Class D spent an unforgettable evening playing around after Yukinoshita decided to overlook their behavior.
It was as if she had intentionally allowed it after everything that happened that morning.
Because of that, most of the students fell asleep earlier than usual, like children who had exhausted themselves after playing all day.
It was a cold night among the trees, and I carried my dinner with me without having eaten it yet.
It seemed the unfair food distribution problem had finally been solved.
I got rice and a fish that was in relatively decent condition.
It was only slightly burnt this time, and today I even got some fruit.
Walking around the campsite alone felt like wandering around an empty house.
No one around.
Absolute freedom.
I walked toward the campfire area where Yukinoshita, Horikita, and Kouenji were gathered.
I couldn't tell whether Kouenji was asleep or not...
Even in his sleep, he smiled narcissistically.
I sat on a rock away from the fire since the weather itself was already warm enough for me.
Yukinoshita sat across from me while Horikita sat directly in front of the flames, to the point where I could clearly see her face illuminated by the light.
I picked up my chopsticks and carefully started eating the fish.
I didn't come here to eat, but whatever.
I still hadn't had dinner.
"Horikita, you know Ibuki ran away from the camp," I said while placing a bite into my mouth.
"Yes. Yukinoshita-san told me that already, though she didn't explain all the details," Horikita replied while rubbing her arm and glancing toward Yukinoshita.
It was better to keep what happened that morning a secret...
We had no idea how the others would react to it.
"Horikita, I need your help... We're changing the method of protecting the card."
---
(Narrator)
Deep within the dark forest, a girl sprinted at full speed between the trees.
Despite the overwhelming darkness, she didn't crash into a single tree.
She dodged every obstacle ahead of her effortlessly.
Eventually, she reached a tree marked with a symbol that distinguished it from the others.
As if the mark itself was calling out:
"I'm here."
Ibuki dropped to her knees and began digging rapidly beneath the tree with her fingers.
It only took moving aside a thin layer of dirt before she found what she was looking for.
A camera and a walkie-talkie.
She placed the camera aside since she didn't need it right now.
Then she grabbed the radio.
After turning on a flashlight buried with the supplies, she held it between her teeth so she could see the device clearly.
She switched the radio to the proper frequency, dropped the flashlight onto the ground, and brought the device close to her mouth.
The flashlight illuminated her face directly, revealing her sharp features amidst the darkness.
"Hey, Ryuuen, can you hear me?!" she shouted into the radio as if the person were standing right in front of her.
She stared at the device intently, desperately waiting for a response.
But nothing came.
"...There's a problem. We need to meet immediately," Ibuki shouted again into the forest, completely unafraid that someone might hear her.
She held the radio tightly between both hands, waiting for even the slightest response from the other side.
Still nothing.
The radio slipped from her hands and landed on the island soil as she cursed Ryuuen internally.
She had been caught red-handed that morning.
Hikigaya had probably informed Class D already.
There was no way she could return to their camp now.
If Ryuuen didn't tell her what to do next, she wouldn't know how to proceed.
Even when she tried to think for herself and use her brain, she ended up getting caught.
"Ibuki, didn't I tell you not to contact me unless you obtained the card? Should I assume you have it now?"
Ryuuen's voice finally came through the radio.
Ibuki immediately jolted upright and grabbed the device again.
"N-No... I didn't get it..." she admitted while feeling humiliation spread throughout her body after her miserable failure.
"Then why are you contacting me?" Ryuuen asked, his voice distorted with static.
"There's a problem. We need to meet now."
"A problem...? Did they discover you?"
"Tch... Of course not!" Ibuki snapped while digging her fingers angrily into the dirt, taking his words as an insult.
"...The place we agreed on. I'll be there. Make sure no one follows you," Ryuuen said before cutting the connection.
Ibuki glared at the radio as if it were Ryuuen's face itself before violently throwing it back into the hole.
Then she buried the camera and the radio once again beneath the dirt.
After grabbing the flashlight, she began running through the forest while shining the beam in every direction, carefully checking whether someone was following or watching her.
She ran through the forest for quite a long distance, relying only on memory and instinct to locate the meeting place.
Eventually, Ryuuen appeared before her wearing the school tracksuit.
