On the last day of the exam.

It was after 10:00 a.m., and I, Horikita Suzune, was heading north along the border between I4 and I3, with I2 being my destination. This was the last day of the special exam, and so I was about to use up the remainder of my strength. Fortunately, at least until 12:00 a.m. last night, no group in Class 2-D had fallen into the bottom 10.

The bottom 5 groups in the expulsion range were all 3rd years.

But we still couldn’t relax now. At the end of the day, if those 5 groups merged with other groups, scores were bound to go up, and rankings might change. In that case, it’d be inevitable for them to switch rankings with the groups in 6th or 7th place. In the extreme case, if the bottom 10 groups all merged with top groups, then all 10 of them may be able to get out of their current predicament.

The tablet showed my assigned region as I7. The exact opposite of I2, where I was headed.

This was because I would be ignoring the designated area that I should be going to.

Why would I do that? The answer to that was written on a piece of paper I was holding on my right hand. It was folded up and I found it this morning when I woke up in my tent.

When I opened it up, the words “Noon”, “K.A”, “Expelled”, and “I2” were written on it randomly.

When I first saw these words, two things came to mind.

First, the person who wrote this had such beautiful handwriting that I could use as a model.

Secondly, the paper and pen were not part of the freely distributed items.

“How many points would I need for this notebook and pen…”

Although I vaguely remembered it in the uninhabited island exam manual, I judged it to be worthless then, so I didn’t remember the exact price. If the tablet ran out of power, or malfunctioned suddenly, you might need to take notes. Basically, some random person bought this notebook, and sent this somewhat coded message.

“No, it’s too simple to call this coded.”

I2 referred to an area on the uninhabited island, and noon was the time. Since this was the last day to be able to send a note, this was the 14th day. But what was in here? A mere prank? But this wasn’t the case with the remaining two words.

“Expelled”, and “K.A”. Let’s first pay our attention to the latter.

If the other students had seen this note, they wouldn’t necessarily understand the meaning of it.

I grasped the meaning the moment I saw it. It was the initials of Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.

“If we consider this to be the meaning, then at noon today, Ayanokouji will be expelled at I2…”

I thought this was a joke.

So when the designated area was announced at 7 a.m, I was going to ignore this.

But the fact that Ayanokouji-kun’s GPS signal was on E3 made me a bit worried.

However, as time passed, he got closer and closer to I2. Maybe this was more than a joke.

Thinking about it, I decided to use GPS search. If it was a trap to make me use that 1 point, then I have undoubtedly fallen for it.

As a result— Ayanokouji-kun advanced from F3 to G3.

If he went to I2 like this…

Driven by this hunch, I decided to head north in order to confirm this.

After all, he was the target of a bounty. So I couldn’t discount the probability that this could be a hint from someone else.

There was still some time before noon, and I didn’t know where he had gone.

Of course, this could just be a coincidence, and maybe he had already gone somewhere else.

The urge to use GPS search came over me, but I resisted. My score would have been well in the top 50%, but from here on out, discarding arrival points and events, and using the search function again, that wouldn’t be guaranteed. If this was going to be a waste, then it would be better just to head there.

“Ah! Finally caught up! Wait, Horikita!”

As the view gradually opened up, and the river could be seen, this voice came from behind.

“…Why are you here?”

Ibuki appeared, glaring at me, panting.

It wasn’t a coincidence. She probably used GPS search.

“Score, show me the score.”

“Wait, what are you on about?”

Suddenly appearing and asking me, her enemy, to show her my score was incomprehensible behavior.

“Didn’t I say? I’m not going to lose to you in this special exam.” She jabbed her index finger at my eyes.

“There’s no need to confirm it now though? The exam isn’t over yet.”

“After the exam is over, nobody will know if the school will publish all the scores, right?”

“Maybe so. After all, it’s only the top and bottom ranking groups that really matter.”

There was no guarantee that the students would be able to view the rankings of all the groups.

Of course, there was a possibility that they would be made public.

“So, let me confirm it now.”

On the last day, she wanted to decide who’s the winner, who had more points.

“This is so stupid, I can’t believe it… You purposely came here for this, seriously? How many times did you use GPS search?”

