Epilogue : Seeds of Chaos

"Finally, I've arrived."

It was past 7 AM, when the students should've been heading to their

first designated areas of the seventh day. Under a cloudy sky that looked as though a downpour was about to happen, Honami Ichinose looked down at the watch on her right hand with a deep sigh.

"Ichinose, so it was broken after all?"

A student from the same group, Sou Shibata, peered at the watch on Ichinose's wrist.

"Yeah. Looks like it's no good now. I think it happened when I fell into the river this morning and hit a rock."

After finding out that her watch was malfunctioning, Ichinose tried resetting it, along with several other attempts to fix it.

However, the heart rate measuring function and GPS function were completely unresponsive.

She tried to check her position on her tablet, but nothing showed up.

With the errors on her watch, she wouldn't be able to obtain any points from designated areas or tasks.

There was no benefit in leaving it as it is and continuing with a broken watch.

"You should be thankful that we weren't on the other side of the island."

"I know, I know."

Ichinose and her group mates were located at the southwest side of the island, on the square E6. If she walked for about two hours, she should be able to return to the starting point, but it would be dangerous to do so alone without the GPS function to guide her.

"We have no choice but to go back."

Needless to say, Shibata did not blame Ichinose for her broken watch.

"But..."

Above all, the designated area they currently needed to head to is D5.

That would mean it's in the opposite direction of the starting point.

Though, without her watch, Ichinose wouldn't be able to obtain the precious arrival bonus, much less the arrival order reward. Knowing that they should go, Ichinose turned back from her three groupmates, who were waiting to leave.

"Well, it can't be helped if it doesn't work, right, Masumi-chan?"

"If we go back now, we might still be able to reach the third designated area in time."

Agreeing with that statement, Ninomiya, a classmate of Ichinose's, nodded.

None of them showed a reluctant expression to that idea.

Ichinose was happy to see that, but at the same time, she was troubled.

Going back two days ago, on the fifth day of the exam. Ichinose and her team won first place in a task and opened up three more slots in her group, increasing it to six now. The next day, after using the GPS to search for Hashimoto's group, they joined up together to create one large group.

"Sorry. I'll definitely be back in time for the third designated area!"

Making her choice, Ichinose will need to return to her group as soon as possible.

"Wait a minute, Ichinose. I'll tag along with you."

Quickly changing his mind, Shibata followed Ichinose as they headed directly south to the starting point.

"I'm sorry, Shibata-kun. I didn't intend to make you follow along."

"You know this kind of trouble is inevitable. Let's stop talking about it now."

"Alright, I suppose."

Ichinose and Shibata then spent about an hour following the river to the E9 area.

The beach was now in sight, and they were within range of the starting point.

"Our pace is faster than expected. This is going well."

If they pushed a little more to the west, they would reach the port in no time.

That would only take less than 30 minutes, even if they were to go at a slower pace.

But to go back again, that would take another hour.

"Shibata-kun, do you think you can go back and aim for the next designated area?"

"No. It's dangerous to rush. The forest is like a maze. Even if it's daytime, the weather is cloudy today, so I'm guessing it'll rain sooner or later."

Shibata looked up at the sky. It wasn't raining as of 8 o'clock in the morning, but the weather later on was likely to become unstable.

"Yes, I know it'll be dangerous, but I can head back from the port without any problems. I don't think we should miss even one point if we are to catch up with the top groups. Besides, if it rains, the two of us wouldn't be able to join up with the rest of the group anyway."

Ichinose strongly emphasized the importance of aiming for every point possible.

"All that's left is to push straight ahead, you know."

Shibata was convinced to return to the island so he could squeeze out as many points as they could manage.

Though, he'd have to leave Ichinose behind.

"...Fine. But don't overwork yourself, okay? If it rains, promise me you'll settle down and wait until it stops, alright?"

"Alright. I promise I won't do anything crazy. I wouldn't want to get withdrawn from something like that."

With that promise made, Ichinose waved her hand and urged Shibata to join back up with Hashimoto's group.

