Today, I thought instead of starting with a quote, I decided to follow a different approach this time.

As you are reading this, ask yourself this question. I chose it on purpose, not because this question is weird or funny.

Well, it isn't a question. Rather something I spent/wasted time thinking about since I am living in a country located in central Europe.

This conversation was in geography, between my teacher and my classmate. My geography teacher is an insanely nice person and likes to make jokes. But this wasn't an empty joke.

I tried to rewrite the conversation and what my exact thoughts were.

First, it started with my classmate, sitting right on my left, well not really. He was two chairs on my left. And he was caught dozing off once again. The topic was what the colors of Germany(the country we are living in) represented.

The answer isn't that hard to know, after all, it was basic knowledge for the basic Central Europeans.

The colors symbolized national unity and civic freedom. In 1848, in Frankfurt, the Bundestag (German parliament), like the German National Assembly, declared black-red-gold to be the colors of the German Confederation or the German Reich that were to be founded.

"STUDENT XY(I am going to call him Luke) please repeat what the meaning of the colors in the German flag is."

"Yellow stands for the fields. Blue stands for the sky above the endless fields."

Most of the class was laughing at this brain-dead answer. And suddenly one thing came into everyone's minds.

Isn't that the flag of Ukraine?

"Luke, that is the flag of Ukraine. I asked about the German one."

"Well, sir. Go out into the center of our town and you will only see the blue and yellow flag. So I thought that this was the German flag."

The entire room was quiet. And well, could you blame him for it? It was an insanely good joke, to be honest.

Wasn't he somewhat right? How the mighty has fallen. In 1939 the center of Berlin was full of Nazi-Germany flags. Nowadays it's Israeli and Ukrainian flags.

I have nothing against these countries. I am not even a native German myself. But I cannot find any country that has more foreign flags than their own in the center of their capital.

Go to Berlin right now, and you could believe it's an Israeli town. If you show solidarity, send ammo, humanitarian aid, or even unconditional support.

But just illustrating their flags in towns is meaningless. They will get burnt down anyway. So why even doing that? Nobody else does, so why should you?

"I agree with you. Luke. However, this is a sign of solidarity."

"This is the first low we reached since the unity of western and eastern Germany. You feel like you are in the enemy territory as anything else than a Ukrainian or Israeli."

The conversation was useless to keep going. Nobody was able to understand what he meant by that.

What do you think?

I love Germany, but this country has fallen off heavily comparing it to the best days.

>>>Bonds and Betrayals<<<

Day 10

It was quite annoying, Suou was in the first place. And thus, we will finish third place. And with that, there is no chance that Class C could beat Class D and B in this exam, even though our students are objectively much better in terms of physical ability.

Yet, it wasn't enough. It's indeed much harder and much more complicated than I have originally thought. Ibuki, whatever took her so long in the center finally returned.

Her hands are full of a bag and a special Radar, which was built to track down people at the millimeter. It will help us a lot, yet it was quite strange for me to resort to such inefficient techniques.

I didn't expect so many teams in our class to fail in building up momentum. One duo is even Stone set for expulsion. This means we are going to lose two students, I am quite annoyed by this fact, yet there is nothing I can do about it.

In the coming days, I am looking forward to maybe winning this exam, because there is a miracle going to happen.

"Ryueen-san. If you don't get your lazy ass up we ain't gonna be able to beat Horikita."

"sigh...Do you need my help to beat Horikita? This means as much as not being able to beat her yourself. Pathetic. At least keep it a fair battle. Doing that is being a pussy."

"Weren't you the one who went on to fight Ishizaki together with Albert? And you ganged up on Kitou?"

"Shut up. You are probably the first person to fight god himself to calm your ego down. You overestimate yourself, Mio."

Regardless of what I have said, she was somewhat right. But most of the time it's just because I am too lazy to dirty my own hands.

But there is a difference. Class D shouldn't have won this exam. Their leader retired, and even after she did, her partner went on to consistently occupy the top spots.

