Classroom of the Elite Volume 15 Chapter 4 Part 7

After dozing off for a bit, I woke up at 6:00 AM and promptly spent one point running a GPS Search. If the first-years were truly planning to take action today, then their movements and positioning ought to have been at least somewhat unusual.

“Their positions… haven’t changed at all, huh?”

Hōsen was the only one nearby, which wasn’t all that surprising considering that we were part of the same Table. The rest of the first-years were at least three areas away in any given direction. It didn’t seem like they were up to anything right this moment. It seemed highly unlikely that they’d attack me in a public place as well, so I’d probably be safe as long as I stayed near Ishizaki and the others.

Hiyori, Ishizaki, and the rest of their group had already woken up and were now getting their things in order for the twelfth day of the exam.

And once everybody was ready, we all set off together.

“Having to hike so early freakin’ sucks man.”

Ishizaki grumbled, still having not fully woken up yet.

“Well there’s nothing we can do about that, now can we? We’d just be setting ourselves behind if we’re already in the designated area when it gets announced.”

Nishino promptly quipped back in an attempt to silence Ishizaki’s complaining.

The two of them had probably spent the last eleven days bickering with each other like this.

The rest of their group, on the other hand, paid them no attention and simply focused on the walk ahead.

“Ayanokōji-kun, don’t you feel lonely, facing the entire exam all on your own?”

Walking right by my side, Hiyori posed me a question.

“No, not particularly. If anything, I’d say it’s more comfortable for me this way.”

“I… I think I’d be pretty lonely and a bit scared, actually.”

“Scared, huh? Somehow, I can’t really imagine you being scared, Hiyori.”

Since she was always so composed and laid-back, I didn’t think that she’d be so sensitive to something like that.

Even if she were to be confronted by a ghost, she seemed the type to respond with intrigue and excitement rather than fear.

“Even so, I still think I’d be scared. That’s why, when I see how well you’re holding up, I’m struck with how truly amazing you are, Ayanokōji-kun.”

“I’d say that just makes Horikita and Ibuki that much more amazing, don’t you think?”

The longer a person is left to face hardships alone, the weaker their mental state becomes, and eventually, they’d start thinking about things they shouldn’t be thinking about.

Paranoia would inevitably set in as they’d begin to imagine things hiding within the sound of the wind and the rustling of the trees.

“Indeed… Girls like the two of them, on this island all by themselves… It’d be impossible for me.”

Hiyori let show a somewhat frightened expression as she thought about it.

I guess it was thanks to this exam that I had gotten the chance to see this unexpected side of her.

“Y’know, the two of you seem mighty close, don’tcha think?”

Having been walking from just up ahead for some time now, Ishizaki turned around and commented on our apparent closeness.

“Hey now, don’t go poking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Nishino immediately went and grabbed him by the collar of his jersey in an attempt to pull him away, but Ishizaki didn’t pay it any mind and continued.

“You two should just get together already! Then you can transfer on over to our class, eh? How ‘bout it?”

“Don’t spout that shit! You’re pushing ‘em way too fast!”

Nishino promptly whacked Ishizaki square on his head, leading Ishizaki to cry out in pain as he recoiled away from her.

“Ishizaki-kun sure is a funny one, isn’t he?”

Hiyori let out a laugh as she spoke, seemingly not even the least bit interested in Ishizaki’s proposition.

Well, it would be a big problem for me if she were to take everything he said seriously.

So, I just decided to pretend I didn’t hear anything as well.

“That friggin’ hurt god damn it. Don’t you think it’s important to get Ayanokōji on our side?”

“I don’t think so at all. In fact, it seems to me like you’re way too obsessed with the guy. Or am I wrong?”

Since Nishino and the others weren’t aware of everything that had happened, Ishizaki probably seemed like the odd one out here.

He probably seemed like he was trying way too hard to win over somebody when all they had done was get a perfect score on a single math test.

“That’s like, uh, how do I put this… Ayanokōji and I are just on the same, uh… wavelength? Yeah, wavelength.”

“Wavelength? Really? I can’t imagine there being anyone on the same wavelength as you, though?”

Nishino had unsparingly turned Ishizaki’s argument against him, leaving him with no choice but to look to Hiyori and I with eyes pleading for help.

“That’s not true at all, Nishino-san. Despite how he looks, Ishizaki-kun is quite the… person, you know?”

Hiyori had spoken up in what seemed like an attempt to try and support Ishizaki, but nobody knew what exact it was she was referring to.

“Quite the person? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know, the person. It’s exactly what you think it is. I won’t say anything more.”

“…O-oh yeah… Anyway, good for you, yeah? Getting praised by Shiina-san like that.”

“W-wha? I dunno what the heck that was all about, but I guess it ain’t that bad to hear some praise every once in a while!”

In my eyes, all of this was most likely just something that Hiyori had made up on the fly since she couldn’t think of anything in specific that would help support Ishizaki’s character.

But, since there was no way I’d ever say something like that out loud, I simply decided to pretend I hadn’t heard anything once again.

Later, once the clock struck 7:00 AM, my first designated area of the day, H10, was announced.

Hiyori’s group had apparently gotten a different area, J9, so at least we wouldn’t be competing for the same Early Bird bonuses anymore.

Personally, I was pretty pleased to hear that. After all, it wasn’t exactly a good thing to go head-to-head with students from your own school year.

“Welp, Ayanokōji, looks like this is where we part ways. See ya later dude.”

“Yeah. The exam’s almost over, so make sure you don’t slack off and keep working hard.”

Just before I could take my leave, Ishizaki held out his fist, prompting me for a fist-bump. I returned the gesture, and with that, we headed our separate ways.

After walking for a bit, I could just barely hear some voices calling out from behind me.

When I turned around, I was met with the sight of Ishizaki, Hiyori, and everyone else waving goodbye.

I waved back before heading off toward area H10.

For the rest of the day, I ran a new GPS search every hour on the hour, caring not for how many points I was spending. However, there was nothing that seemed to indicate that the first-years were up to anything, and before I knew it, it was already 5:00 PM.

This meant that the information Nanase had gone to great lengths to report to me was most likely false. Perhaps Amasawa had told the other first-years about Nanase’s betrayal? Or maybe they truly had planned on taking action today, but it had been postponed or cancelled due to some sort of accident?

Either way, there were only two days left in the exam, and I couldn’t afford to let down my guard.

My third designated area today had been randomly designated on the other side of the island again, and due to that, I ended up missing my fourth designated area as well.

My overall rank on the leaderboard didn’t drop that much, but due to all the GPS searches, I had fallen down to 16th place.

Tomorrow, I needed to make it to my first designated area, no matter what.

TL Notes:

Hey everyone sorry for such a major delay here. I had a family emergency pop up this last week or so and had to fly down to southern california to take care of a whole bunch of things. Everything has been pretty stressful because of it, but fortunately I’m all finished with that, just as I’m now finished with Chapter 4.

Anyways, chapter 5 is looking to be pretty long, with the introduction being one of the longest parts of the chapter. I don’t know how long the introduction will take me, but progress is already underway on it and I hope to have something out for all of you sometime soon. Please look forward to it when I have it done, and as always thanks for reading.

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