Remembering the direction Shibata pointed to, Ichinose set foot into the forest. Even if she couldn't make it to the next designated area, she'd definitely be able to catch up to the third one. That strong will only drove Ichinose further.

To avoid losing more time, she moved her feet first rather than stopping to think.

Nobody was in the area, and she proceeded without spotting anyone. She realized how naive she was in thinking that she could just ask someone for help if something happened now.

After 10 minutes or so, the visibility grew worse as she continued through the forest.

The clouds overhead were obviously getting thicker and thicker.

The trees were relentlessly obstructing her view, even when she only had to go in a straight line.

When she went around one tree, another would block her path, and

then another, and another...

As this happened again and again, she began to lose confidence in

her ability to keep going straight.

"This is getting bad..."

She wanted to laugh at herself in mockery, but she still had to move

forward.

There was no doubt that the port would appear within a few hundred

meters.

After another 20 minutes of walking, Ichinose stopped due to the

hindered visibility.

If she hadn't taken the wrong path, she would've already reached

the port by now.

"I don't know what I'm doing anymore..."

She took out her tablet, but of course, she could not pinpoint her

location.

There was no guarantee either that she wouldn't get lost if she turned

back the way she came. Usually, Ichinose didn't make many reckless choices. However, the thought of failing Class C was probably causing her to become impatient.

In the midst of all this, she was able to form a strong group at the suggestion of Sakayanagi, the leader of Class A.

In order to form an equal relationship, she'd have to show that she herself was a force to be reckoned with.

She had to take one step forward, each time losing a little more confidence in where she was headed.

Where are you going? Which way is right? Brushing away her anxiety, she slowly lifted her right foot to take the next step.

It was then that she thought she heard a faint sound coming from in front of her.

Ichinose wasn't sure whether to cry out in delight or not, but she couldn't deny the possibility that the thing in front of her was a wild animal.

Figuring it wasn't too late to confirm its identity, Ichinose quietly headed in the direction of the sound.

Eventually, what came into view was—

—Deputy Chairman Tsukishiro, together with Katsunori Shiba, the homeroom teacher of Class 1-D.

When Ichinose saw them, she was relieved from the bottom of her

heart.

Now she could ask for the location of the port.

But... it was a naive idea. Ichinose immediately dissuaded herself

from asking them. No matter how much trouble she was in, a special exam was still going on. She shouldn't be asking for help just because she got lost and expected to get a straight answer. Her watch was broken, sure, but an internal malfunction was different from breaking it through external means. If she couldn't take responsibility for her own problems, then she would never be able to find salvation.

So she wondered—how should she use this thread of fate in front of her?

Wouldn't it be wiser to just follow them?

It would be optimal for her if they were heading back to the starting point, or if they're travelling to set up an assignment, since sooner or later other students will gather around them. Either way, she'll be able to use this advantage to get through the thick of things.

She decided to follow them without being noticed.

The two of them were walking around while having some kind of conversation, so Ichinose shouldn't be easily noticed. Besides, she figured that if she was to be found, it wouldn't be a problem if she kept a straight face.

In the quiet forest, two voices could be heard.

"I asked you to confirm you could move with a bit of flexibility. So what came of it?"

"It's not very easy. There have been movements from the other teachers hinting that some of them are watching us. I've noticed that Mashima is particularly wary of us."

Ichinose, who wasn't interested in the content of their conversation, listened to only half of their words in order to concentrate on trailing them.

"And there's another one as well. Chabashira of Class 2-D is checking through everyone's background."

"Drawing help from the teachers is one of the few useful tricks he can use, after all. I'm sure that both Ms. Chabashira and Mr. Mashima are connected to Ayanokouji-kun in some way. If Ayanokouji-kun was the one who brought them together, then I wouldn't be surprised if they've found out the truth."

However, the situation changed when an unexpected name was

mentioned.

Ayanokouji. Ichinose took all of her power just to suppress her gasp

when she heard his name, which oddly excited her.

Perhaps it was because of the name, but the two stopped walking

and continued their conversation from a standstill.