The guy controlling Class D gave us a run for its money.

I am impressed by how composed everyone remained, even though somewhere, deep on this island, there is somebody cunningly exploiting his classmates.

Usually, it would be a good description of me, but this was different. Everyone knew that I publicly did those moves for everyone to witness.

But that person, on the other hand, pulled off something even greater and remained hidden.

I am going to find you.

Even if it takes me months. Or all three of these years. You are a worthy opponent!

(Bonds and Betrayals)

Not long after the first two events ended on the tenth day of the exam, I went on to move to a more dangerous location. Intercepting Class C's plans was insanely successful next to my original plans.

But what is about to come...

It will anger Ryueen a lot.

...No. It won't anger him. It will just fuel his spirit even more. Winning this special exam is paving a path for the future of our entire year. If this special exam ends in a miracle, even though I did the most part, it will be enough momentum for Class D to rise even higher, reaching the greatest heights.

However, my plan is not to win it by myself, and just based on the achievements of our class alone. I don't want Class C to come in second, rather I would have my sister there.

But, if my sister's class ends up second instead of third, they will start to fully support Ichinose now, after she won them their first class points, and was about to overtake Class A.

So, there is no option left, but to secure first and try to sabotage Ichinose precisely. How am I supposed to pull that off?

Well, I am the only masterpiece the white room had. So how couldn't I do that?

So walking into the enemy territory, well not exactly territory, since they cannot just simply create a border which you aren't allowed to pass naturally, is strictly forbidden.

But there was an invisible border indeed. Once you pass into the northwestern part of the island, you will immediately get intercepted by the Class B duos, trying to secure the northwest as theirs.

However, as most of the teams offered no resistance and left, the more dominant teams still passed it.

And I was no exception to that, once my GPS watch gave me a signal that I entered the C-3 territory, it didn't even take 5 minutes for somebody to intercept me.

I didn't know who they were, but they were two Class B duos, both male parts of the duos were rather physically present in this 'conflict'.

They were rather well built and pretty well equipped. They had pads to protect their knees, ankles, and the back of their hands from scratches. This means, they probably have the intention to pick fights if necessary.

"Hey, any plans to change heading to south?"

"Ah? Do you mean me?" I said in a questioning voice.

"Who else? You leave or not?" The same guy said in a rather passive-aggressive voice.

I had no idea about why he would get so mad if I still went on to enter either way. Well, if I wanted to, I could easily report this, but I am a little amused by the fact that they are desperate about not letting me pass into this area.

"Why should I leave? I mean, isn't it allowed for students to enter? My watch tells me this is not a restricted zone, which means I am allowed to enter whether you like it or not." My reasoning wasn't the hardest to understand for sure, and they understood it perfectly well, but no chance they would stay peaceful like always in an examination like such.

"If you don't then we will force you out." I felt a hand lightly resting on my shoulder from behind.

Which surprised me, to be honest. I didn't notice the presence of the guy behind me, but their stealth hasn't pushed me off yet.

Just as I turned around to face who it exactly was, the guy immediately landed a fist on me. Well, sadly I blocked it in the last second. This was a three versus one. And as of now, they are way better equipped and are familiar with the terrain.

They originally planned to stay in the South, but went on to change their heading to the northwest.

"Close call..." I muttered to myself, cold sweat running down my face as I barely dodged this one.

"Leave now or the impact will catch up on you." As he gave the last warning, I stood still because there was no need for me to run away in a situation like such.

In addition, three girls were watching me, all of them were their duo mates. There is no way I would run in such a situation, as dangerous as it might be.

"Can't imagine myself leaving right now. I have to visit somebody in there."

"You can visit them in the hospital."

As the other guy said that, he connected a fist to my side, dealing proper damage to me. I was surprised by how strong their fists are.

One thing I went on to notice, they have absolutely zero mercy, usually Class B students are peaceful, kind, and humble. But these three are just fed up with this special exam.

