THE TIME GOES back to the ninth day of the uninhabited island exam, the day after Nanase left Ayanokōji.
Although he was in a group of three, Hōsen, had been alone since day one. He was lying in his tent when the designated zone was announced at 7:00 A.M.
Shortly after 8:00 A.M., a shadow approached Hōsen and cal ed out to him.
"Good morning, Hōsen-kun."
"Huh?"
"It's me, Nanase."
"I know from your voice. I'm asking you what'cha doin' here?"
"Why are you asking me? We're a team, so it should be natural I come see you, right?"
It was a serious answer, but Hōsen laughed when he heard it.
"I don't know if you can say that. Ain't you been having fun with Ayanokōji? Where are the results?" Hōsen asked suspiciously.
"I... I'm no match for him."
"Ha, I bet you didn't even use your women's weapon against him."
"A women's weapon?" Nanase asked with a look of confusion.
Hōsen felt a little dumbfounded that Nanase didn't know what he meant.
"You have big breasts but you don't got any brain. Pretty sad ain't it?"
"I don't know what the size of my breasts has to do with my brain."
"Shut up. So? Is that all you came to tell me?" Hōsen said as he pulled out his tablet and ran a GPS search without hesitation.
Because he didn't know if anyone would follow Nanase, Hōsen judged it necessary to scan the surrounding area. But there wasn't a single person scanned around them.
"It was a mistake for me to try to expel Ayanokōji-kun by myself. So, I have come to ask for Hōsen-kun's help. If you have a plan, let me hear it."
Instead of saying that Hōsen didn't trust Nanase, who acted without permission and now was asking to be his partner, it would be better to say that Hōsen had never trusted anyone from the beginning.
"Get out of here. I'mma do it myself."
"I'll wait until you change your mind."
"Alright bitch, if you want to be useful get your ass to the designated area to help me avoid penalty points."
Hōsen tried to get rid of her, but Nanase showed no signs of leaving.
Hōsen ignored her and closed his eyes.
About ten minutes later, Nanase spoke up again.
"Hōsen-kun."
"Why are you still here? I said I don't need you."
"It seems we have a visitor."
When Hōsen opened his eyes, he saw that there was another silhouette besides Nanase.
"I-It's me Hōsen-kun..."
"Who the fuck are you?" Hōsen uttered an intimidating statement to the person who didn't introduce himself.
"I-I from Class C... Katagiri."
"Never heard of ya before."
"Let me talk to him for you," Nanase suggests. "What can I do for you?"
"I've brought something for Hōsen-kun."
"You need to give him something? What is it?"
"Well... they told me "don't tell anyone but Hōsen."
Hōsen, who was listening in without interest, left the tent to see what was happening.
When he stood in front of Katagiri, it seemed like a giant staring down at him.
"I'll beat the shit outta you if it's boring."
"Eek!" whimpered Katagiri as he handed Hōsen the walkie-talkie.
"A walkie-talkie? What for?" Hōsen questioned.
"Y-Y-You can use it to talk to Utomiya-kun."
Although the trembling Katagiri was very much afraid of Hōsen, he carried out his mission.
"Haha, they contacted me usin' a little boy!" Hōsen roared as he picked up the walkie-talkie.
"What the hell are ya tryna talk to me for Utomiya? You want to fight or something?" Hōsen spoke into the walkie-talkie, although there was no response.
In the meantime, Hōsen quickly took out his tablet and confirmed Utomiya's location on the map.
"Listen here retard, I don't care if you're ignoring me or if you ain't even there but this is your last chance, ya hear me?"
A voice appears on the other side.
"I didn't want to contact you, but for the smooth implementation of the plan, we can't get around you."
"Plan? What the hell are you talkin' about?"
"Have you already forgotten about the sixth day?"
"If it was about a secret meeting then I think I forgot. What about it?"
Hōsen said with a smirk on his face.
Nanase, who was not aware of this, hardened her expression. She had been traveling with Ayanokōji at this time.
