#34 Incoming trouble?

-----(Ryuen's POV)-----

Random karaoke room:

Fuck! How could this happen?! I was humiliated by someone from Class D for sure and I am not planning to accept it quietly. I grabbed an apple from the table and started playing with it while thinking who could be the one who destroyed my plans.

"This time, your tactic caused us a lot and Class D is right behind our backs. If we won't do anything we will soon switch positions with Class D..." Ibuki interrupted me from my thoughts with a cold tone.

"Shut up, Ibuki. I am thinking who could it be. The one who destroyed everything. I am pretty sure that he is also the one responsible for Class A's incident.

"But how? We stole Horikita's card and both of us and Katsuragi confirmed that it was a genuine card, yet they didn't receive any penalty for the guessed leader" She frowned and had confused look on her face.

"Leader can be changed if requirements are met...But someone had to work together with Horikita or more like he was manipulating and using her. Have you noticed someone who had an extremely sleepy expression or perhaps eye bags from the lack of sleep?"

"? They all appeared to be sleepy, it even hurts me when I recall the sleepy expressions of those idiots who somehow ended up in the first place. But why do you ask?"

"When I was busy capturing spots inside the deep parts of the forest on the island every night then sometimes I was too slow and noticed that some spots were already occupied by Class D. And deducing from the timer, they were all claimed during the night and it wasn't an only one-time experience. They did it numerous times"

"..." Ibuki didn't say anything after she noticed my angry and annoyed expression.

The one who claimed these spots had to be athletically strong. There aren't that many people in Class D that are athletic type. And that person is also surely connected to Horikita.

There aren't that many suspects but it's only because of the insufficient amount of information on students from Class D. I was extremely cautious, there is only a small chance that someone actually saw me staying on that island which means that person also must have figured out my way of thinking. He knew that I wouldn't just throw away class points and he was probably proven right when Ibuki entered their camp. He also knew that I wouldn't trust anyone with something too important so he deduced that neither Ibuki or Kaneda is Class C's leader. Only one face kept appearing inside my mind that made me uneasy, or should I say his eyes make me feel uneasy.

"...Have you noticed anything strange about Walker during your stay inside the Class D's camp?"

"Not really...He didn't appear to be hostile or suspicious of me but he wasn't overly friendly either. But I noticed that Karuizawa and Walker seem to be quite close to each other. What? Is he one of your suspects?" Ibuki answered with a thoughtful expression.

"It could be him but I am not sure yet, however, that is pretty useful information you just gave me. If I am not wrong she is currently dating Hirata boy from her class, yet she is close to Walker. Tsk, tsk tsk"

"Anyway..." My eyes turned cold and I was slowly exerting pressure on the apple in my hand.

"Whoever it is...I will find it out and then I will CRUSH him" In the imagination of me crushing that person, I unconsciously completely crushed the apple.

-----(Ryuen's POV END)-----

[Walker-kun, do you have spare time to meet?] I received another message from Hirata. It has been already 3 days since the survival test ended yet there was still no indication of another test incoming. These 3 days I was constantly being bombarded by Hirata's messages. He was probably worried about that time when I slapped him. He indeed looked a bit guilty when he noticed my lifeless eyes back then.

[I have some free time but if it is about what I think it is then I won't meet up with you, just so you know.] The message might look a bit too cold but I was totally fed up with him trying to help me or forcing himself to be my friend. Well, it could be said that Hirata is everyone's friend which is fine but he is being too friendly with me which isn't ok with me.

[No, no! I realized that what I was doing was probably bad and too forceful. I wanted to apologize to you and invite you to lunch] Well...I certainly won't refuse a free meal since I already spent a fair amount of points for my lunch with Chabashira-sensei but I still better ask for more information instead of blindly accepting his offer.

[Just two of us?] I questioned, after all, Hirata is extremely popular, be it students from my class or even senior students, everyone likes him or at least have a positive opinion about him.

[...There will be also Karuizawa-san and a few more girls] As expected...But it's not like I am antisocial and by accepting his offer I will also be able to save a few points. We have big discounts on meals on this luxurious ship but they are still fairly expensive due to their extravagantness.

[Fine...I hope my presence won't make it inconvenient for you]

[Nice! You have nothing to worry about, I am sure they will accept you easily. I will send you the name of the restaurant later. There are still 2 hours before lunch]

*sigh* I guess he also has something to ask me because he wouldn't invite me to lunch just as a mere apology.

