August 6th. The sky, which had been clear for a week, was now covered in dark clouds. The sky was gray and gloomy, and it looked like it could rain at any moment.
To prepare for possible bad weather, Hirata took the class students early in the morning to do safety measures.
As a member of the class, Kamio Tatsuya was naturally among them.
"Ibuki is gone."
While Kamio Tatsuya was reinforcing a tent, Ayanokouji quietly came closer.
Ibuki is gone?
Kamio Tatsuya looked at the place where Ibuki usually stayed, and she was indeed not there. It seemed like she wasn't with the girls either.
Even though Ryuen was hard to deal with as an opponent, he was indeed a good teammate. To avoid making things difficult for him, he even took Ibuki away directly.
Kamio Tatsuya didn't think that Ibuki left because she found out who the leader of Class D was because if she could have found out, she probably would have already.
"Maybe she realized she couldn't find out who the leader of Class D was, so she gave up."
Looking at Kamio Tatsuya's casual attitude, Ayanokouji felt like something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Could he have leaked the information about the leader of Class D?
No, he shouldn't have been there when the leader was decided.
Ayanokouji wasn't sure what Kamio Tatsuya was thinking. He couldn't guess what Kamio Tatsuya was thinking. Wasn't he worried at all about Chabashira making him drop out of school?
After finishing reinforcing the tents, Kamio Tatsuya and Ayanokouji left the camp together to look for food outside.
Since they could go back to the ship tomorrow at noon, Hirata suggested that everyone use the food they found to get through the last day.
The students of Class D had no problem with this.
Because the more points they had left, the sooner they could pay off their debts.
And the resources on this island were really rich. Even though this area had been used up for several days, there was still enough food for a class of students to last a day.
"Do you think Ibuki found out who the leader of Class D is?"
Hearing Ayanokouji's words, Kamio Tatsuya stopped walking and looked at Ayanokouji.
"You can ask me directly if you have any questions. There's no need to beat around the bush. It doesn't suit you. You want to ask me if I told her who the leader of Class D is, right?"
Kamio Tatsuya didn't mention the leader's name because he didn't know who it was at all, and he hadn't paid attention to it.
He just didn't expect that after Ryuen took Ibuki away, Ayanokouji would be the first to get worried.
Kamio Tatsuya wanted to laugh a little.
The reason why Ayanokouji asked this was because he had worked with Ryuen.
"That's right, I don't want Class D to fail the exam because of something like this. It's your business if you want to go against Chabashira-sensei, but please don't drag me down."
"You're really scared of dropping out of school."
Kamio Tatsuya said mockingly.
"We're both the same on this point. Didn't you take action on the island because of Chabashira-sensei's threat?"
Part of it was indeed like that...
"Anyway, I can tell you that I didn't reveal the identity of the leader of Class D. You can rest assured about that." Kamio Tatsuya suddenly smiled. "Before I'm sure that I can completely get rid of Chabashira's threat, I won't act rashly. We're the same in this regard."
Then Ayanokouji was silent for a while.
"Can I trust you?"
"What do you want me to do? Sign a contract and promise you that I didn't betray Class D?" Kamio Tatsuya found it a bit funny.
But when he saw Ayanokouji's serious expression, he couldn't laugh anymore.
"You're really boring."
"I just don't want to be forced to drop out of school for some weird reason."
"If you don't trust me, why ask me? Do what you think is right. Don't worry about my problems."
Because it's useless to worry. If I wanted to betray Class D, I would have done it already.
After that, the two didn't talk to each other on the way.
After picking some fruit, the two went back to the camp.
"You're finally back. By the way, have you seen Ibuki?"
As soon as they got back, Hirata greeted them.
"She disappeared early in the morning. I thought you guys had already found out."
Speaking of this, Hirata's face looked worried.
"Ibuki wouldn't have left for no reason. Something must have happened."
This guy probably still thinks Ibuki is a good person.
Well, let me remind you.
"Maybe she left because she achieved her goal."
"Goal, achieved?"
"That's right, maybe her goal from the beginning was the leader of Class D. If she found out who the leader of Class D is, then naturally she wouldn't have any reason to stay here."
"You mean she's a spy?"
After saying that, Hirata himself became silent. Judging from his expression, he had obviously considered this possibility.
But when he updated the device usage rights, he would always have Horikita mixed in with several other people, so Ibuki and even other students shouldn't have known.