Since Hōsen didn't bother to move to a private location, she is standing next to him, listening in to his conversation.
"We took into calculations that you would ignore us."
"Is that so? And what?"
"We'll be conducting a relief operation for the first years so-"
"Save the first years? The fuck you mean?" Hōsen interrupted Utomiya.
Nanase hurriedly took out the tablet from her backpack and pulled up the list of the bottom ten groups in the special exam.
There were now four groups of first years that were in danger of being expelled from school.
"We have two groups from Class D as well."
"Don't make me laugh, I don't care if that shit disappears. Don't tell me ya thought I woulda made a move to save my teammates?"
"Don't be careless. I'm afraid they're up to something."
"Shut up."
Hōsen turned the radio off but considered for a moment Utomiya's words.
At this point, "they" probably should have been making a move.
Considering this, he turned the radio back on.
"I don't know what you're planning, but what does it have to do with me?"
Nanase feels that some kind of negotiation has already started.
She listens quietly, but they must have already known she was there from a GPS search.
They have certainly must have done some research on Hōsen's area before speaking. The other side also deliberately did not mention this.
"We... we need you to save us."
Although Nanase could not see Utomiya's expression through the walkie-talkie, she got the feeling that he was hiding their true purpose.
Hōsen senses the same thing. This is a trick Hōsen can see through.
"Who told ya that? Ain't that interesting?"
"If you want to refuse, just do it. I'm only talking to you to show that I'm reasonable, and I originally wanted to do this without you."
"Then I guess that's the end of it. I refuse." Hōsen said as he cut off communication.
Hōsen patiently waited for an answer, clutching the walkie-talkie in a position where he would drop it if the response wasn't to his liking.
"Hōsen..." Utomiya calls out in frustration.
Hōsen's only answer to that is silence.
"I'm not going to get any help from you, am I?"
Given Utomiya's character, he shouldn't have pestered Hōsen after he refused. The reason he pushed on was because someone was beside him and was influencing his words.
"Wait a minute. I didn't say I wouldn't help anyone."
"What the hell do you mean...?"
On the other end of the walkie-talkie, Utomiya was a bit flustered. He was expecting the call to already be dropped at this point.
"Listen, I'm reasonable, just come over here and beg on your knees. I'll give ya a hand, okay?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Who wants to bow down to someone like you?"
"Then let's pretend I didn't say that, is that okay? Tsubaki?" Hōsen tells Tsubaki, who is probably listening to the conversation on the other side of Utomiya.
"Did you realize? Or did you do a GPS search?" Comes Tsubaki's voice from the other side.
"I wouldn't spend a point on something so obvious. I've always known you were a stinky bitch."
That was a lie. He had realized that Utomiya and Tsubaki were in the same place thanks to the GPS search he had just used, but he told her as if it were his own intuition.
"I guess, after all, I can't leave it to Utomiya-kun."
Hōsen laughs a lit le when hearing the exchange between Utomiya and Tsubaki.
"Are ya saying you don't trust Utomiya?"
"No, that would just be Hōsen-kun. It's a known fact that the two of you are on bad terms, and I am not willing to let the negotiations break down due to unnecessary emotion."
"Whatever. What's this plan 'bout rescuing the first years?"
"You should already know, right? It's the four groups of first-year students in the bottom ten. And there are two more groups that are members of your class. If we end this special exam like this, our first graders, especially your class D, will definitely become miserable."
As the first-year D class leader, Hōsen should have been the most active in this matter.
It would be strange if the leader of Class D weren't in a rush to do something about this since it would greatly impact their class situation.
However, Hōsen didn't react to Tsubaki's words.
Simply because he didn't care.
"So? You want me to rescue all the first years who fell into the bottom ten, do you?"
"Before I answer, let me confirm one thing. Can I consider Nanase-san to be our partner?"
Tsubaki mentioned Nanase for the first time here. She intended to gather information from the series of reactions from Hōsen and the others.