..

When I arrived at the restaurant Hirata mentioned in the message I immediately noticed him with a few girls sitting at the table.

"Walker-kun?" Karuizawa was surprised by seeing me so Hirata didn't inform them. Maybe he did it to prevent the disagreement. After all, most of the people wouldn't show their disapproval towards the person who was currently present before them.

"I was the one who invited him, I hope you all don't mind" Hirata apologized with a warm smile.

"No problem"

"Of course we don't mind, Hirata-kun"

Girls answered without any hesitation so I guess they have positive or at least neutral opinion on me. However, Karuizawa had a weird expression that didn't say much. She was probably thinking about the time when she saw me with Chabashira-sensei.

"Karuizawa-san? Are you ok?" One of the girls asked her.

"Ah...sorry, I was just...thinking about something. Of course, I don't mind it since Hirata-kun invited him" She quickly regained her posture and said without any friendliness. I guess she just doesn't want to appear to be too friendly with me. After all, no one knows about us being childhood friends and if she just started being too friendly with me out of nowhere, girls might start calling her bitch or something and that could lead to another bullying. She indeed has it hard.

Lunch passed by without any problems or arguing and everyone left with a happy look on their faces. I stayed behind since it seemed that Hirata wasn't planning to leave either.

"Walker-kun? How close are you with Horikita-san?" It's finally here...is it what he wanted to ask the entire time?

"Not much, I wouldn't say I am her friend but we don't have a problem talking to each other" I answered honestly.

"...I see. Do you think there is any way for me to be friendly with her? I want to cooperate with her because I have a feeling that she will be an irreplaceable person for our advancement to higher classes. Of course, I want Walker-kun to cooperate with us too"

Now I see his goal. Considering how Horikita is usually cold towards everyone, this would be quite hard to achieve, however, after returning to ship I noticed that she changed a bit. She was still cold but she didn't wear an annoyed look while talking with someone.

"I don't think I can help you with that. If you want to talk to someone who is close to her then you should call Ayanokoji-kun. He is the only person who was talking with Horikita-san from the beginning of the school. By the way, what do you mean by wanting my cooperation too? Is it another attempt?" I frowned

"No, no! Although Walker-kun's academic results are average, I noticed that you are very clever and you know how to apply your intelligence and knowledge in critical situations where most people would panic. You know how to get out of the difficult situations" Hirata shook his head in a panic to deny it. Then he started praising me, it almost felt like he was admiring me...

*sigh* "I understand so please stop praising me...I will try to talk to Horikita-san but I think most of it will depend on you. At most I will arrange for you a chance to have a serious talk with her. Just a piece of advice...Don't act overly friendly around her, it will only annoy her. Just tell her that you want to cooperate with her to get into Class A and friendship between you two should naturally form over time"

We talked for a bit and then Hirata paid a bill for lunch.

..

When I was relaxing on my bed inside my room, my phone started to ring even though I had it set on silent mode. I frowned because such a thing could only happen if the school itself sent something important to us.

[A special examination will be starting soon. Gather at your assigned time and rooms. Students who will be more than 10 minutes late for the meeting will receive a penalty. The room assigned to you is room 204 by 18:00 today. We recommend to keep your phone in silent mode or turn it off entirely before entering the room.] It's finally here, I almost thought that my guess was wrong.

There are only 30 minutes before the meeting begins.

I dressed up and meanwhile I received another message.

[What room was assigned to you?] I smiled when I noticed the sender was Karuizawa.

[204 at 18:00. You?] I replied shortly.

[Oh? It seems that we are on the same team. At least I won't be alone with some creeps around] I wonder who she refers to by the word creeps.

[Don't worry Kei-chan, I will protect you from those creeps] I replied, slightly teasing and slightly serious response. Of course, I didn't forget to send biceps emoji at the end of the message.

[It's always a pain to speak with you but I had no idea that it's the same with the messaging...] She was probably embarrassed by what she wrote earlier.

[Yet you still put up with it. I wonder why, haha] Teasing her was quite funny, same as teasing Chabashira-sensei.

[...Do you want to meet up before the meeting time?]

[Sure, I will be waiting by the stairs leading to second floor]

I wonder what kind of test it is this time... I smiled and went to meet up with Karuizawa.

.