They want to get it over them, to return to normality even if it takes fights to achieve such.

"Ow...That hurt." I said in a sarcastic voice, wiping the dust from my sports uniform.

Not long after that had happened, the second fist connected right into the solar plexus, and the other one connected into an oblique kick to my knee.

It hurt a lot. But good luck dealing hard damage here.

From a third-person perspective, the three Class B guys were bullying me. But right now, I was just disrespecting them, not even trying to dodge at this point.

However, what annoyed me pretty strongly, was that they tried to deal damage to my legs, arms, and chest. Mostly to give me longer-lasting damage, in the hope I will surrender the exam later on, dropping in places.

They knew exactly that I was in the first place, and that was mostly the reason for this sudden gang-up.

"Three versus one and I am still standing. Move."

I was fed up, everyone would be fed up if such gorillas were trying to stop you from entering.

So, I pushed the main guy of these three to the ground with one single hand, dropping him on his back.

What they tried to achieve with these many tries and actions, I did just in one. And it took me eight seconds.

I then tried to walk further, just until then, there was a duo that was patrolling around this area as well.

Jokingly enough. It was Ichinose and... Hamauchi? Or whatever his name was.

"Ichinose. Your classmates are desperate about something. May you talk to them a little?"

She accidentally passed by and saw one of these three guys trying to get up, she just stared at me in surprise. Probably amused by the fact that I am unfazed in such a situation.

The scene was at lightning speed, one event after the other. Four minutes ago, I was fighting with three guys, beat one, and now I am suddenly standing in front of the Class leader.

"Huh? What are you three doing?" She asked the three guys, who then immediately reddened. I don't know what caused them a red face, but I certainly had something weird.

She wasn't mad I guess. Rather a little confused.

Perhaps she had no idea about what was going on in the background.

"W-We were doing what we were told!"

"Uhm...That doesn't look like it. Why were you attacking Kiyotaka-kun? And why on earth are you lying on the ground?"

"H-He pushed me!"

"Yes, I did. But only after I received some damage myself. I wouldn't do something so stupid for no reason. Fuck around and find out."

Ichinose sighed at our conversation and it didn't take long for her to notice their bad lies. I mean, just look at him stuttering like a kid who has to do a presentation in front of the rest of his class.

But realistically speaking, if Ichinose didn't catch them doing some shady stuff, abusing the order in a bad way, it would have been over for them.

Not only would they get a nice beating, but also they would get expelled after violating the rules of the exam, the rules of the school campus, and just rules that the government set for everyone else.

I mean, why don't they use their brain a little? For what has god given them a brain if they just go on to stay ignorant and stupid? Is there no piece of shame left inside them?

"What were these three told to do?"

"Sigh...Just guarding the border to the south...Seems like they made some slip-ups and used the wrong approaches."

I assume they weren't there to stop them, just to alarm Ichinose and the rest of Class B that the intruders entered the territory. Thus they could easily start and co-ordinate a lot better.

Unlike what they did at the start of the exam. Right now, Class D will surely end up in first. However, Class B, A, and C are close to each other. This could result in any of this three finishing at either second, third, or dead last.

For now, I must try to push Class A to the last spot, kicking them into a downward spiral, whilst they were in a war with themselves. The recovery will be hard, but once they are united again, they will surely make a hard enemy.

Knocking them out together with Class C will be beneficial for us in the future.

"Ichinose. Where is my sister?"

I didn't know her exact location. Just the direction I needed to head to find her, and that would be quite useless if they also moved. It refreshes every 2 minutes. And well, 2 minutes is enough to change heading drastically.

"Uhm...I assume you should just keep on going to the Northwest. You will eventually encounter her, I guess. Just don't change the direction. And stay away from others that's it."

"Thank you, Ichinose. See you at the end of the exam, hopefully."

If it wasn't for her, I would have gone a different approach on these three. Maybe one that isn't sitting right with her imagination.

---

Not long after, I encountered many other teams, but every single one of them told me I should keep on looking out.

