Also, putting that topic aside, I noticed that there was no event held during the time we slept means we didn't miss any points at all.

And that is quite nice to know.

---

As it was 06:26 a.m. the first of the three woke up and left their tents. It was Sudou, and well, he had a lot of energy I assume.

"Mornin' Suou."

"Morning. Excited for the start?"

"Yeah! But well, gotta wait first until these two girls finna wake up, right?"

"Seems like it."

He approached the water source and did his morning routine, today isn't necessarily cold. Rather it's perfect weather. Sunny and not too hot.

31°C is to be honest, a win situation for me. Not so sure about Alya, but I wouldn't mind it if she wants to take more breaks.

After all, after what happened to her mental state yesterday, I can't blame her for being on her last drop of motivation to further communicate with me.

"Kiyotaka, do you think it would be smart to wake her up? I mean the next event is in around one hour, and preparation is important."

He certainly is right. But I don't think I am in the position, out of all people to dare to interrupt her sleep.

If Sudou did that and she would get mad at him, I wouldn't mind, but yesterday night pretty much changed everything.

I wouldn't say it changed my ideals, but it certainly shook me a little, I don't think I am currently weaker than before.

Rather, slowly my old mindset is coming back. And people who knew my old mindset wouldn't want it back.

"Well, I wouldn't mind participating alone. If she gets nice sleep, I really couldn't care less."

"Damn, you two sound like a freshly married couple."

"I would recommend not saying that when she or her friends are around. It is just basic logic to let her sleep out, after all, interrupting one's sleep is worse than participating in one event."

"...Right? I am not the most advanced guy in terms of biological knowledge, but if you say it with that voice, it has to be right."

"You made it sound like everything I say is true, which is not the case."

"So even people like you, lie?"

"Even the greatest tell lies."

But as soon as our conversation took this turn. A sleepy beauty left my tent. Her eye rings were revealing the fact that she had terrible sleep.

Today it looked even worse.

Her red eyes also showcased it a little, she was crying for a much longer time than I thought. I don't understand something...

Why did she cry? Am I that important to her?

After all, I think she knew, that I rejected her because I was living off a lie.

"Morning Kujou-san! Didn't sleep that well huh?" Sudou is usually always dense but today, he some sort of reached the peak of not reading the situation.

"...A little worse than usual. Don't worry, Sudou, Suou-kun.

Suou...

Did she call me by my...

No, that was just a weird imagination.

"Morning."

Alya sent me a forced smile, but even though it was forced, somehow there was a genuine feeling behind it, she went over to the water source and did a little morning routine.

Her hair wasn't messy, it was the usual and beautiful silver like always.

I am honestly surprised since I thought that only Yuki's hair never messes up after a long sleep.

"(Dude, uhm... Weren't you on first name basis yesterday?)"

"(Huh?)"

I thought I just imagined that she said Suou instead of Kiyotaka.

My brain is playing a lot of tricks on me lately.

But today, my brain decided to hit me with the dirtier ones.

"(Didn't you hear-)"

"(She probably messed up a little with the names today. Don't judge her, she barely woke up)"

Yeah...Absolutely. Nothing else could have made that happen. Because that is not the Alisa Kujou I know.

The normal Alisa keeps up even though she gets dealt critical damage. This won't be a huge challenge for her anymore.

And if it is, I guess that I would need to interfere before something...bad happens.

"(Dude at least she is awake. Matsushita-san is probably still sleeping like a rock.)"

"(If you want me to, I can wake her up. I mean, she won't be mad at me I guess.)"

"(Because you are popular with girls dude...)"

"(Alright. Give me five seconds.)"

As I approached her tent, I immediately noticed something was off. Somehow, since I joined this school, there is always something off.

I guess I have to check before fully trusting my instincts. No normal guy would have just unzipped the tent of a girl, without giving a signal, just like that I did it.

And well, my instincts haven't stabbed me back. There was nobody inside.

Seems like she woke up sometime before I did. But even if she did, she couldn't have been that far away from the time I woke up.

