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Volume 3, Chapter 5: False Teamwork Part 3

So, on the 5th night of the special examination trial, D class was feeling depressed. It was like we were keeping vigil all night over a dead body. After all, no one knew who the culprit was and no one wanted to talk about it. A whole day passed without a moment of doubts and suspicions.

Within this situation, today, I was responsible for keeping the fire burning. I was just looking at the fire, throwing some branches occasionally… a very monotonous and easy task.

The problem, though, laid elsewhere.

“Hey, Ayanokouji! I told you to move the tent properly, didn’t I?”

“Move it more to the left. Because it’s too close to the boys.”

“… All right.”

They just gave me an unreasonable order and I accepted it reluctantly. The girls left with indignation.

“It’s hard when you are forced to do miscellaneous routine duties.”

“… Look who’s talking. I would have been alright if it wasn’t for your unnecessary recommendation.”

“There was no other way. Hirata is not to be trusted. Insurance is necessary.”

“You are the only one in class who doesn’t trust Hirata. It’s better not to think that all people live by being two-faced.”

“That’s true. In fact, I am not two-faced.”

Indeed. Horikita lives, by being true to herself.

She ended up dodging this rather skilfully.

“However, most people use their real intentions quite differently from their principles. Just like you do. Moreover, I don’t trust any of them because charity and hypocrisy are two sides of the same coin.”

It seemed that her trust issues weren’t limited only to Hirata. They applied to Kushida as well.

“Still, I trust Hirata very much.”

“Ah! At least, I can count on you. You are really reliable.”

“Rely on me? Can you at least say that I have a good influence on the class because of him?”

Horikita must have had something on her mind since she came back at me with a counterattack. It probably seemed to her that I was holding information that she didn’t know and, on top of that, I kept answering her with an unfriendly smile.

“Well, Hirata is not perfect. There are times that we cannot organise things properly when boys and girls are gathering together. But don’t you think he is doing his best as a coordinator? He can do what other students can’t.”

“That’s for sure. It’s true that his act of taking on a big role without making a sour face is impressive, but this must come together with a good result. However, it’s not possible anymore. The situation looks dire already. Do you know that the points that we D Class own now are very few?”

“It seems that there was an excessive amount of spending. I can’t estimate exactly.”

“Just as I thought — Hirata, whom you trust so much, keeps his lips sealed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Please, follow me.”

I wonder what it is that I should see so much that we left the fire unattended.

Where are we going?

In front of the girls’ tents.

Horikita opened the cloth on the main panel and showed the inside of the tent.

“That’s…”

Unlike the empty boys’ tent, the girls’ tent had a completely different view because there was no space to sleep.

On the floor, there was a floor mat to soften the hardness of the ground, and several pillows seemed to have been inflated with air. Furthermore, they installed a battery-powered cordless electric fan.

“The exact same things are also placed on the other tent too. A total of 12 points.”

“I used to think that the girls endured the heat with patience and without complaints. So, this is how you do it.”

It’s not like they were patient from the beginning. They just purchased all the necessary items.

“Karuizawa and the others applied for these.”

It seemed that they indulged themselves quite well in the shadows.

“When I realized it, it was only after they had placed the order and everything was ready. It’s difficult to do anything when we made a rule that anyone can use points if they apply for it.”

Just like with the case of Kouenji that withdrew early from the exams, there was no way to stop using points.

“It seems that Karuizawa reported this to Hirata, so he definitely knows. But you didn’t know it. It’s a fact that no one told you or informed the others. However, I think that this kind of information must absolutely be shared with everyone else.”

Horikita explained the situation with her arms folded. Her words made sense, but it didn’t seem that Hirata kept his mouth shut because he actually had malicious intentions. Maybe, he just wanted to avoid unnecessary confusion.

Even Karuizawa was evaluated when she reported to Hirata.

“I understand what you mean, but I don’t have anything in particular to say. Points that have been used cannot be returned, and there aren’t many days left for the test to end. So, Karuizawa probably won’t use any more points carelessly.”

I thought I was getting angry with the cold way she responded back but it seemed like this was an already expected reply from Horikita. So I ignored her completely.

