her.
'Has Kushida kissed someone?'
"So, have you?" Horikita countered.
"Hm, no. No, I haven't!" Kushida replied after a long pause, her voice airy.
"Like you, I haven't kissed yet. But I hope to save my first kiss for someone very important... someone whose presence makes me feel safe even in silence."
Horikita felt a jolt.
'Was she talking about Akira? Was she planning to kiss him?'
"I don't care about your boring teenage girl fantasies," Horikita said with a cold smile. She then shifted the topic to the island exam, specifically why Kushida had approached Ibuki Mio without orders.
"Akira told me about your plan," Kushida explained calmly. "He saw through your arrangement, and when I asked him, he told me. I just wanted to help the class early. You won't blame us, right?"
Horikita was stunned. Kushida had effectively used Akira as her shield.
"You're clever, Kushida Kikyo," Horikita sighed. "You know he will protect you."
"I don't know what you mean," Kushida smiled.
"But you're right, Akira-kun is very good to me."
Horikita saw the pride in that smile and finally spoke her mind.
"I'll be clear: I dislike you. If possible, can you not drag Akira down with you?"
She didn't want Akira compromising his principles to cover for Kushida.
Kushida's smile vanished. Her face went cold.
"Mind your own business, Horikita! I know exactly what I'm doing!"
"There's the real you," Horikita noted.
Kushida checked her watch—it was 9:30 PM. She suddenly looked hurried. "I don't have time to waste with you!" She turned and ran off toward the corner.
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Akira was waiting in a rented private lounge on the first floor. It was a small room with two sofas and a table—no cameras, no beds, perfect for private talks. He had seen several couples heading into nearby rooms; the school was quite liberal about student dating.
He had messaged Kushida the location 30 minutes ago but hadn't heard back. Finally, his phone buzzed.
Kushida Kikyo: Sorry, sorry! I got caught talking to Horikita-san. I'm coming now!
Akira raised an eyebrow.
'Those two talking late? Sounds like a scam.'
Five minutes later, there were three soft knocks. Akira opened the door to find Kushida slightly breathless, her hair a bit messy from running. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"It's fine. What did Horikita want?"
Kushida sat on the sofa.
"She asked about me contacting Ibuki on the island and why I acted without orders. It took forever to explain."
"Ah, that," Akira thought for a moment. "Don't worry about it. Just blame it on me. Say I saw through her plan and told you to act first. In fact, I did sense her arrangement back then."
Kushida's eyes widened.
She hadn't even asked, and Akira had already provided her with the perfect shield—the exact same excuse she had just used on Horikita.
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