Except, the possibility of...Her not falling asleep at all, during nighttime.

"Surprise, Surprise. Nobody inside."

"Alr- What?! Dude, the fuck do you mean there is nobody inside?!"

"See for yourself. Nobody is inside. She is not present."

Just as Alya came back from her morning routine, her eyes widened in terror.

It's a truly intimidating thought, she was gone and we don't even know for how long she was gone.

At 06:58 a.m. on our first day, the first person of Class D went missing.

And judging by the conditions of the traces on the ground, she probably went North-West. But there is a problem. We are located at the center.

Nobody would strictly follow one direction. They would change it several times, which means these traces are useless.

"Where is she?!"

"Calm down Sudou-kun. I am sure that Suou-kun will help us out on this one, right?"

I really couldn't concentrate at all, the name Suou being thrown at me by her for the first time in a while was insanely weird.

But for now, put your thoughts aside. It's time to recalculate and take every single route into account.

The wind was blowing a little stronger than yesterday from the east, nobody wanted to waste energy running in the wind direction.

So I assume she would at least do the opposite and use it as a backwind, getting to the west. The northern terrain is much better overall, it has fewer sharp stones to cross.

So, the only logical approach is that she went North-Western as I said earlier. But this is Matsushita we are talking about, to not get tracked, she will probably do the exact opposite or at least pick a sweet spot of both.

With that...

"Matsushita is in the South-East."

"W-Where did you know that from? How are we going to be sure of that?"

"Sudou, can I see your watch for a second?"

"Sure-" As I grabbed his wrist and began to swipe around on his smartwatch, I found the function.

'Ping'

In that app, you can send a ping across the entire island, and that ping will show you which students are your opponents, the ones in your class, and then the ones in your team.

*Action completed:*

It showed us a radar, Matsushita was closing up to the center, and certainly, we couldn't carry the stuff right now.

So there is only one option.

"She is approaching the center. You two should stay here and wait, or do whatever you want to. I will be right back, also, Alya. Keep care."

"Mhm~"

"You sure? I mean I could go-"

"If you went, the probability is high for you and Matsushita to lose your orientation and forget where this camp is at. And knowing the cunningness of many students, I couldn't leave Alya here completely alone with this much stuff."

"...Sounds smart. Alright. Don't get lost, and also, look above you."

Huh?

As I looked up, there was a cold shower running down my spine. I am losing time thinking. If it is what it looks like, Matsushita is done for.

No wonder the wind got stronger.

That looked like a supercell storm.

Our watches also told us to seek shelter in a tent which was located under a thick jungle.

"K-K-Kiyotaka, keep care as well."

I guess now it's time to hurry up a little. To reduce a bit of weight, I removed my flashlight and removed the jacket from my upper body.

"Get under the thick jungle. Also, try and keep all the things dry."

As I then started to get to the southeast, the direction where the center was from our camp, the temperature dropped dramatically, and I somehow was unsure of advancing further for my safety.

I don't believe it will be lightning strikes. Rather strong wind and rain.

And that combination is brutal.

I wasn't scared. I couldn't be scared of such a thing.

But I wasn't worried either. It was a mixed feeling.

If I mess this up, it's over.

So I guess I need to finally stop being lazy huh?

In Italian, they say: "Take your legs into your hands"

Which also means, choosing the option of running.

So I did, I began to increase the pace as high as possible in these slippery conditions.

It could be a lot better, but this is barely the first day. The other 13 are still left.

---

Approaching the center and traveling 677 meters in roughly more than three minutes, my watch told me Matsushita was in a radius of fifteen meters, so I decided to not call out her name.

Rather approach her quietly.

Not to scare her, but I was genuinely curious as to what she was doing here. All alone this early in the morning...

As I finally started to recognize her, I slowly and quietly approached her.

But well, just as expected.

[S/N]:【=Background conversation.
"=Kiyo and Matsu

【Class B is winning impressively. Out of 20 duos, 12 of them are part of the Top 30.】(S)

To not produce any awareness, I quickly forced closed Matsushita's mouth with my hand, muffling her sounds as well as possible.