“… 3 times. Because you were right next to me, I thought this would be the only time where I could do this.”

The farther the distance, the harder it was to meet up with the person you wanted to find.

It seemed like Ibuki used her GPS search 3 times to get to me here.

“Poor you.”

“I don’t need your sympathy, tell me your score, I’ve got 131 points!”

As if to say, “How about it, I’m strong right?”, Ibuki forcefully declared her score to me.

“Thanks for telling me so casually. But I want to say two things. First, I can’t guarantee that you’re telling me your real score.”

“Huh? Then why don’t you look at it?”

I stopped Ibuki, who was about to take her tablet out of her backpack.

“Second, even if you disclose your real score, I won’t tell you my score.”

“Huh? What did you just say? Are you saying the same thing as that bastard?”

That bastard…? Although a little concerned, I continued on. (it’s ayanokouji)

“Although we’re both 2nd years, we’re enemies. I don’t want to risk leaking information.”

I didn’t think I was in the bottom 10 groups right now.

But, the score might still change, until the end of the end.

Even if it was the last day, the possibility of being tricked by Ibuki-san’s information was not 0.

“I know now. You’re scared after hearing my score? You’re losing, right?”

“As for whether I’m winning or losing, I’m not going to answer that either.”

Although I repeatedly said that I was not going to give her any information, Ibuki said this with a straight face.

“How about you just admit it? Admit that you can’t beat my score.”

“Fine then, just go back to your exam.”

I’ll try to just go along with Ibuki, if she’s satisfied with that.

“… You’re so irritating. Come on, just show me your score!”

“I’ve conceded defeat, aren’t you satisfied?”

“I want to know your real score. I want to know by how big of a margin I beat you.”

“How dull…”

“It’s important to me.”

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry.”

“Are you running away?”

“I’m rushing to get to my designated area, so it would be a bit strange to describe it as running away.”

I was hurriedly rushing to I2.

Probably thinking I was running away, Ibuki followed closely behind.

“Do you have a designated area in the north? Or are you just chasing me?”

“What I want to know now is your score. If I know that, I will go back to my designated area too.”

She was dead set on following me.

Being trapped here like this was honestly pretty bad.

I was already being led by the nose by a piece of paper, and I didn’t want to waste time.

“…I lost to you.”

“Ah, admit it? You finally admit to losing?”

“No, I mean I lost to your persistence. My score is 145 points. It’s a pity that even though you came here in person, I still win.”

Bringing that out into the open, that information that was supposed to be hidden.

That’s the reason I declared it my loss.

“You won against me? If you won, give me proof, proof.” Of course it would turn into this.

But I was not going to stop.

To confirm his safety, I wanted to go to I2 as soon as possible.

“—I know.”

This should be the most efficient… No, I don’t think it was the right choice.

Even if I let Ibuki know my score on the last day of the exam, it wouldn’t make much of a difference, right? But every minute was precious now.

Putting down my backpack, I reached for the tablet that was placed in an accessible area inside.

Ibuki was waiting with a serious face to see my score.

Just as I took out the tablet and was about to press the power button, Ibuki and I raised our heads almost at the same time as we felt the unmasked intensity of the scent in front of us.

“Found you.”

It was an innocent voice, like a child meeting their playmate.

“Hello, Horikita-senpai!”

Seeing the female student who appeared at some point, Ibuki unabashedly expressed her displeasure.

“…Who are you?”

“Class 1-A’s Amasawa Ichika.”

Although it was possible that she appeared here by chance, it was strange.

Keeping my guard up, holding my tablet, I gave Amasawa a look.

Considering the matter of the bounty for the 1st years and what was written on the paper— could it be her?

“You guys don’t need to mind me, just continue doing your own thing, okay~~?”

“That’s not okay, we’re talking about something personal.”

I wanted to tell Amasawa about my reluctance to reveal the score to her, and Ibuki understood it fully. If I showed my score on my tablet here, Ibuki would also understand that this wasn’t the time to decide who the winner and loser was, right?

I wanted to politely urge her to leave, but Amasawa didn’t budge.

Perhaps impatient from watching, Ibuki said something.

“You’re a nuisance.”

“Is Sudo-senpai okay? Horikita-senpai.”

“Huh? Ignoring me?”