"Let's just say, at least in Class D, which is full of shit, she's someone who can be useful."
"Is that so? Then I can say whatever I want. You're right, we do plan to rescue all the first-year students who fall into or are about to fall into the bottom ten."
"You talk a lot but can ya back it up? Obviously, nothing outta the ordinary has been done so far. I won't spare you if you take away my precious time for no reason." Hōsen threatens.
"Taking up your precious time? Then your precious time is really cheap."
Tsubaki's words indicate that she had been monitoring Hōsen with the GPS from the beginning.
"Hey, just for fun, should I send your errand boy back half-dead?"
Seeing that Hōsen was serious, Katagiri in front of him began to shrink.
Hōsen has the type of power to make most students cower just through his aura.
"I swear if you put one hand on Katagiri, I'll personally come see you Hōsen..."
"Shut the fuck up Utomiya, you had your chance to fight, don't talk to me anymore."
"But-"
The other side started a quarrel, and the communication was temporarily stopped.
"What the fuck are they doing?" Hōsen said, annoyed. "Hey little boy, what'cha think about what I said?"
"..."
Katagiri was speechless, and quite frankly, wanted to run away.
"Tch, you're boring. Get outta here."
"B-b-but the w-walkie-talkie..." Katagiri stammered.
"I'll take care of it for ya."
"But..."
""Katagiri-kun, don't worry about it. I think you should leave this place and leave the walkie-talkie to Hōsen-kun." Nanase intervenes and tries to convince him to do so.
With a warning look, she indicated that Katagiri should not be ungrateful.
Katagiri took one look at Hōsen, who was standing behind her. Hōsen glared at Katagiri, which was enough to make him run away in fear.
As he was running away, he tripped and fell.
"What an idiot."
"You didn't need to act so tough."
"That's how I do things. You should already know that."
After the exchange from those two, Tsubaki's voice appeared in the walkie-talkie.
"I'm sorry I made you wait. Can we resume our discussion?"
"Sure, but your little errand boy gave me the walkie-talkie and ran away."
"You threatened him, right?"
Tsubaki didn't even need to consider it to know it was true.
"People who ain't good at fighting really have a hard time determining the outcome before the winner is decided. You're the same as that little bastard, aren't ya Tsubaki?"
"That's true, I'm really not good at fighting. But, it's different here."
"Here?"
"Here, it's about using your brain, not your muscles."
Although Tsubaki was serious, Hōsen laughed it off.
"Ha... if you're more pissed off than me, then I guess you really are serious."
"We have the method to forcefully rescue the group in trouble. For that we need as many people as possible to assist. It seems that there are already seniors who are using this strategy, so we want to use the power of the first year Class D."
That's why Tsubaki has come to ask Hōsen for help. However, Hōsen is a person who does whatever he wants. This is clear in how he has taken the special exam thus far. Tsubaki was well aware of this.
"Listen, I would love to help ya, but I got things to do. I'm very busy."
Hōsen, who doesn't even want to go to the designated area, should have a lot of free time, but here, he was deliberately saying he doesn't have time as a way to test Tsubaki's reaction.
"Busy...? Are you trying to expel Ayanokōji-senpai out of school?"
"That's what I mean. I don't care if the trash from my class disappears."
"But how are you going to get him to drop out of school? Up to the morning of the eighth day, Ayanokōji-senpai was also acting alone. But he didn't fall into the bottom ten. There are only two conditions in the rules that will lead to withdrawal; one is that the whole group is out, and the other is to fall into the bottom five."
This is a situation where you can't expect him to fall into the bottom five.
"There have been some students who have withdrawn this week, but so far there has been no group eliminations. It'll be a difficult scenario for the rest of the week, and we could see few groups get eliminated."
"It's true. Some groups are already facing a food shortage."
Utomiya, who was next to Tsubaki, joined in the conversation.
Utomiya and the others had already reached out to the first years who had run out of food many times.