"I've modified our backgrounds here, so I don't think I will be traced

back to you."

"You have my gratitude. But it's possible they're still getting some

clues. If that's the case, we'll have to give him another blow. We have no choice but to corner him now."

"But is it really that easy to expel him from this school? He is from the White Room, after all."

"People are confused by their titles. It's just that—"

The "White Room?" Ichinose listened closely, but she couldn't make it out very clearly.

His voice was drowned out by a sudden gust of wind.

Ayanokouji's name and the keyword "expulsion" reverberated strongly in her head and wouldn't leave. Why were the Deputy Chairman and a homeroom teacher discussing such things? Ichinose subconsciously lost sight of the distance she needed to maintain in order to hear a little more of what was being said. Gradually, she closed the distance between them.

"If he can survive ##### until the last day, then we'll have to ##### in I2 and fabricate ##### as planned."

Ichinose moved closer to hear what they were saying more clearly, but—

She didn't mean to make a sound, but the Deputy Chairman's sharp ears caught it and turned his gaze backwards.

Not good.

With such an intuition pounding at her whole body, Ichinose immediately turned on her heels and dashed away.

However, the weight of the backpack behind her back slowed her down and she couldn't accelerate fast enough. In the spur of the moment, she unbuckled the straps of her backpack and threw it into a nearby bush as hard as she could. If her bag was found by the two, they'd be able to find out who eavesdropped on them, but Ichinose was in such a hurry that she couldn't make any rational decisions.

She was certain they couldn't see her face for the moment. However,

they were definitely aware that someone was listening to them. That fact was the most certain to her.

Those words were something that she should never have heard. She kept running while feeling a strong premonition.

I'll surely escape—

They won't find me as long as I run.

Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine.

I'm sure. I'm definitely sure.

From behind, swift footsteps stepping on twigs and leaves could be

heard, as if they were running as well. Ichinose was not confident in her athleticism, but at least she was proud of her running speed.

There was no right or left path.

Ichinose continued to selflessly run through the forest, completely lost in a frantic hurry.

When she heard something that she wasn't intended to hear, her senses tingled strangely.

Such was the intuition she had.

"Agh!"

Without looking at her feet, Ichinose, who had been running to find

a path, caught her leg in something and fell down. Looking behind her, she spotted the roots of a big tree arcing up, and thought she must've stumbled because of it. With a searing pain in her knee, she stood up in defiance to hurry forwards.

A big hand grabbed Ichinose's left shoulder from behind.

Ichinose was so surprised that her heart skipped a beat, and while she couldn't move, she looked back in horror.

"...Honami Ichinose from Class 2-C, I believe."

Ichinose's eyes, which were looking at Shiba's hips, glanced back to the ground again.

"A-Ah, ye-yes... that's m-me..."

Although she tried to back away while her bottom was still stuck on the ground, Ichinose could not escape from his eyes.

Shiba looked down at Ichinose with unreadable eyes.

"Why are you here?"

"Y-You see, my watch broke, and I was going to ask you to take a

look at it..."

"Oh, I see. No wonder there weren't any GPS signals in the area.

But that does not excuse you from hearing something you shouldn't. It doesn't really matter how far you've heard the story. If you've stepped into this matter, even in 1% of it... There's no other way but to do something about it. Quite the bad luck, it seems."

"'Something...' Do you mean you're going to p-penalize me?" "School rules don't apply here. I'll have you expelled immediately." Saying that, Shiba's enormous hand slowly approached Ichinose. "It's a little quick for you to be so rough, Shiba-sensei." Tsukishiro, who caught up with them a bit later, addressed Shiba

with Ichinose's backpack in hand.

"Ah, I apologize."

Deputy Chairman Tsukishiro approached and beamed an eerie smile

at Ichinose.

"I'm asking you now, formally—how much have you heard?" "Uh, I haven't heard anything..."

Of course, that was a lie.

In fragments, Ichinose heard a disturbing conversation between the two.

Even if Ichinose said she didn't hear anything, they wouldn't believe even a single millimeter of it.

