Beneath the clear blue sky, the massive bow of the cruise ship cut through the rolling sea, sending white spray high into the air as silver waves churned along its sides.
Whenever they passed a flock of seabirds, excited cries rose from the students. Many of the first-years crowded the deck with their phones, snapping pictures and eagerly sharing them with one another.
Watching them, Ichinose Honami could not help smiling.
They had been exactly the same last year. The upper-year students were probably staying inside now, having already grown accustomed to the sight.
Only one year had passed, yet it felt like yesterday.
Honami still remembered every day of the previous uninhabited island exam. Back then, she had innocently believed that as long as everyone cooperated, they could make it through without trouble.
Instead, she had missed their best opportunity.
Almost everyone believed Class A had built its overwhelming lead through the advantages it gained during the uninhabited island exam and the VIP exam that followed.
More than once, Honami had heard people regretfully say that everything might have been different if they had defeated Class A back then.
Now, that opportunity had returned.
The second uninhabited island exam was waiting quietly ahead of them.
Honami took a deep breath and rested both hands against the railing, gazing toward the distant sea as if she might already be able to see the island.
"What are you doing out here?"
Kaoru's voice came from beside her.
"The sun is strong. If you want a photo, I can take one for you."
Honami's expression immediately collapsed.
She had just been building up her determination to challenge her own boyfriend!
"The exam starts tomorrow. Doesn't Kaoru feel that at all?"
"Feel what?"
"You know—that! This is our second time!"
Seeing her puff out her cheeks, Kaoru thought for a while before glancing toward the distant sea. He gradually understood.
"Honami wants to regroup and defeat Class A this time?"
"You really are painfully direct."
Honami sighed heavily before asking, "During the last exam, do you think there was anything I did badly?"
"If I had to grade you, you definitely passed."
Kaoru answered without hesitation.
"Why?"
Honami cared deeply about his evaluation.
"Because you didn't make a mistake. With the information and choices available to you at the time, you did the best you could."
Kaoru continued, "Most people think you shouldn't have sheltered Ryūen's people later on. But if you had refused them, you wouldn't have been Honami anymore."
Honami fell silent.
She had asked herself more than once whether she would still shelter Kaneda Satoru if she could go back and repeat the exam.
"I'm not as good as Kaoru thinks. If I repeat the same mistake during the second exam, I'll feel like Ichinose Honami hasn't improved at all."
"So you aren't planning to help anyone this time?"
"If a student is in danger or serious difficulty, I'll help them. If they truly can't continue, I'll advise them to withdraw from the exam."
Honami tightened her grip on the railing.
"But if someone tries to approach our group suspiciously, I'll warn them to stay away."
"Is there really a difference?"
"There is. To me, it's a very important difference."
In the past, Honami had trusted people unconditionally, always interpreting their intentions with the greatest possible kindness.
This time, she intended to remain cautious around everyone.
In other words, she did not want to remain naive.
She had once believed she could change this school—and even change Kaoru. It had been an extremely innocent, romantic ideal.
By the time she came to her senses, she finally realized she had never been qualified to do either.
Kaoru suddenly laughed, making Honami feel flustered as embarrassment stirred inside her.
"Is my idea really that funny?"
"No. I'm not laughing at you."
Kaoru smiled. "I simply think you've already improved, so why are you still looking down on yourself?"
"Eh?"
Honami froze.
Had she been looking down on herself?
Perhaps she had, for just a moment.
She had seen Suzune and Ryūen doing everything they could for their respective classes, especially when they were willing to use ruthless methods, while she herself continued to hesitate.
Because Class A belonged to her boyfriend, her determination to oppose it was not particularly strong.
If she succeeded, that was fine.
If she failed, that also seemed acceptable.
Compared with Suzune and Ryūen, who both had clear objectives, it felt as though she had fallen far behind, content to remain inside her current dream.
Honami's mood began to sink. She did not notice the helplessness briefly passing through Kaoru's eyes.
