The uninhabited island survival test entered its fourth day. After receiving a large supply of resources on the second night, Class D gradually began to change. The complaints that once filled the air had faded, replaced with a space filled with laughter.
With the supplies from Class A, coupled with fruits found and fish caught by Class D students, the class had not spent a single special exam point since that night. This outcome saved them even more points than initially expected. If they could just make it through this exam, Class D's situation would greatly improve.
Even accounting for issues like Kouenji's mid-test withdrawal, Class D still had around 80 points remaining. If things continued smoothly, they would end the test with a significant surplus. Furthermore, Class C had promised to provide the leaders of both Classes A and B, totaling an additional 100 points. For Class D, which had been in a dire position at the start, this was an unimaginable achievement.
Even students like Yukimura, who were always against Karuizawa Kei, had stopped complaining. No one in the class was dissatisfied with the results. It was expected that Karuizawa Kei's prestige would rise further after this test. In fact, the signs were already there—under Hirata Yousuke's supportive leadership, Class D had clearly begun to rally behind Karuizawa Kei.
However, Kei herself didn't seem particularly cheerful. Since morning, she had appeared unusually fatigued and was persuaded by Hirata to return to the tent and rest.
Meanwhile, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka felt a subtle prickle of pain in his mind, like a needle. Scanning the Class D camp, he noticed Kei resting in the tent, Hirata out with the boys, and Kushida Kikyou nowhere to be seen. It was a perfect opportunity.
After a day of reconnaissance, he had to make his move.
Partnering temporarily with Horikita Suzune, Ayanokouji nodded to her. She then approached the instructor Chabashira Sae's base alone. Since the instructors needed to be available to exchange goods for special exam points, they rarely strayed far from their classes. Meanwhile, Ayanokouji watched from a distance.
"I'd like to exchange special exam points for a digital camera, preferably one that works well at night, too."
Horikita made her request, and Chabashira, thinking it was just a normal Class D transaction, began noting it down. But Horikita's next words made her pause:
"However, I would like you to keep this exchange confidential."
Every student in Class D technically had the right to exchange exam points with instructors. But in practice, no one did so alone—everything was discussed beforehand, and either Hirata or Kei would make the transaction. Every exchange was recorded to prevent anyone from secretly wasting points.
For four days, Class D had abided by this unwritten rule. Now, Horikita was asking Chabashira to break it.
"Horikita, is this your personal decision?"
Chabashira frowned. She had once hoped Horikita would lead Class D to victory, but their crushing midterm defeat had stripped Horikita of her influence. Since then, Kei had taken the reins, with Ayanokouji working from the shadows under Chabashira's threat. As a result, the class was improving, and Chabashira now viewed Horikita as just another student—albeit with a stricter tone.
"Yes."
Horikita nodded. With Ayanokouji's guidance, she had found a strategy against Class C—identify their leader and secretly coordinate with Classes A and B to guess correctly on the final day.
To gain their trust, she needed solid proof. A photograph from a digital camera would be highly persuasive.
Chabashira, moved by Horikita's determination or perhaps still recognizing her potential, didn't outright reject the request.
"I need to know your reason."
"To strike at Class C. If the plan succeeds, the gap between Class D and Class C will close rapidly."
Horikita spoke with a cold and confident tone that added to her credibility.
"Fine, but I need to confirm one thing."
"What are your chances?"
"Over 90%. And even if we fail, the loss to Class D would only be 20 points."
Horikita and Ayanokouji had spent the previous day scouting most of the island. They confirmed that Class C had, at most, three people left on the island—including Kitagawa Ryo. If they could capture evidence of the leader occupying a base or holding the keycard, Class D would gain a massive advantage and potentially emerge as the ultimate winner of the survival test.
"Very well."
Chabashira had her own interest. She already knew Ayanokouji and Horikita were working together. This conversation was more to confirm whether the plan was indeed Ayanokouji's. Since Horikita spoke with such confidence and Ayanokouji hadn't objected, she assumed he had approved the operation.