"I'm not an idiot to believe those words. Adults always have to expect the worst of everything. I'll be assuming that you've heard everything we've said, from start to finish."

With a piercing look to his eyes, Tsukishiro stood ominously in front of Ichinose.

Then he crouched down, his eyes meeting Ichinose's gaze.

"You accidentally overheard the whole thing. That's not including the fact that what we've been conversing about is something you should never have heard."

Shiba watched the situation unfurl on the sidelines, seemingly afraid as he looked at Tsukishiro.

"If what we just said leaks out to the public, both Shiba-sensei and I will be in hot waters."

"Please, I-I've heard nothing, nothing at all..."

"That's just not the case. I'm speaking on the assumption that you have heard everything."

With that said, Ichinose could do nothing but gulp nervously.

"Would you like me to harm you so you can retire? Perhaps to the brink of you losing your memory of this very conversation? Hm, Ichinose-san?"

Looking at the cowering Ichinose, Tsukishiro stood up with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"As a person who protects this school, I can't possibly do such a thing. That's right—I don't want to act rough at all. So here's a suggestion for you: If you let your mouth run, I'll personally force a group from Class 2-C to retire."

"Huh...?!"

"Of course, I'll be targeting those that don't have enough private points to save themselves."

That would mean an immediate expulsion for the unlucky group.

"You don't think that's possible? Faking alibis for unjust actions to expel a group... that is precisely something a person who administers the rules can do. That's especially so on this uninhabited island, far

away from the surveillance of anyone else. Why, anything can happen here!"

Ichinose narrowed her eyes, frightened to the core.

Do you understand? he reminded her with nothing but his eyes. "Deputy Chairman Tsukishiro, don't you think you should exercise

some more of your authority, instead of taking such a lenient approach? Neither Chabashira nor Mashima will care if Ichinose disappears. The only thing those two care about is what happens to Ayanokouji."

"You do have a point. Please, tell me, what do you think should be the appropriate course of action here, Shiba-sensei?"

Without taking time to ponder, Shiba took out a pair of rubber gloves from his pants.

"I'll handle it myself, if you can leave it to me."

While the two discussed away at her punishment, Ichinose couldn't escape at all, yielding to only wait for her sentence.

She could not imagine what he was going to do with those rubber gloves.

Tsukishiro smiled gently at the sight of this.

"Well, it wouldn't be a good idea to spend any more time on this matter."

Tsukishiro left Ichinose's backpack at her feet and took his distance from her.

"The starting point at the port is about 150 meters ahead. Please go quickly."

"Y-Yes, sir...!"

While she inwardly panicked at being in such a strange situation, Ichinose hurriedly put on her backpack and went to leave as quickly as possible.

"What you need to protect is not the strong opponent in the way of other classes, but your own classmates, Ichinose. Please try to remember that."

Ichinose half-nodded and bailed from the scene, rushing in the direction where Tsukishiro pointed to.

While watching the troublesome situation at its end, Shiba turned his attention to Tsukishiro.

"It's fine. We can leave it alone, for now."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Shiba implied that there might be more trouble if they didn't

completely dispose of the girl.

"If she tells Ayanokouji, it will interfere with our plans." "Spontaneous developments happen all the time. We'll just move

along with it as we go."

Shiba couldn't make out Tsukishiro's true intentions, and he feared

for what was to come.

"Worried? I believe I've already put a nail in the coffin on this

situation. It'll work out in its own way, I suppose."

Break the promise, and a group of classmates will be dropped out. It

was merely a threat, but to Ichinose, it wouldn't sound like a joke, who put her classmates above all else.

"No matter what the relationship between her and Ayanokouji-kun is, Class C wouldn't have been able to make him, a powerful enemy, disappear. Ichinose-san will have to face that in due time. Let us refrain from panicking, for we shall see what will happen soon enough."

A single drop of rain fell on Tsukishiro's cheek.

"I am 99% sure Nanase-san will fail this time around, but it seems she's started to move in anticipation of those losses. If everything goes in order, it'll be about time Ayanokouji-kun's emergency alert goes off."