"(Quiet. It's me.)"

【Class D is performing well, Class C isn't that terrible either. On the other hand, the badly coordinated duos of Katsuragi are performing terribly.】(H)

I recognized three voices. Sakayanagi, Hashimoto, and her 'secretary' Kamuro Masumi.

【Sakayanagi-san, what do you assume the results will be?】(K)

【...In all realism, if one specific person in Class D decides to be serious, I don't think our chances are high with a split leadership.】(S)

Her calm and kind voice wasn't here to trick anybody, she was straightforward with it, and well, she made sure nobody was around.

It's hard to detect any sounds and visuals once the dark clouds are dimming the area and the wind is making sounds.

Honestly, I am curious as to how Matsushita even found these three holding a conversation.

Was this even her plan? To stalk these three?

【Who do you mean by that?】(H)

【Oh no, don't think I will spurt out the name this randomly. I just know there is a student with a higher education than anybody else has.】(S)

【But...Why is he in Class D then?】(K)

Kamuro asked a good question. But, that is impossible to answer for a student of ordinary talents and education right now.

I was placed in Class D, not because of the flaws I had. But... to make it fair for the rest and give them a headstart.

【Don't ask me. Fufu~ I hope to encounter him one day. Besides, let's get back to business. The next event starts in an hour from now, I think that this person will probably be in first place. Or maybe the second depends on what the event is about and how his partner performs】(S)

【...Not lower?】(H)

But right now, I have to find Chabashira.   I assume she is right on the start point, in the east.

But traveling there will be troublesome. Two and a half kilometers... Even though this huge island had its advantages such as more space for the students to sleep apart,

but it will get quite close with time, traveling to Chabashira and from then directly to the next event is...Nearly impossible.

【No, I think that he could manage without a teammate as well. But this exam will continue later on. Besides, Masumi where is Kitou-kun?】(S)

【He should come around at any time.】(K)

"(We should leave if we get spotted, we might face huge problems or might get targeted.)" Matsushita began.

Just as Kamuro said, he could come at any time, and the direction may be quite a problem, there is a chance that he might cross paths with us if we don't hurry up.

Besides, we still need to get to the tents, since if this storm truly hits this island, our orientation might get a bit messed up.

"(Probably.)

We hurried away a little, and also, Kitou, who looked absolutely like Tarzan, just was about to cross us when we took another route.

But there was quite a problem which we are facing all of a sudden. Since the sky was getting cloudy, the sun had trouble lighting up the area, and both, me and Matsushita were missing a flashlight, to avoid any injuries like tripping.

So we were forced to slow down, the wind got a little stronger and it started to rain. It wasn't heavy rain, not even medium amounts. It was just some drops, not many, but they still made a calming sound when in contact with leaves.

"Suou-kun. Lately...Are you facing any trouble? With Alisa-san perhaps? You two started into this exam insanely close, but to be honest, I don't know if that's the case anymore."

This suddenly made me rethink a lot.

Is this just a phase between us two, when we get annoyed with each other faster than usual? I don't know.

Rejecting her confession was, to be honest, a lot weirder than I thought. Why did I do that?

'Kiyotaka, emotions are just a hindrance to your full potential.'

...

What? Is that truly the case? Most of the time, I went on and agreed, that emotions aren't needed to win and just add up to a huge hindrance when making decisions.

But, somehow, things have changed, and lately, I am just deciding things on what the old white room me would do.

I easily have the brain and physical ability to win this exam. Rejecting her for the sake of concentrating better was utterly stupid. But there is no turning back now, is there?

We are back at zero. This means we might have to start getting comfortable with each other again.

"You noticed that yesterday when you met us at the current location of our camp right?"

"...W-Why would you assume that? That was just a coincidence-"

"Give me a second." We both stopped, and she was probably panicking right now.

The only possible chance as to how she found me and Alya in such an unnatural way, is that she tracked us down.