Thus, on the morning of the fourth day, Horikita exchanged 20 special exam points for a digital camera.
Now, it was time to gather evidence.
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Class A's morale was far from good. After being forced to sign a contract with Class D on the second night, Katsuragi Kohei had completely lost his ability to unify Class A. Though not all the blame could be placed solely on him, since he had been acting as the de facto leader of Class A, it was only right that he bear the consequences now that their strategy had failed.
The deal with Class D had caused Class A's once plentiful Special Test points to plummet by 200, leaving them with barely 50 points. They were now in a desperate situation. While they could still rely on Class C's supplies to make it to the end of the exam, even if Class C fulfilled their part of the agreement by revealing the leaders of Classes B and C, Class A would still only gain around 150 points. Moreover, they were now burdened with a monthly debt of one million personal points.
"Don't lose heart, everyone. We've secured a lot of base points. Those will earn us plenty of points too," Katsuragi stood up to rally morale, sensing the heavy atmosphere in the room.
Kamuro Masumi, however, gave a cynical smirk at his words. Since the identity of Class A's leader had already been leaked, all those base points would ultimately be invalidated.
Still, the rest of the Class A students were unaware of this and seemed to regain some spirit. One failed exam wasn't the end of the world, after all. Besides, the exam hadn't ended yet—perhaps the other classes were doing even worse. That bit of self-comfort seemed to breathe some life back into the group.
Relieved, Katsuragi turned to Totsuka Yahiko and asked, "Have you found any leads recently?"
Just as Kitagawa Ryo had predicted, Class A had come to understand the leadership rule. If only one member of Class C was active on the uninhabited island, then that person had to be the leader. But after witnessing Ryo's capabilities firsthand, Katsuragi and the others couldn't believe he was the only one left. If that were the case, he wouldn't be moving around so brazenly. In fact, a Class A student had even spotted him laughing and chatting with Ichinose Honami from Class B the day before.
Aside from Class B—who genuinely believed they were allied with Class C—Katsuragi and his confidant Totsuka Yahiko from Class A, as well as Horikita Suzune and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka from Class D, had all begun independently searching for other Class C members still on the island. Their goals were the same: to restore their own standing and undermine Class C.
After a chance encounter between the two groups, Katsuragi and Horikita exchanged thoughts and agreed to cooperate.
"Last night we found traces of Kitagawa Ryo sneaking out of the Class B camp, but none of us were nearby, so we don't know where he went," Totsuka reported.
"To be honest, it's still just the four of us—me, you, Horikita, and Ayanokoji—doing the search. We're short on people and communication is hard. Should we get more classmates to help?"
Katsuragi shook his head. "No. This operation is meant to be a secret recovery effort. A large-scale search will just alert them. There are still two days left in the exam—we should have enough time to find someone."
"But even if we find another Class C student on the island, how can we tell whether he or Kitagawa is the real leader?"
"We don't have to worry about that. Horikita from Class D exchanged points for a digital camera. As long as we catch someone using a keycard to claim a base, we can photograph it right away," Katsuragi replied calmly.
After the collapse of Class A's strategy, he had lost the support of many students. The only person he could still trust was Totsuka Yahiko.
"Kitagawa hasn't claimed a single base these past few days. Personally, I also think that mysterious person is the real Class C leader. But it's possible Kitagawa gave up on the points to focus on hiding himself."
"Let's wait a bit longer. If we still can't find anyone…"
Though Katsuragi wanted to say, "We'll just guess Kitagawa," his cautious nature held him back. Instead, he said, "Class A will just refrain from guessing Class C's leader."
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The sixth day of the uninhabited island special exam had arrived—the second-to-last day before the exam concluded.
As usual, Horikita Suzune was out at night searching for decisive evidence. The hidden member of Class C had yet to reveal themselves. In fact, even Horikita herself had begun to doubt whether there truly was someone from Class C hiding on the island. Kitagawa Ryo had been under continuous surveillance by rotating shifts since day four and hadn't made any suspicious moves. He simply spent time chatting with Ichinose Honami at Class B's camp and occasionally lent a helping hand—nothing more.
