Summer Break

---Haruka Hasabe's POV---

I would have never imagined bearing witness to the scene I saw yesterday. I had a hard time falling asleep last night because my thoughts were occupied with what happened. It wasn't my first time witnessing a fight, however, most of them were just boys fighting over trivial things, this...this was different on many levels.

I could have felt the tension despite watching it from afar, I would have suffocated if I were standing right next to them. Ike, who was at first believed to be an idiot slightly changed when he put some effort into studying, and now he was mostly considered a friendly social guy who had no trouble talking to anyone...however who would have thought he also has that kind of side to him?

I was ready to call for help if the fight broke out, however one moment I took my eyes off them to unlock my phone, and another moment I saw the stalker already lying on the ground painfully gasping for air.

I still regret taking my eyes off them for that one moment...I regret not seeing what exactly Ike did that rendered the creep to such a pitiful state.

*sigh* The fact that he doesn't even want any credit for resolving this possibly very grave situation makes him look even cooler like some kind of superhero who seeks no glory, however, for some kind of reason...I also hate it. Not in a bad way, though I doubt it is even possible to hate something in a good way...I simply have no idea what I am feeling right now.

I should thank him once again for helping me edit the recording today. Anyway, I definitely have to go to sleep if I want to be functional in the morning. I will submit the recording and announce the good news to Sakura tomorrow!

Ugh! I have to hold myself back from telling Sakura about Ike's involvement. Is this what superhero's friends who know their real identity feel like? This burden is quite heavy, however...I did promise him to not outright tell her, however, I don't intend to lie to her either. I just hope she won't ask anything about Ike altogether.

Ultimately, I kept rolling on my bed while thinking about the incident for a good hour before I finally fell asleep.

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It's been a few days since the incident with the stalker.

I was sitting in my seat while playing on my phone during the break when a certain rumor reached my ears. It was something about the stalker and idol named Shizuku.

"Stalker? Gross! Good thing they caught him" When a few girls started discussing the rumor circulating throughout the school, I noticed Sakura sinking deeper into her seat as if to hide from everyone. That is until Hasabe approached her seat.

I saw her whispering something to her with a reassuring smile that caused Sakura to almost jump out of her seat. Her expression quickly changed.

"Thank you~" Sakura said with the brightest smile I have ever seen her wear. It was evident that the great pressure she has been feeling just disappeared.

"W-Who else knows about Shizuku?" Sakura wiped the tears forming in the corner of her eyes and asked with a relieved smile. Since my seat is basically in front of Sakura's just in a different column, I am able to hear them talking normally.

"Umm..." I noticed Hasabe glancing at me from the corner of my eye, an action that Sakura didn't miss so she also glanced my way. I don't mind if my name is mentioned what I don't want is for Hasabe to say I planned to catch the stalker all on my own.

"Sorry" I don't know why, but I turned to Sakura and apologized with a forced smile since I still had trouble interacting with her.

"No, no...it's alright, if anything, it might be better that more people know" She said but still tried to avoid any eye contact with me.

"I-Ike-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"D-did you help Hasabe-san...since you were present at all hang-outs?" Sakura asked with a curious expression, I could practically see in her eyes evaluating her opinion of me.

"Umm-" Before Hasabe could reply in my stead, I decided to interrupt her.

"Yeah, she asked me to help her with this. I am glad that you can finally feel safe and enjoy your youth"

Hearing my words, Sakura lowered her head and thanked me too, however, Hasabe frowned at me. I gave her a stern look as if to say "if you don't wish to lie, I will lie for your and mine sake"

---Airi Sakura---

Affection: 2 -> 7

???

???

I had still plenty of time before the Deserted Island test so I decided to make good use of my time.

.

.

Summer break quickly arrived and before long I found myself on the deck of the largest luxury liner I have ever been on.

"Wohooo, this is the best vacation!" Yamauchi shouted holding onto the railing while I was just quietly enjoying the unique sea breeze.

