#85 Survival Test 9

After a few hours of sleeping, Yuichi felt a slight disturbance inside the tent which caused him to wake up but when he opened his eyes and looked around, he couldn't see anyone moving around.

'The leaf I left in the zip is no longer there! And the person missing is... only Ayanokoji if I don't count Koenji who never came back to the camp after yesterday's evening roll call. Koenji is quite a capable individual however I wonder what he is thinking...Anyway, I guess I shouldn't take a peek out of the tent unless I want to disturb whatever is Ayanokoji doing...It could also be that he went to the toilet but if even the leaves I left on the Ibuki's bag are missing, it would be too much of a coincidence.' While Yuichi was thinking in the sitting positing, someone else also woke up.

"Hm? Good morning Iwamura-kun"

"Good morning Hirata-kun, how was your sleep?" Yuichi asked while stretching his neck a bit.

"Not so good, it's hard to accustom to this new environment. What about you?" Hirata released a slightly depressing laugh before he quickly recovered to his cheery personality.

"At least we have a tent. I am not really accustomed to sleeping in a tent but it's not so bad"

'Of course, I am not accustomed to sleeping in the tent since I have always slept outside, cruel teacher.' Yuichi replied to Hirata with a smile before he remembered his times together with his shishō which naturally made him form an annoyed expression.

"That's good but...is something wrong?" Hirata also noticed Yuichi's expression so he asked what's wrong but at the same time, someone opened the tent from the outside.

"Eh? Good morning." Ayanokoji greeted them with a slightly surprised expression.

Both Hirata and Yuichi nodded back at him with a smile.

'...His hands are wet, this is really annoying since he could have been on the toilet or destroying Ibuki's camera with water...how troublesome. I am glad I took some precautions by planting those leaves everywhere.'

Ayanokoji looked at Yuichi's innocent expression and couldn't help but recall his conversation with Chabashira-sensei.

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"A certain man contacted the school, asking for you to be expelled while also inquiring about a certain student, though, I guess I shouldn't tell you their name." Chabashira said with an expressionless face.

'If you shouldn't mention their name, why would you even mention that in the first place? Still, for him to inquire about someone...that's strange.' Ayanokoji thought with a stoic expression however inside, he was slightly surprised by Chabashira's last information.

Both talked for a while.

"Shouldn't Horikita, Hirata and Iwamura be enough to reach Class A? There are also people like Koenji, there is no shortage of people who can help the class to rise up" Ayanokoji said before trying to leave.

"Ayanokoji...make your decision now. If you leave now, I might take it as a refusal and that might not end up well for your freedom." Chabashira resorted to using threats even though she was aware she might come to regret it later.

"...You may come to regret trying to manipulate me" Ayanokoji said with a stoic expression before slowly walking away.

"I will take that as yes." Chabashira muttered with a slightly pitiful smile.

'...I might come to regret it later however if I tried to manipulate the other person, I might not even have a chance to regret anything...that person is too unstable and there is only one thing that can control them, however, by grasping that thing, you are endangering your own life. It's the most dangerous double-edged sword. I wonder why that person wanted information about that student out of all students. The most confusing thing is how they even discovered that student, I don't see any reason for them to inquire about that student without already being aware of their history.' Chabashira thought while staring at the night sky.

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"Ayanokoji-kun?" Yuichi called out his name to wake him up since he has been staring at Yuichi for a few seconds already.

"Hm? I apologize, I woke up too early so I still feel a little bit sleepy." Ayanokoji closed his eyes and apologized to Yuichi.

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On the morning's roll call, Class D was informed that Koenji officially retired from the test and is already on the boat which dropped some morale among the classmates.

'The leaf I left in the zip of Ibuki's bag is still there intact, however...Something is wrong, it feels like it's not the same leaf but I can't tell for sure, it's roughly around the same size. Let's try something...' Yuichi thought and approached the pile of bags even though he knew that if the leaf isn't the original one, he might expose himself as the one who plated it there.

He acted as if he was trying to find Mei's bag but he "accidentally" kicked Ibuki's bag over and revealed what was lying under it the entire time.

'?!' Yuichi's eyes widened as he couldn't see the leaf with the hole in the middle but he quickly calmed down and resumed searching for Mei's bag not to appear too suspicious.

"Eh? Iwamura-kun, are you looking for something?" Karuizawa approached him once she noticed him going through the girls' pile of bags.

Yuichi turned on his acting skills and resolved himself to face Karuizawa head-on.

"*sigh* Karuizawa-san, you don't even know how glad I am to see you right now." Yuichi sighed in relief and said with a gentle smile.

"*EH?! Y-You can't say that so casually, Iwamura-kun!*" Karuizawa slightly blushed and started looking around if anyone is eavesdropping on them while tidying up her bed hair.

"Huh? Oh! I apologize, I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, you see, I am looking for Mei's bag." Yuichi replied while scratching the back of his head with an oblivious expression.

"It's all right, however, why are you looking for her bag?" Karuizawa replied with a smile before she asked with a confused expression.

'Still suspicious? Or maybe she really is just curious...maybe both'

"Well, it's a bit embarrassing but Mei keeps some kind of ornament in her bag and it's already our tradition that I keep it on the even days while she keeps it on the odd days." Yuichi said while releasing a little blush to make it more believable.

'Huh? Was it perhaps too much believable? Why is she standing there and staring at me with her mouth wide open?' Yuichi thought that he messed up but on the contrary...

"...That's so romantic." Karuizawa finally muttered a few words which caused Yuichi to widen his eyes in surprise.

"A-Are you sure you two are only childhood friends? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if it's otherwise, I will also keep my mouth shut regarding the ornament." Karuizawa asked and reassured him even before hearing his answer.

"Eh, we really are only childhood friends. We wouldn't be able to keep such a relationship in secret so we would have announced it instead of creating pointless rumors, however, I appreciate you keeping the matter with the ornament to yourself, Karuizawa-san" Yuichi said with a smile.

"Don't worry, Mei-san's bag is in the far back of the pile, I believe you will be able to find it fast. Please excuse me for now, I have to take a quick shower." Karuizawa winked at him before trying to escape in embarrassment after recalling her bed hair.

"Thanks and don't worry, even bed hair looks good on you, Karuizawa-san!" Yuichi said with a teasing smile before returning his attention to the bags to find Mei's bag.

'Ack! He noticed!' Karuizawa froze when she heard him and feebly nodded her head in gratitude a few times without even turning around before quickly walking away from him.

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*sigh* 'Finally over, keeping this facade is really hard, heh.' Yuichi sighed while looking up at the sky before his mouth curled up in amusement.

'Ibuki wouldn't be able to notice such a small piece of a leaf but Ayanokoji who is hiding his abilities might have. He probably already suspects me since I approached the girls' pile as a guy. He probably also thinks that Ibuki wouldn't plant such a trap. Heh, he won this exchange even though I was in advantage but I couldn't involve Mei in this since he knows her relationship with me, and neither could I wait until Ibuki comes to grab her bag. All the cards played for him in this. I wonder if he will continue performing now that he knows someone is watching him. I really wonder what caused him to change mind and help the class, I don't care if he is helping or not but I want to know the reason why he even bothers himself.' Yuichi narrowed his eyes as he kept staring at the blue sky.