If there really was someone from Class C hiding on the island, they wouldn't have received any support from Kitagawa these past three days.
Could someone truly survive alone here for three days or more without being discovered?
Horikita stepped into the dense jungle. The sky above was heavy with clouds, on the verge of unleashing a torrential downpour. Though she hadn't brought any rain gear, she fearlessly advanced into the woods.
[I must redeem my mistakes. I must redeem my mistakes.]
The words repeated in her mind like a mantra.
[I have to prove myself—not just as a member of Class D, but as me.]
Kitagawa Ryo's face appeared in her mind. Gritting her teeth, she pressed on.
Maybe, just maybe, the enemy would let their guard down under these weather conditions and reveal a flaw.
Driven by this reverse logic, Horikita finally found something.
In front of her, at a very well-hidden base point, stood a figure clad in a large black raincoat.
It was originally a base point belonging to Class A, but due to the worsening weather, they seemed to have decided to abandon it for this eight-hour round. Perhaps the person before her had taken advantage of that.
Horikita's heartbeat quickened. Holding her breath, she quietly pulled out the digital camera and began to close the distance.
[I can do this. I can do this. I can do this.]
She knew she was emotionally unstable, and rain had begun to fall from the sky—with the signs of a downpour soon to follow.
She might catch a cold if she got too wet, but Horikita no longer cared. Slowly, she crept up behind the person.
The figure pulled out a keycard. Horikita instinctively snapped several photos, but the poor weather only allowed her to capture part of the card's edge.
The person didn't give her another chance to photograph the keycard. The screen lit up, displaying the words "Base Point Secured." Horikita quickly captured that scene as well.
Base point capture required fingerprint verification from the leader themselves. That confirmed this person was indeed the hidden leader of Class C.
Not wanting to be discovered, Horikita immediately left the area after taking the photos. She splashed through puddles without a care and rushed to a corner near Class A's camp, where she flashed an agreed-upon signal with her flashlight. In a secluded spot, she checked the photos.
She had taken seven or eight photos of the keycard, but most were blurry. After some searching, she finally found one that was decently clear. The front of the keycard was partially visible, with a large, bold "K" inscribed.
At that moment, Katsuragi Kohei arrived, having seen her signal. He strode over and spoke:
"Ayanokoji spotted something—Class C's Ryuuen Kakeru is still on the island. But he seemed preoccupied and left after just one sentence."
"Ryuuen Kakeru... it's not him," Horikita murmured.
The keycards were engraved with the Romanized name of the leader.
Kitagawa Ryo... "Kitagawa Ryo."
Katsuragi looked at Horikita, who was muttering the names:
"Did you get a picture of the keycard?"
"I did," Horikita answered with a deep breath, filled with a long-lost sense of pride and confidence.
"Though it only shows the initial 'K', that's enough to narrow it down to Kitagawa Ryo. He's the leader of Class C."
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"Thanks for your effort."
Kitagawa Ryo looked at Karuizawa Kei in his arms. She was pressed tightly against his chest. He had used her right hand to complete the base point occupation, using the rain and the raincoat as cover to fool Horikita, who had taken the picture from behind.
"It's raining now."
Reluctantly, Kei pulled away from Kitagawa's embrace. She had to hurry back to Class D.
"Sorry. Looks like you'll have to run back in the rain."
Kitagawa couldn't lend her the raincoat he was using—if someone saw her with it, the plan would fall apart. All he could do was offer a helpless apology.
He extended his hand and returned the keycard to Karuizawa.
"Once I get back, you owe me an umbrella. That's your compensation," Kei teased.
Kitagawa naturally nodded.
In the pouring rain, Kei didn't seem to care about getting drenched. She tightly held the keycard, which bore her Romanized name on the front:
"Karuizawa Kei."
This operation was built upon this strange twist of fate.
Kitagawa Ryo & Karuizawa Kei.
K & K.
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