Soon, it was July 16th, the deadline for the formation of small groups.
As I was doing my morning routine, I received a phone call from Ishizaki.
"Yo, Ayanokouji. Morning."
"It sure is rare for you to call me."
"Today's the last day for forming small groups, right? I have something important to talk to you about."
"Is it about Nishino? Last I checked, she hadn't formed a group."
I hadn't checked the OAA this morning though. Did the situation change?
"In the end, she couldn't find anyone in her class to team up with, so she asked Ichinose to help her. Now, Tsube from Class C will help her out."
Ah, Hitomi Tsube from Class 2-C. She was an excellent student with more than a B in both Academic and Physical Ability.
"That's great."
"Yeah. That means almost all of us have formed a group of 2 or more people. Except…"
There was a student in Class B who hadn't formed a group yet.
"Ibuki, right?"
"Yeah. Ibuki's on her own. Is there anyone who would group up with her?"
"It's risky to take the special exam by yourself. I understand how you feel."
I could tell from the way Ishizaki spoke that he had tried to persuade her many times, but had failed.
"Give me some time. I think I have an idea."
"Seriously? Sorry about dumping this on you so early in the morning!"
I told Ishizaki that I would call him later, and then hung up.
Then I decided to try and contact someone who might group up with Ibuki.
Fortunately, that person hadn't left the dormitory yet, so I decided to meet her in the lobby.
In the elevator after mine was Horikita, the person I was waiting to meet.
Horikita was also one of the few students who, even now, didn't seem like they were about to group.
"What are you going to do about your group?"
"It's too late to bring that up. Anyway, I'm not going to group up with anyone this time. If you consider that the maximum number of people in a group is 6, it's not a bad idea to go alone."
"I know you're doing that so you can act as the situation demands. But what if you get sick and are eliminated? If you can't pay the incredibly high penalty, you'll be expelled."
I know I don't need to go out of my way to remind her of that, but.
"I am aware that I'll have to bear that amount of risk. Isn't that why you're not in a group as well?"
"But, my risks and your risks are different."
"What's the difference?"
"You had a problem with your health during the uninhabited island exam last year."
"I can't believe you're bringing up something which happened a year ago. Anyone can get sick."
"Yeah. However, you also took a break in the winter due to a fever. That makes it twice in one year."
"You just happened to spend the year without taking a leave of absence. Do you think that means you won't get sick this time?"
"In terms of taking care of myself, I'm more confident than you are."
When faced with the fact that I had perfect attendance, she had to accept this.
"I see. It's true that I'm not as good as you at taking care of myself. I admit that. But even if that's the case, making it out as something to be worried about–"
Horikita looked into my eyes. Her tone had started to heat up earlier, so she calmed herself down.
"It's enough that you know. I had no intention of opposing you."
One must thoroughly take care of their health.
If she was strongly aware of that, then it was fine.
"But even so, it's dangerous to go alone."
"Yeah."
"In our class, only you, I, and Koenji haven't formed a group yet, us three. The rest of our classmates have formed a small group of at least two people. It's safer to form a group of two, if possible."
"You and Koenji are the only ones left in the class. That means there's no way to form a group anymore."
"That's only in our class."
"Are there any girls left who haven't formed a group?"
"Ah, there's one person I can think of."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Ibuki from Class 2-B. Didn't you check the OAA?"
"Well, last I checked I did notice that she was alone."
"Ishizaki is worried because Ibuki doesn't have anyone to group up with. How about grouping up with her for the special exam, Horikita?"
"Me and Ibuki?"
"If it's two girls, you can merge with any other small group later. Why don't we just hear them out?"
"That's true, having some kind of insurance would be better… All right, I'll hear her out."
Maybe she just couldn't ignore this, and so, promised to meet with Ibuki.
I contacted Ishizaki and asked him to meet me during the lunch break.