"Honami, there's only one way to truly make a mistake."
She lifted her face as Kaoru continued softly.
"And that's failing to learn anything from what happened before."
"I think Honami already knows what she should do next. That means you learned from the experience."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"If that isn't improvement, then what is? Does progress only count when it's so dramatic that everyone is shocked by it?"
Meeting his gaze, Honami suddenly came back to herself. Her lips moved, but she did not know what to say.
If it had been Kei, she probably would have puffed out her cheeks and complained that he was being too harsh.
"Have I really improved?"
"My Honami is the kind of girl who would stand in the rain just to hold an umbrella over someone else."
Kaoru's voice softened.
"Now she has finally remembered to hold one over herself too. Why wouldn't that make me happy?"
"Uu..."
"And if Honami ever forgets again, don't worry. I'll be beside you, holding the umbrella."
Honami's eyes grew hot.
Girls were easily moved by things like this—being acknowledged, understood, and encouraged. It felt as if she could turn around at any time and tell him every grievance she had kept hidden.
She pressed her lips together.
She did not want to cry in front of Kaoru. She had already decided how hard she would work to reach the top three, and crying now would be too embarrassing.
"We can talk about the exam tomorrow."
Kaoru seemed to deliberately redirect her attention. "Has Honami forgotten something?"
Honami looked at him in confusion.
A moment later, realization struck her.
"Happy birthday, Honami."
Kaoru smiled and produced an omamori as if performing a magic trick.
"This is a protective charm. It'll keep you safe from accidents during the exam and bless you so that your wish comes true."
Honami's face reddened. Before she could finish sorting out her emotions, she carefully accepted the charm.
"But my birthday isn't until tomorrow."
July 20th was both the official beginning of the exam and Honami's birthday.
"The exam starts tomorrow, so I was worried I might not get the chance to give it to you."
Kaoru suddenly laughed at the thought.
"Our birthdays both ended up being celebrated early this year. Next time, we should celebrate them properly."
Honami could not help laughing too.
None of them had managed to celebrate properly on the actual day. Something always forced them to move the celebration forward, and now her birthday was the same.
Perhaps they were simply unlucky.
"Thank you."
Honami held the omamori against her chest and smiled from the bottom of her heart.
"I'll treasure Kaoru's feelings properly."
Perhaps because her smile was too sweet, with the corners of her eyes still faintly red, Kaoru found himself staring.
When he tried to look elsewhere, he noticed that Honami had closed her eyes.
'When a girl closes her eyes, it means she wants you to kiss her.'
That sentence flashed through Kaoru's mind.
He slowly wrapped an arm around her waist.
Honami's body trembled faintly, but when she realized what was happening, she courageously rose onto her toes and offered him her lips first.
A faint citrus fragrance accompanied the kiss.
Her lips were warm and soft, sweet enough to make him reluctant to let go. Kaoru held her close, while Honami clung gently to him as the sound of the sea rolled around them.
When they finally separated, Honami's face was bright red and her eyes were slightly unfocused.
"After the exam ends, I'll celebrate your birthday properly."
Kaoru lowered his voice.
"A-aren't the people from the agency coming?"
Honami was still catching her breath, her ears red from doing something so intimate out in the open.
"They should arrive during the final few days. Once they come, I'll leave with them for a while."
Halfway through speaking, Kaoru noticed Honami's mood shift.
His choice of words had hurt her.
"I'm not leaving permanently."
He immediately clarified, "At most, it'll be one semester. I'll definitely return before our third year."
Honami knew he would come back.
Even so, the thought of being separated for an entire semester inevitably made her feel down.
At that moment, an announcement sounded throughout the cruise ship.
"Attention, all students. An explanation regarding the uninhabited island survival exam will be held shortly. Students from each year should prepare to attend. The briefing will be conducted in the ship's theater..."
Kaoru looked slightly surprised.
