Day thirteen of the special exam. With only two days left until the giant uninhabited-island test ended, the top five spots on the scoreboard were still being held tight by Yukio's class. With off-road vehicles, their advantage was simply too absurd.
Once they got serious, even Koenji—who'd managed to briefly catch up to fifth place and threaten fourth—was quickly overtaken again. When Horikita heard Koenji had lost to Yukio, her expression was… priceless.
And at this point, Tsukishiro was ready to make his move.
Early that morning, after the first movement instruction came in, Ayanokoji received an order to head to the I2 zone. On the tablet map, it was a barren area in the upper-right corner of the island—so remote it might as well have been off the edge of the world.
Which made it extremely suspicious.
Based on the past thirteen days of experience, there was no way any tasks would appear there. Meaning this wasn't a normal instruction. Something was waiting.
Ayanokoji thought it over, then decided to go anyway.
If Tsukishiro kept hiding in the shadows, the long-term risk to Ayanokoji would be enormous. Exam after exam, even he couldn't guarantee he'd never get caught in Tsukishiro's trap. There was only so long you could play defense before you slipped.
So rather than stay paranoid forever, he'd gamble.
If he could use this chance to force Tsukishiro out into the open—catch even a shred of misconduct—then maybe he could leverage a teacher like Chabashira, or the school itself, to drive Tsukishiro out.
The odds were low.
But it was still worth trying.
…
At the same time, Yukio—fresh off completing a task and returning to his off-road vehicle—lifted an eyebrow.
Something felt off.
There were new traces around the vehicle. Someone had been here.
Yukio was careful by nature. To prevent anyone from tampering with his ride, he'd started leaving subtle markers—bits of leaves, a strand of hair placement, tiny tells—every time he got in and out.
He circled the car once, and found the problem.
A note had been wedged near the driver-side door.
Someone had slipped it in while he was busy with the task.
Yukio backed up first. Then he pulled rubber gloves from his bag, grabbed a small twig, and used it to scrape the note free. Only after he'd unfolded it with the twig did he finally read the message:
"The remote I2 zone—today the will make a big move."
It was only one sentence.
But it was a hell of a sentence—especially because it was clearly meant for him.
If it was fake, it was easy to guess why: some other class wanted to bait him into wasting time and energy, dragging down his scoring in the final two days.
If it was real… then things got interesting.
That would mean Tsukishiro had something prepared at I2—almost certainly aimed at Ayanokoji. And Yukio couldn't just sit back and watch.
There was no way he was letting someone else reach into his pot and steal the meat off the top.
And if the note was real, then whoever sent it was even more intriguing.
Someone who knew Tsukishiro's plan and could warn Yukio?
No matter how he turned it over, the answer pointed to a White Room assassin—the one hiding the deepest.
As far as Yukio knew, only three students were even aware of Tsukishiro's arrangements:
Nanase, attending this school for revenge. Amasawa, a White Room fifth-gen student, and another White Room "assassin" Yukio still hadn't fully identified
Nanase and Amasawa didn't fit the profile of someone who'd pass secret notes like this.
Nanase was too earnest and straight-laced—she wouldn't pull something this sneaky.
Amasawa was mischievous, sure, but if she wanted to warn him about something serious, she'd do it to his face, not through some anonymous slip of paper.
So if this wasn't a trap, then the note almost had to be from the other White Room student.
Which raised an even bigger question.
Why?
On the surface, Tsukishiro and the White Room students were on the same side. So why would one of them sabotage Tsukishiro's operation and deliberately drag Yukio into it?
Did they hate Tsukishiro? Were they undermining him from the shadows?
Or… were they trying to protect Ayanokoji?
Both felt possible.
Both felt impossible.
Yukio considered the possibilities for a moment, then decided speculation was a waste. The simplest answer was to go see for himself.
Even if it was bait, he had a vehicle. A detour wouldn't cost much.
So he turned the wheel and headed for I2.
And the farther he drove, the more he started believing the note was real.
The area was too remote. Earlier in the day he'd still seen other teams now and then, but out here—close to the coastline, with no beach and nothing but harsh wilderness—there wasn't a single student in sight.
If Tsukishiro wanted to make a move, this would be the place to do it.
Yukio was still thinking when he spotted someone ahead—Amasawa, blocking the road like she was hitchhiking.
She stood at the roadside with her left hand on her hip, her right thumb raised, smiling like some cute passerby trying to catch a ride. With that impish grin, that pretty face, and that "stop for me" energy, most people would slow down without thinking.
Seeing her here made it basically certain:
The note's information was real.
Yukio pulled over a short distance in front of her, hopped out, and walked forward—curious what kind of setup Amasawa and the others were running today, and what she planned to do with him.
But the moment she'd seen his vehicle, Amasawa's mood had actually sunk.
She hadn't expected Yagami to pull something like this.
What was he even trying to achieve?
He wasn't showing his face, hiding in the dark—yet he still wanted her to handle Yukio for him?
It tore at her.
On one side was the only friend she'd had for more than ten years in the White Room.
On the other was a senior she'd known less than half a year… but who she genuinely enjoyed being around.
In the end, she could only try one thing. Convince him to stop. Convince Yukio not to go any farther.