My eyes felt slowly tired. It's been three hours of constant scanning and walking. I am honestly surprised that Alya even managed this long with me.

Normally, the average person would last two or three days. Even less than six days.

And she retired because I wanted her to. Not on own choice. In all honesty, I don't even need to keep going at this point. But, if I am going to leave this island, then I will make sure of Class D's victory.

Regardless if I am still here or not. Because there is Horikita, and sadly god decided she to be my excuse if we don't win this.

"Eh!!! Kiyotaaaakaaa!"

Damn... Why is her voice that loud? And how did she see me? In the dark as well?

Sometimes I regret looking out for her regularly. She sometimes is a bit...too emotional. I mean, we barely saw each other the last time four days ago. Not four years.

Perhaps I am being a little too harsh on her lately. She is cute and a bit weird. But that is getting overshadowed by the other main points of her personality.

"Yuki. Sou. Greetings, how are you doing?"

This was a very weird sight to me. Yuki is clingy. But not on any guy. I have never seen her do this except to me. Why was she tugging on his arm? Is she perhaps scared of the dark?

If not, maybe she isn't feeling well. No. I am overthinking again. These two like each other, I don't think anything bad happened at all.

"Great sir. How about you?" Sou answered for both of them.  My sister reddened a bit, which looked a bit weird to me.

"Where are you heading?"

"Nowhere, sir.  We will stay at this spot overnight, sir."

At this point, he should just go on and call me Sergeant.  The formality is quite funny to me.

"Sou, this is not the military. Just talk normally. And why are you two tensed this much?"

"S-Sorry.  We are fine!" My sister sighed and I noticed that he had to tell me something once again.

As I walked towards him, my sister's grip on his arm tensed to the point, where he flinched.

"Sigh...You two are terrible at hiding things. Just tell me so I don't imagine dumb things."

"A-Alright! S-See, me and you sister were quite close lately-"

"We are dating! Don't kill me, please!" Yuki, just like always, ruining the moment, yelled the thing I wanted to hear out loud.

And well, I don't know how I should feel. I mean, what should I say? Congrats? Maybe act up and try to keep my little sister innocent?

Or maybe just derecognize and act like an asshole?

Or just should I choose peace? I don't mind them dating honestly, but since I was also trying to hide nothing from her, there was no reason to support my sister for the first actual time.

She supported me in almost every situation, as bad as the conditions got. But I never did the same with her. So it's time to act like a good older brother.

"Huh? That is good to know. I thought you were going to die single."

"H-Hey what do ya' mean single?! I have a lot higher chance than you!"

"Uhm..no? So, good luck with that child, honestly. You will proceed to understand the real pain of being somewhat related to her."

"You are being such a dick Kiyotaka!"

Shibata went on to just laugh at our silly conversation. But there is a glimpse of truth behind my words.

Some time ago, I got a bit anxious about Yuki staying single her entire life. That's because she couldn't accept the fact that she failed too often in life.

And she would take it even worse knowing that even I got a partner. In middle school, she was made fun of a lot for not having a boyfriend.

I don't know why that is bad, I mean she was 14 years old...So why would anybody need a partner at that age? Is that somewhat cool for our age back then? Or rather shameless.

"Honestly...I am quite glad you two found each other. I think you two will work out perfectly well. Uhm... Congratulations. But I guess after you finally found the balls to tell me that... I guess I need to confess something to you two."

""That is???""

"I confessed to some weird Russian girl."

"NO WAY. NO FUCKING WAY!!!" Is it that surprising?

Really? Am I that incapable of actually achieving something like a romantic relationship?

"Uhm..well she is my girlfriend now."

"WHERE IS SHE?!"

"On the cruiser again. She retired."

As I said that, both of them froze. Yuki was on the verge of collapsing, her knees trembling and her face turning into the shade of deep red. Cold sweat went down Shibata's face.

"What's the matter with you two? Did I say something wrong?"

This reaction was quite