If the school was explaining the exam rules this early, they would probably land on the island first thing tomorrow morning.
"We should focus on the exam for now."
Honami's face remained faintly red as she took a small step away from him.
"Fine. But the exam is the exam, and your birthday is still your birthday."
Kaoru pretended not to notice her embarrassment.
"Kei and the others are planning a small celebration for you tonight. We'll all have a French dinner together."
"I understand, you lecher."
Honami laughed and poked his stomach with one finger.
"Your body is becoming more honest all the time. Maybe you should go find Kikyō. I think the two of you are the most compatible. If you stayed together, you'd probably cause trouble every day."
Kaoru's face darkened.
Was that not outright slander?
...
Before long, it was the second-years' turn to attend the briefing.
According to the official explanation, every group would compete for points during the next two weeks of the outdoor survival exam.
The more points a group earned, the higher its final ranking.
If every member of a group withdrew and the group was eliminated from the exam, it would immediately lose its qualification. All points and rankings earned by that group would be invalidated.
There were two principal methods of earning points:
Designated-area movement and tasks.
The first was relatively straightforward.
The school had divided the entire uninhabited island into one hundred grid zones. At set intervals, students would receive an instruction ordering them to move to a designated zone—for example, from D9 to C8.
The first three groups to arrive would receive an early-arrival bonus:
First place: 10 points
Second place: 5 points
Third place: 3 points
In addition, any student who reached the designated zone within the stated time limit would receive one arrival point.
For example, if a three-person group arrived first, it would receive the ten-point first-place bonus, plus one point for each of its three members, earning thirteen points in total.
However, to qualify for the early-arrival bonus, every member of the small group had to reach the area.
The group's arrival time would be based on the last member to arrive.
The school would designate four areas each day, except on the first and final days, when there would be only three.
The regular arrival periods were:
7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
There was a pattern governing the designated areas.
Three times per day, the new destination would appear within two horizontal or vertical grid spaces of the previous area, or within one diagonal grid space.
Once per day, however, the designated area would be selected completely at random.
If a group happened to be inside the designated area before it was announced, each member would still receive one arrival point, but the group would not qualify for the early-arrival bonus.
A group that ignored three consecutive movement instructions would lose one point.
Further ignored instructions would cause the penalty to accumulate.
However, if the group followed even one instruction before reaching three consecutive failures, the counter would reset. Any future accumulation would begin again from zero.
The second method of earning points was through tasks.
The school had installed task sites across numerous zones on the island.
Tasks could appear at any time between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. They would be located in areas containing the appropriate equipment or facilities, and their availability would be displayed at the site itself.
Multiple tasks could appear within the same zone.
The task formats would vary widely.
They would not be limited to academic ability, but could also test physical skills, general knowledge, practical ability, and other talents.
Completing tasks could earn students additional rewards.
The exact reward depended on the task and might include points, food, tools, prizes, or even permission to increase the size of a group.
One example was displayed during the explanation:
Task: Mathematics Test
Category: Academic Ability
Registration condition: Participants must register within sixty minutes of the task appearing.
Number of participants: Each small group may send only one student. Registration closes once ten students have entered.
Victory condition: Participating students compete based on their test scores. The questions differ according to year level, but their overall difficulty will be adjusted to an equivalent standard.
Rewards:
First place: 5 points
Second place: 3 points
Third place: 1 point
Each prizewinner would also receive one day's supply of food.
Because students could not predict when or where tasks would appear, they would need to physically travel to a site to confirm its condition and availability.
If two small groups wanted to combine into a large group, they would first need to complete a task offering an increased-member-slot reward.
Finally, each student would receive 5,000 basic points at the beginning of the exam.
These points could be used to purchase daily necessities, food, water, tools, tents, and other supplies, much like the previous uninhabited island exam.
A student holding an Initiative card would receive an additional 2,500 basic points, making it one of the most useful item cards during the early stages of the exam.
That concluded the complete explanation of the uninhabited island survival exam.