Tsukishiro was so calm that panicking now seemed illogical. That was only possible due to his unchanging beliefs.

1

The rain was starting to get much heavier.

With her mind finally starting to cool down, Nanase opened her

mouth, straining to move her heavy jaws, as if she had difficulty in swallowing her own feelings.

"I've lost... to Ayanokouji-senpai."

"So you admit defeat?"

"Yes. It seems that no matter what I try, I just can't beat Ayanokouji-

senpai."

I've managed to see through everything, and thus she gave up

willingly, her whole body now drained of its energy. It seemed my strategy of dodging had paid off.

"I'd like to hear all the details of your motives, if you don't mind me asking. Why did you come after me? If your reasons aren't clear, then we're going to have a lot of problems."

"Well, senpai has the right to know—no, I want you to know."

She said that as she sat down, as if she had no strength to even stand up anymore.

Nanase's movements were not simple, but it was still hard to believe she was from the White Room.

Indeed, Nanase's strength was quite impressive. She could even outdo Horikita or Ibuki.

But if she were from the White Room, then her actions were too poorly carried out.

Plus, it was awfully strange that a White Room student could mention Matsuo's name.

In order to find out the answer to that question, I waited for Nanase to explain.

"I... I came to this school because I wanted to avenge the death of my childhood friend."

"Childhood friend? Would that be—"

"Yes. It's Eiichirou Matsuo."

No doubt that was the name of Matsuo's son. Matsuo himself was

the butler that cared for me.

"I myself was able to understand it well after entering this school. If

you're completely cut off from the outside world, then there's no way to know the details, is there?"

What Nanase said was correct. But in contrast, I actually do have a bit of information regarding Matsuo.

That man, who showed up here in order to bring me back to the White Room, told it straight to my face.

After that, Nanase told me everything in a calm tone.

About how my father's persistence got him chased out of his high school, which caused Eiichirou to drop out.

The same thing happened to him at a new high school he escaped to, and he gave up on the idea of continuing on with his education after realizing he couldn't escape.

There was also the time when Eiichirou Matsuo's father burned himself to a crisp in response to his son's news.

After that, he had to work part-time jobs for a living.

I've already heard all these things from that man, but I respectfully remained silent.

"From kindergarten until graduation from junior high, I had always been with Eiichirou, who was just one year older than me. We studied, played, and learned together... He was always better than me at everything... and he was the person I aspired to be."

Nanase's tone, which had been calm up to this point, gradually changed to a much heavier one.

"Even after being forced to leave, Eiichirou-kun said he wouldn't give up no matter what, and started working part-time. We didn't have many chances to meet up with each other, but I knew our relationship would remain the same."

Nanase continued to speak without stopping as she reminded both me and herself of the past.

"Even when he had to give up on higher education, and the fact that he lost his father... he never gave up, trying to move forward no matter where he was."

Nanase's voice wavered as she tightened her hands into fists.

"Then, on the evening of February 14th, when I visited Eiichirou- kun's apartment. I was hoping that Eiichirou-kun, who was trying his absolute best, would be feeling a little better, but..."

I didn't need to hear the end of it to know what exactly happened.

Eiichirou Matsuo tried his hardest, yet it wasn't enough. He gave up on clinging to life.

"So you're saying that you won't be able to express your feelings to him ever again if you couldn't see each other anymore."

I remembered what Nanase said as encouragement to Ike.

No matter how much she regretted it, it's already too late. Even if she were to shout her lungs out in front of a corpse, her voice wouldn't be heard.

"I didn't know much about Ayanokouji-senpai, nor did I know much about your father. I had already submitted my application to another high school when... when that man appeared to me."

"Tsukishiro."

"Yes. Deputy Chairman Tsukishiro explained to me why Eiichirou's life had been twisted, and he arranged for me to be admitted into the

Advanced Nurturing High School. He told me that it was all due to someone named Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, who ran away from a facility called the White Room and entered this school."

All that just to avenge the death of a childhood friend.