"If the last five groups are defeated, it will be practically impossible to get Ayanokōji-senpai to drop out of the school. You can think that rescuing the first years will also help Ayanokōji-senpai get expelled."
Only here does Hōsen's smile fade, and he begins to develop a serious attitude.
"Saving the first years. Doesn't sound that bad. Let's hear your plan."
"As I said before, we are going to stay together as one in our grade, like all the other students in the upper grades. We will absorb the sinking groups from the bottom and pick up where we left off with the groups we can afford.
If necessary, we can also take away the events from the students who have fallen to the bottom in the second or third year."
"If it were that easy, ya wouldn't have to work so hard, right? And there are still classes A and B. I don't think they'll come to help us in classes C and D."
"You don't need to concern yourself with that. We've been talking about working together for a long time. We're just waiting for Hōsen-kun's agreement. If we unite with Class D, we'll be in a position to implement our plan."
"Whatever. It sounds good, but there's no guarantee it'll work. Usin'
the same strategy as the seniors will only get us to the height of the seniors.
With our inexperience as first years, there's a chance we'll lose in the end."
While he seemed to listen to the conversation on the sidelines, his mind was already simulating the battle. He came to the conclusion that even if the first year's rescue rate increased, their handicap could not be eliminated.
"Yes, even if this plan is implemented, the sacrifice of the first year may not drop to zero."
"Ain't that a strange thing to say? Ain't ya trying to save all the first-years?"
"If the same strategy is used for the whole year, it's the first years that will be disadvantaged. It's just like what Hōsen-kun says. So why don't we just let the groups at the bottom withdraw before the last day?"
This is where Tsubaki's true nature and her goals come to light. She was planning to make the other years drop out using the first-years.
"After all, there are still several people in the upper grades who are acting alone, so it's just a matter of getting rid of them."
"So, if we get rid of the five people who're taking the exam alone, the first years will be saved."
"I thought the right time to move was when everyone started to get tired. We originally planned to do it between the eighth and the tenth day of the second half of the exam, but... unfortunate events caused a delay."
The fact that Hōsen didn't show up on the sixth day.
The fact that the seventh day was completely destroyed by bad weather and students were given a day off to rest.
These thoughts immediately crossed Hōsen's mind.
"So, what? What do you need me to do for you?"
"The organizers of the special exam have made a proposal. They said they wouldn't mind you bringing him down with an act of violence. Hōsen-kun, you're planning to forcibly defeat Ayanokōji-senpai, right?"
"Well it's the only way."
That's what Hōsen replied, but his true intentions were different. Even if they had other strategies, when it comes to crushing Ayanokōji, using his hands is the only acceptable option.
"The issue is that Ayanokōji-senpai is always moving alone. That's why Hōsen-kun has no chance to properly corner him. But, if we form an encircling network, things will be different."
Tsubaki implied she would take on the responsibility of arranging the encircling network.
"I have been investigating how many of the first-year students, including Utomiya and Hōsen, trust their ability to fight or use violence. If you surround him well, you can block his escape routes."
"So, you're the one who sets the stage and then lets others take care of the dirty work?"
"That's one way to put it, yes."
"Are they willing to take that risk? I really don't think Utomiya is working with you for free." Hōsen questioned Utomiya's loyalty to Tsubaki.
"Of course, I promised them 500,000 points each if they succeed, so your reduced share will be a necessary expense."
A proposal to share the private points obtained by expelling Ayanokōji from the school.
"Wait a minute, Tsubaki. Violence is generally forbidden, do you think they're going to listen to you for just 500, 000 points?" Said Utomiya from the background.
It seems that this is the first time that Utomiya has learned the details of the mission. Hōsen understood that Tsubaki had deliberately not informed Utomiya. Normally, the radio transceiver must be pressed for the other party to hear you. If there is any issue, Tsubaki can release the button and discuss it with Utomiya without letting Hōsen hear.
She took the initiative to reveal that it was her dictatorship.