There was a little tracker, the size of a coin. Right in my back pocket of the sportspants.

No wonder she was so confident in leaving the camp during such conditions and that early in the morning.

She tried to let me notice nothing if possible. This tracker was attached to me, right after the first event.

...

Impressive. The tracker could be connected with the Bluetooth and GPS function of our watches, so she could import some trackers in here illegally. If I wanted to, I could snitch her regarding that.

"This is a GPS tracker, I noticed this in my backpack the second I sat down, and surprise surprise. The closer I get to you, the brighter the tiny red light on it gets."

"..."

"Don't worry, I don't care for what you have done. I won't tell anybody. It could be a massive help if you somehow managed to sneak this into Ryueen's group."

"Shall I give it a shot?"

"Do it. Also, regarding yesterday, when you met us on 'coincidence'. What do you think?"

As much as she tried to switch the topic, more pressure would be applied.

There is no escape route at all.

"I...I don't get you. Usually, guys would deny that until their death, but you bring that topic up by yourself..."

That's true. Yamauchi to this day denies the fact that he peeked into the girls changing room.

And then there is me, who just goes ahead and confirms it twice.

"So? What do you think?"

"That you aren't normal at all. There is no chance that anybody in their right mind would physically try and assault their teammate..."

"You think so?"

"Of course I do. Who wouldn't? You are lucky that Sudou is incredibly skilled at keeping his mouth shut regarding such things. If not, that's disqualification."

"How annoying that you almost caught me. Keyword almost. If I had done it, I would have faced problems long ago. But nobody would catch me, since they would lack proof. And Alya would never admit it."

As I said that, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and glared at me in disgust. Now apparently, I have even an easier path to emotionally control her.

Nobody in their right mind would just go ahead and say out loud that I am abusing the fact that Alya would be too scared to admit being physically assaulted by me.

She doesn't have a strong heart after all.

"Disgusting. The longer I talk with you, the more I realize how messed up some people in our school are. You are the opposite of your sister."

"Sadly I don't feel anything if somebody thinks that my decision was disgusting. Besides, if there are no sources of evidence, nothing happened."

"I..."

She was at a loss for words. And I guess it worked, she couldn't mentally keep up with the fact that I was actively about to try to assault a helpless girl, and she could do absolutely nothing about it.

Also, the fact that I still haven't apologized for that. I only did so for the fact that I got annoyed at her. Not for almost hitting her.

"Anyways, if you tell her, I will report this to the school." I held her GPS tracker in between my fingers.

"...Can I at least get it back?"

"No, after all, only evidence will make you get disqualified. I doubt that Sudou will keep up with every event without a partner, these weather conditions, less stamina, and academic events facing him. Resulting in expulsion."

"...You are quite the dangerous one haha~"

She forced a smile, but right now, Matsushita is dependent on my decision. Alone the fact that she knows way too much and that she could tell my sister or others will make me problems.

And just as always, problems are the last thing I need.

As we finally reached our relocated camp, which was around the same spot, but under larger trees, I saw Sudou talking with Alisa.

She looked really happy right now, which made me rethink it again, and again.

But there is no need to rush anything. My watch told me the weather would return to ordinary in approximately 30 minutes.

With that, 26 minutes later, or also in an hour, will events be held.

"Took you two quite some time huh?"

"Ah~ Sorry to make you two worry. I was checking out a few things in the center."

It was a great alternative to hide the fact that she was getting blackmailed now by me and that she was stalking Class A earlier.

"I am somehow impressed that Suou managed to find you."

Stalking...

She is quite good at that, I think she could be of use to this class after all.

She could make a great spy, alerting us to weird activities.

"I am just good at guessing a person's mind, if I weren't, this would've taken even longer."

"Ты был крут именно сейчас..." [You were cool, just right now...] The girl muttered a little further away, the two didn't understand what she mumbled, but well, knowing the language, I could fill out the blanks quite easily.

It was cute, but Alya is useless.

For now.

"Sudou-kun, I think our duos should split up