"I was promised that if I was able to expel Ayanokouji-senpai, I would be allowed to meet with your father. I was actually planning to ask your father to bow in apology to Eiichirou-kun..."

Even if she were able to expel me, that man would never have bowed down.

Nanase would never get what she wanted.

A lot of things connected here, but there's still a lot more I didn't understand.

"Tsukishiro said he sent a White Room student here, but do you think it was a bluff?"

"What do you mean by that? I don't know what a 'White Room' is..."

It didn't seem like Nanase was lying about it. If so, there could be two possibilities.

One is that the assassin sent to expel me was not Nanase, but someone else who was a subject from the White Room, or perhaps someone who had a role in the White Room.

The other possibility could just be Tsukishiro bluffing, intentionally making me think Nanase was the White Room student.

If it was the latter, then there would be nobody else coming after me. However, that would be unlikely.

Nanase's abilities were excellent in their own way, but as the culprit

who'll send me barrelling out of this school, she lacked the necessary skills to do so. And it's not as if Tsukishiro couldn't see this coming.

"I know my reasons for doing all this isn't Ayanokouji-senpai's fault. But I... I desperately wanted to take out my frustration on someone, the anger that I... couldn't handle. I wanted to let it all out on someone else."

Looking closely at the sequence of events, they were all connected to many things. Nanase's behavior was one particularly odd case.

There were several times when she was pushing to make me drop out of school, but she also wanted to help me out.

Nanase herself didn't think she was doing the right thing, and that's why a contradiction was born.

She made Eiichirou Matsuo a part of herself, residing deeply in her own heart. And today, she finally let it all out.

Perhaps it was because we were on top of a mountain, but the ground was cool from the rain and a thick fog began rolling in.

"I didn't treat senpai very well... I'm really sorry..."

She hid her face in her hands as if ashamed of herself, unable to return my gaze.

I didn't say anything, instead quietly waiting for her to calm down. "Don't apologize. It's perfectly reasonable for you to be angry." True, that man did commit grave crimes just to bring me back. After all, he was a cold-hearted person who didn't consider what

being human means.

But ironically, that trait was reflected in me as well.

"Since I failed to carry out Deputy Chairman Tsukishiro's

instructions, there's no point in me staying here anymore." "You're withdrawing?"

"It's the least I can do to make amends."

In a sense, I'm exactly the same as that man.

As long as I can protect myself, I don't care what happens to other people.

But even if we were similar in essence, we still had our differences in some respects.

I believe that it's not best to show that essence to others.

In short, should you dispose of the ants that got in your way? Or should you reach out your hand to them?

To me, I would do the latter.

But to that man, he would never reach out to a lesser being.

And that was the crucial difference between us.

I slowly reached out to Nanase.

"Senpai...?"

"If you truly feel bad about all those things you've done to me, then

take back what you said."

"What do you mean...?"

"You have nothing to be ashamed of. You tried to use everything

you could to get revenge on me. But I have my own reasons why I can't lose. You see, by continuing to stay here, that is the only way I can deal a blow to that man—my father."

Nanase didn't immediately look up, instead slowly raising her head

to look at my outstretched palm.

"I'm not sure if I'm being selfish, but I want to keep staying in this

school. Please help me in doing that. I'm sure Tsukishiro still has more plans to expel me from the school, and once he succeeds, he'll bring me as a little souvenir to my father. If such a situation comes true, I would have betrayed Matsuo's intentions, who made me disobey my orders and sent me to enter this school."

"So what I should've done this whole time was the opposite..." "Can you help me with that?"

A thin, yet smooth hand grasped mine, squeezing it softly.

"I... promise to help you."

The palm of my hand was cold from the rain, but it now had a warm, fuzzy heat radiating with it.

Nanase, who was lying with her face looking down for so long, finally looked into my eyes.

Whether or not she will prove to be useful was irrelevant at the moment.

The important thing was to make sure I could use her in a way that proves to be convenient, even if it meant having to get rid of her.

"You're completely drenched. It wouldn't be good if you fall sick. Shall we go?"

"...Yes."