That's right, even many people in Class D don't know who the real leader is.
"So, what are you going to do? Are you going to change the leader?"
"But isn't it true that the leader can't be changed easily?"
Hirata's expression was hesitant, because it wouldn't be bad if changing the leader could make Class D safer.
But how to change the leader was a problem. Simply dropping out of the exam definitely wouldn't work.
"If the leader can't take the exam due to their own physical reasons, such as being sick or injured..."
"No!"
Hirata rejected Kamio Tatsuya before he could finish speaking.
"Even if the other classes guess who the leader is, I won't let the students in the class get hurt or get sick on purpose."
I see, that's just like you.
Kamio Tatsuya had nothing to say in response to this. He didn't even know who the leader was right now, so he couldn't even secretly make them drop out of the exam even if he wanted to.
But Ayanokouji was very concerned about what Kamio Tatsuya said.
After returning to the camp, the weather became even gloomier.
Kamio Tatsuya decided not to go anywhere today and just stay in the camp or in the tent. After all, he had done what he needed to do.
The rest is up to time.
And after returning to the camp, Ayanokouji immediately went to find Horikita.
"Horikita, you noticed that Ibuki is gone too, right."
"That's right, I found out early in the morning."
Horikita's face didn't look good, and even though the weather was very hot, her tracksuit zipper was still fully closed.
"Now the girls are all talking about her being a spy, and the incident of Karuizawa's underwear being stolen has also been blamed on her."
"What about you? Do you think she's a spy?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Horikita felt annoyed, thinking that Ayanokouji was looking down on her. "Although there's no proof, she's the only one who would do something like this."
"In that case, you should have hidden the identity of the leader well, right?"
"Every time I updated the device usage rights, I would mix myself in with the students arranged by Hirata-kun, so Ibuki and other students shouldn't have known,"
"But you can't guarantee that, can you?"
Faced with Ayanokouji's question, Horikita became silent.
In Horikita's eyes, Ibuki's sudden disappearance had only two possibilities: one, Ibuki gave up after realizing it was too difficult, and two, Ibuki had already realized that she was the leader of Class D.
"What's the point of saying this now? We can't change the leader without a good reason." Horikita smiled mockingly. "Even if I drop out of the exam now despite the criticism from the students in the class, the identity of the leader will still be with me."
"No, if the school determines that your physical condition doesn't allow you to continue being the leader, then that would be a good reason, right?"
As he said that, Ayanokouji reached out and placed his hand on Horikita's forehead, but Horikita immediately dodged it.
"Do you want to die?"
It's very hot, at least 38 degrees Celsius or higher, which is considered a high fever.
"You've been enduring it since the first day of the exam, right?"
Horikita silently looked at Ayanokouji.
"You can't continue to last with your current physical condition, you understand, right?"
"There's only one day left. I'll last through it, even if I have to force myself."
"If you insist, you might be able to last until the end of the exam tomorrow, but if your identity as the leader is guessed, Class D will lose more than just thirty points."
"Fifty points... plus all the temporary points?"
Horikita smiled mockingly. This was a very simple calculation: should they deduct thirty points to ensure safety, or should they take a chance with even more points?
She had taken a gamble before, betting that Ryuen wouldn't see through her plan, but she lost that time.
This time...
"Are you sure that we can change the leader if I drop out of the exam due to physical reasons?"
"I don't know, but we can just ask Chabashira-sensei about something like this."
"Yes, we can just ask Chabashira-sensei."
Horikita nodded as if she was talking to herself, and then she walked alone towards Chabashira-sensei's camp.
Chabashira Sae, who was in the camp, even smiled when she saw Horikita Suzune.
"What a rare guest. Are you here to use points?"
"Chabashira-sensei, I'm afraid I can't participate in the rest of the exam."
Chabashira Sae looked at Horikita Suzune's face for a while, and then she laughed.
"I was wondering how long you were going to try to last."
Obviously, she had also noticed that Horikita's body was not right a long time ago.
Then, she walked forward and placed her hand on Horikita's forehead. It was very hot...
"If I give up here, then the leader..."
"If the leader gives up the exam due to physical discomfort, a new leader will be selected from the class in order to allow the exam to continue."
After getting Chabashira-sensei's definite answer, Horikita finally relaxed, and then she felt a wave of tiredness wash over her, and her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.
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