Soon enough, Karuizawa along with other girls joined us and most of class D had gathered in one place.

Inogashira waved at me while she was hanging out with the other girls. Hasabe and Sakura were once again together, I no longer remember when they became good friends, however, I think that the stalker incident helped them bond much earlier.

That could mean both good and bad, depending on what happens to Sakura in the future.

An announcement came for the students to gather on the deck so they could look at the island from afar. After a minute, students from other classes started to gather on the deck.

*bam* While I was observing my classmates, someone bumped into my shoulder, causing me to stagger a bit but I regained my balance after a few steps back.

"Look where you are going. Can't you good-for-nothings at least pay attention?" Despite being bumped into, I was being accused of not looking despite being stationary for a good past few minutes.

I didn't even recognize the rude student so I also didn't know to which class he belonged to, however, I pretty much eliminated class B since I haven't heard of a single rude person from there, at least not openly rude.

"Are you just going to stare at me like an idiot?" The student added when I hadn't said anything and just stared at him with a blank expression.

"Who the fuck-!" Sudo and other students also took notice of this, however, I quickly extended my arm to Sudo to show him a stop sign with my hand. From the corner of my eye, I also noticed Hasabe and Sakura staring at me with a concerned look, though Hasabe's expression looked more...expectant?

"Do you hear it?" I asked out of nowhere which made him frown.

"What?"

"The oblivion NPC music, playing in the background" I said with a contempt smirk.

"...Did the reject just call me an NPC?" The rude boy took a while to process my words before turning between his classmates and me.

"Drop it, there is no merit in medling with defectives" One girl behind the boy said and started leaving the scene.

"Feisty..." I muttered with a faked awe-struck face.

This caused her to stop and glare back at me for a second before she ignored me once again.

"I can't wait to wipe that smug smile off your face" The rude boy's words aimed at me caused me to chuckle a bit since I really was imagining oblivion NPC music playing in my head and I simply couldn't control myself.

"Tch!" The boy gritted his teeth when he saw me laughing at him before leaving with the rest of his group.

"Enjoy your vacation!" I shouted at him with a friendly smile while waving my hand.

"Geez, I hate those arrogant fuckers!" Sudo complained with his fists clenched but at least he hadn't kicked or punched anything yet.

"Let's go somewhere else" Yamauchi suggested and most class D students began distancing themselves from the group of students that had just recently arrived.

I looked towards the island that was finally visible in the distance and waited on the spot for the ship to get closer. When the ship was close enough, I activated my Clairvoyance and started focusing on the individual spots on the distant island, my sight quickly enhanced and I felt like I was looking through binoculars.

Soon enough, I felt the presence of 2 people joining next to me but I was too focused on observing the island to pay them any attention.

Clairvoyance lv. 1 (25/100) -> Clairvoyance lv. 1 (26/100)

"Are you alright? Why do you keep staring at that island so intensively?"

I turned at Hasabe once I heard her voice.

"I am feeling very well, thank you for asking. I am just admiring it, nothing complicated, I used to do Scouting and this island looks like a nice place to explore.

"T-That's cool!" It wasn't Hasabe who suddenly exclaimed but Sakura who tagged along with her.

"Thank you, I think your hobby is also cool, you should take as many photos of the island while you still can" My words had a deeper meaning and I never expected them to discern it.

Sakura nodded her head with quite a pleased expression, seemingly content with my appreciation of her hobby.

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-Normal Stats:

Strength: 1.950 / 5

Endurance: 2.521 / 5

Agility: 2.150 / 5

Speed: 2.020 / 5

-Special Stats:

Intelligence: 4

Charm: 3.2

[Special Skills:

Silver Tongue lv. 1 (35/100, passive) slightly increases your charm(0.6)

Eyes of the Reader lv. 1 (50/100, active)

Iron Will lv. 1 (45/100)

Clairvoyance lv. 1 (26/100)

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I have been thinking about those stats and came to the conclusion that my overall stats should be around slightly below Hirata's level of athleticism however that's only my rough estimate.