"Of course, this kind of thing is impossible to do in the beginning of the special exam. The second half of the test has been tough, both physically and mentally. Student stress is considerable. We are all in a state of conflict between our desire to be comfortable and our desire to be radical. Of course, any initial attack will be met with strong resistance. That's why I want to ask Hōsen-kun to take the lead."
Tsubaki analyzed the specific plan for Hōsen and said it wasn't difficult to achieve.
"When there's very little traffic, there must be many people who want to ignore the red light and run through the intersection. People by nature, are concerned on what others will think of them, and they don't take that initiative. However, if there's a leader who's willing to take that step, the situation drastically changes."
Tsubaki wanted Hōsen to be that leader.
"I don't hate the plan but the school isn't retarded."
"When the time comes, it's going to be a matter of both sides losing.
Both the striking party and the struck party will drop out of school. I'll be the one in charge, so I'll take the responsibility for the fallout."
"Huh?"
"Because I'm not obsessed with this school. So, it doesn't matter when I get expelled. I've already prepared half reduction cards for those in my group."
Tsubaki said that she was not only planning this plan, but she had also prepared for the consequences so that even if she was expelled, it would not affect the original group too much.
"People who're willing to self-destruct are pretty scary. Maybe I got the wrong impression about you." Hosen says as he's impressed with Tsubaki's words.
"I haven't asked you yet, Utomiya-kun. Do you object to this plan?"
"... no. I thought that making bad plays was pointless. However, from what I've seen, it's no coincidence that Ayanokōji-senpai was given a bounty of 20 million points. He's obviously an abnormal existence, that's why he was targeted. Even if the rules don't allow it, there must be a loophole to exploit. Since you've already made your up mind, there's no reason why I should stop you."
Utomiya was not against violent behavior; he was just afraid of the consequences that would follow it.
If Tsubaki took full responsibility, in the end, Hōsen and Utomiya were nothing more than her lackeys in the school's eyes. Although there is a possibility of some kind of punishment, neither of them believes the school will expel more than ten people in one breath.
"It's hard to take down Ayanokōji-senpai from a frontal attack, so I think that the uninhabited island exam was prepared precisely for our plan."
"I see how it is. You mean that this uninhabited island is a setup."
Hosen said as he switched his tablet from the map application to the recording one.
"The plan to use violence to get Ayanokōji to drop out of school was your idea alone, right, Tsubaki?"
"That's correct."
"As long as we obey your words, there will be no dropouts in our first year, can you guarantee that?"
"I promise. If anything happens, I'll take the blame."
With this, Hōsen was satisfied and turned off the recording.
"Have you collected the evidence? Now that you have my testimony, you should be satisfied, right?"
Hōsen smirks at Tsubaki's words which had seen right through him
"Whatever. When are we doing it?"
"I cannot easily divulge that information. I'll tell you on a need-to-know basis."
"So, you don't trust me eh? If you don't tell me, how am I supposed to tell you?"
"Well that's why you now have a walkie-talkie, right?"
The walkie-talkie that was taken from Katagiri was prepared for Hōsen from the beginning. Even if he didn't steal it, the result would have been the same.
"I see how it is."
"I'll get in touch with you when the time comes." Tsubaki said and promptly ended the communication after that.
"That's one crazy bitch." Hōsen said, laughing, as he put the walkie-talkie in his pocket.
"What will we do now?"
"I ain't too sure on Tsubaki's strategy but there's nothing to lose if we just follow it for now. I don't give a shit what they're planning to do, I'm going to crush Ayanokōji by myself."
Normally, this would have required repeated GPS searches. If Tsubaki was going to provide him with this, it would be in Hōsen's best interest to follow her.
"We can do whatever we want and Tsubaki gets all the crap for it, it's too good to be true."
"To me, it seems like she's using us..."
"I don't give a shit, let her use us."
"I'm willing to help..."
"Huh?"
"Well... it's because I want to protect our classmates. Please let me accompany you until I get more information from Tsubaki-san."
Hōsen simply shrugged as to say, "Do whatever you want."