“If nothing continues to happen, this time we should probably remain quiet and obedient. But it’s very risky that the stolen underwear case remains unresolved. If the culprit is still nearby, from now on we should probably hold him back from achieving other successes. That’s why I want to catch the culprit as soon as possible.”

“So, do you want me to collaborate with you?”

“Yeah. Now that cracks started to appear on the male side, there are many things which I can’t do alone.”

Boys and girls were now in the middle of a cold war. Information from both parts had been cut off and it was hard to find them out even if we went out to explore.

“Understood. I don’t know if it’ll help but I’ll cooperate.”

When I replied so frankly, on the contrary, Horikita had a doubtful face.

“…I can understand things a bit…. Do you have any other aim?”

“It’s better for you to accept other people’s favours amenably. As a man, I’m quite dissatisfied with the fact that other men have been treated like thieves. My motive to collaborate is enough.”

Earlier before, Hirata asked me to be responsible for the situation but it shouldn’t change anything.

“Well, let it go. It’s settled then.”

But the culprit wasn’t stupid. First of all, under the situation of being suspected by all the members of the class, he wouldn’t give himself away or show his true colours. Horikita may still think it’ll all be okay even in the worst situations. When we’ve already been disturbed on this trial more than this, it had an effect on the points too.

However, about the culprit…. Ibuki will probably have to take action once again. No, it has to happen for sure. Because she didn’t achieve her goal yet.

“Such a serious face. Treating someone like a criminal like that is not to your liking?”

“Because of this incident, the class is a mess. It’s a pity, despite the fact that we did everything very skillfully until today.”

“It’s unexpected that we managed to cooperate until now. Because usually there’s no teamwork in D class. The final effect has been poor though, especially now that there’s a crack in between the boys’ side and the girls’ side. Of course, it would have been better to bring everything until the end of the exam”

“Besides, whoever is the culprit, I wonder what is really his aim. Was the purpose of stealing Karuizawa’s underwear just putting into disorder our teamwork? I feel there’s another hidden purpose.”

At the keyword “purpose”, Horikita crossed her arms but, after considering it for a while, she shook her head.

“Let’s not think too much…Sorry, but I’m going back to the tent.”

Horikita, while breathing bit by bit, brushed her hair up and turned her face away from me.

“Hey Horikita, how about confessing quietly?”

“Confessing? What in the world are you saying?”

Although she pretended to be calm, Horikita had a slight perspiration on her forehead. I decided to be reasonable with her.

“From when the exam started, you’ve become increasingly sick.”

There may have been signs of her poor physical condition even before travelling but it was still light. Due to Horikita’s personality, the possibility that she would have been absent in a travel where there was excessive playing around was very high.

“It’s normal.”

“You’re lying.”

I caught Horikita in the lie she continued to tell and then I extended the hand towards her forehead. As expected, when I came in contact with her forehead, it felt hot. She tried to escape but her movements were really slow.

“Since when…..did you notice it?”

“That time when we met on the deck. I wanted to hear what were you doing at that time.”

“Yes. I told you I was reading a book in my room.”

“It was really tough on you so you stayed in your room sleeping, right?

“What’s the basis of that?”

“When you joined the others, your forelocks were disheveled. In other words, that was the evidence you were laying down just before. Moreover, on the anchor deck, it was so damn hot but it seemed like you were cold. Even now, you’re wearing long sleeves with the zipper raised to the top. If you observe your situation until today from an external point of view, even elementary students will understand where my conclusion came from.”

Horikita, who usually would strike back, this time lost the words to retort back and sunk into silence for a while.

“If you could offer all that sharpness towards A class, you’d be able to get a little more recognition.”

“No. There’s no turning back. Are you not going to keep silent about my condition anymore?

Touching with my hand, it was clear that there was a flu close to 38 degrees. Still, she was hiding it. That was for some simple reasons. If you reported your bad physical condition, the class would end up receiving a bad evaluation and getting a bigger penalty. Her luck ran out since the exam started.

“Be patient for another 5 days, it’ll all be in vain if you give up here. Good night.”

She’s going to survive until the end. Her will seems to be solid.