"Turn off the flashlight," Ryuuen ordered.
Ibuki obeyed immediately, though she couldn't understand why.
How was she supposed to see him in the darkness now?
Ryuuen switched on his own flashlight and aimed it toward the path she had come from, checking carefully whether anyone had tailed her.
The moment someone discovered Ryuuen was still on the island, Class C's plans would likely collapse entirely.
After confirming nobody else was there, Ryuuen turned off the light and sat down on a nearby rock.
"So... what happened?" he asked while running his fingers through his hair.
The fact that Ibuki contacted him despite his strict warning meant some major problem had occurred.
"You told me to create some trouble inside their camp..." Ibuki said while clenching her fists tightly.
"And?"
Ibuki exhaled slowly before explaining everything that happened that morning, including her own plan.
"Fufufufu... That's a plan worthy of your tiny brain. But it's more than enough for the idiots of Class D," Ryuuen laughed.
"Then what's the problem?" he asked, still unable to identify the issue.
"I got caught before I could slip it into the boys' bags..." Ibuki admitted while lowering her head toward the ground as if guarding her shoes from escaping.
Ryuuen closed his eyes after hearing that.
Then he tilted his head back and allowed the summer breeze to brush against his face.
So she'd been caught in the act.
That could completely shut the doors of Class D against her.
"Who caught you?" Ryuuen asked.
Normally, if a girl found it, she could probably return it without much issue.
But if a boy was caught with it, explaining himself would become nearly impossible.
"That bastard... Hikigaya," Ibuki spat onto the ground after saying his name.
"Hikigaya..." Ryuuen muttered, almost as if he expected no one else would have caught her.
"Just so you know... I observed him like you told me to. I think you're completely wrong about him. He's just an idiot," Ibuki said confidently, especially while recalling his actions over the past few days.
"What do you mean?"
"He's not the leader of Class D like you think. All he does is follow orders and fool around."
Ibuki was practically convinced he was nothing more than a gloomy loser with no value.
Which was exactly why she couldn't understand why Ryuuen rated him so highly.
"What...? Then who's leading them?" Ryuuen asked.
He had assumed the person who dared stand directly against him had to be the leader of that group of failures.
"...A girl named Yukinoshita."
Ryuuen recognized the name immediately.
She was the girl who even stood up to the homeroom teacher during the student council meeting without fear.
Maybe Hikigaya was merely following her orders...
Maybe she was the one who orchestrated their earlier confrontation.
Ryuuen quickly discarded that thought.
Hikigaya never showed fear or hesitation when facing him.
It was as if he fully understood what was happening and knew exactly what needed to be done.
Those weren't the actions of a mere subordinate.
Still...
If he truly got dragged into Ibuki's mess, he might not be able to explain himself properly.
And if so, the objective behind Ibuki's operation may have succeeded anyway.
Which meant retreating now wasn't an option.
"Ibuki. You're returning to their camp," Ryuuen declared while standing up again after hearing the full report.
"What? Are you stupid?" Ibuki growled.
Going back there was pointless.
They were probably searching for her already.
"Like I said, you'll return and gauge the atmosphere first. Then decide what to do," Ryuuen explained.
There was still a possibility that Ibuki's reputation hadn't been completely ruined yet.
"...Fine," she agreed reluctantly, still seeing it as a huge risk.
"How are they protecting the base?"
"They keep telling me to stay away, so I don't know," Ibuki answered.
She had never been allowed close enough to observe properly.
"Use your disappearance as an opportunity to approach them."
Class D believed Ibuki had already left.
That meant when defending the base, they might lower their guard.
"Huh...?"
Ibuki couldn't keep up with how quickly Ryuuen was adjusting his plans.
"Be careful of that con artist. He might deceive you," Ryuuen warned while kicking the nearby tree.
He had no idea what Hikigaya was thinking right now...
It would be safer not to focus too much on him.
He might intentionally make himself look like bait.
"Tch..."
Ibuki still stubbornly clung to her impression of him.
She simply couldn't understand Ryuuen's excessive caution.
Meanwhile, Ryuuen himself was growing excited for what lay ahead.
Especially since he had already decided he would take first place...
While crushing that con artist in the process.