There was no way Amasawa didn’t hear Ibuki’s question, but she ignored her.

She put her backpack down and twisted her shoulders around, as if she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

“….Well, thanks for saving him, I’m grateful.”

She smiled faintly, with no intention of apologizing at all.

Did she feel there was no need to apologize to me for the way she treated Ayanokoujikun, and the things she did?

Or was it a general premise that she didn’t feel bad for what she did?

“Didn’t I say that you’re a nuisance? I have business with her, so get out of here.”

“Business? Didn’t Ibuki-senpai run over here without permission?” It was almost as if she had heard of our conversation from a while back.

Maybe that was true.

“Even if that’s the case, it’s still fine.” “Nuisance, go away”. Ibuki’s tone hardened.

If this continued, Ibuki might make a move.

Even after being threatened like that, Amasawa just laughed, amused.

“What’s your purpose, Amasawa-san?”

I temporarily let my attention off Ibuki, and turned it to Amasawa.

Although I didn’t want to waste any more time, this couldn’t be helped.

“Fine.”

Although Ibuki was impatient, she waited for me anyway.

“I want to ask you a question. Where are you going, Horikita-senpai?”

“Right now, I’m standing and chatting with Ibuki-san, so when I finish with her, I’ll immediately rush to F3.”

That’s a lie. I was going to give up on going to my designated area.

However, it wouldn’t do any good to tell Amasawa that.

She was colluding with the other 1st years, discussing a plan to get him expelled in order to get the bounty for it.

It’s best not to say anything unnecessary about Ayanokouji-kun.

Although that was what I thought, I soon realized that it wouldn’t work.

“It’s not good to lie, Horikita-senpai! Your designated area isn’t in this direction right?”

“What do you mean? Are you trying to make me fall into a trap using strange methods?””

“Misleading is useless though. The designated area you were supposed to go to is I7, isn’t it?”

The designated area that Amasawa immediately responded with was undoubtedly the correct answer.

This wouldn’t make sense if it were a mere coincidence.

Judging from her expression, I can only assume that she was trying to find me from the start.

“We 2nd years have a way of fighting as 2nd years, and so not everything can be told as

it is.”

Saying that, I continued.

“Isn’t it a given to be wary of the people trying to frame Ayanokouji-kun?” It was necessary to switch the subject smoothly here.

Since the 1st years were enemies, there was no need to act timid.

“Oh, so that’s it. Perhaps.”

Saying that, I didn’t actually feel as if my words had reached her ears.

At this time, her attitude made it seem like she had already reached a conclusion.

“Where are you planning to go, Horikita-senpai? It’s not I2, is it?” It seems, that this was going in a bad direction, I thought.

“You’ve seen through a lot, huh. But I decided to go to I2 because of what happened this morning. You’re really observant, aren’t you?”

Even if she used GPS search to accurately observe my location, it would be impossible to get a head start like this.

If that’s the case, the piece of paper I got today should be related to Amasawa.

I hesitated to ask a question about this, as Ibuki walked away/

“Are you guys ever going to stop talking?” I felt a similar kind of anxious feeling.

If this continued, the time spent replying to Amasawa will make me even more impatient than Ibuki.

“Ibuki-san.”

I mentally prepared myself to divulge the information, opening the tablet and showing Ibuki my score. In any case, it’s possible to see the score and the 3 boxes to add members, but I wasn’t going to end up using it anymore, so there was no real harm.

To her, it didn’t matter what the maximum number of members of the group was.

The moment she saw the score, Ibuki clicked her tongue.

Scratching her head, she translated her fretful mood into words.

“Ah, seriously? Well that sucks.”

It was a brutal response to her efforts over the last two weeks.

Although, I thought that Ibuki had worked hard.

It was an admirable result for her, with a low learning ability, to compete with me.

“If you’re satisfied now, go along to your designated area. On the last day, the score you’ll get is twice as high, so you still have a chance to bounce back.” “Yeah, but… What do you mean by abandoning the designated area?” Perhaps a little concerned with what Amasawa had said, she asked.

“Ibuki, this is a great opportunity. I’m in a state where I can’t score right now.”

From the start, I didn’t need to explain it for her to understand. I told her using my eyes.

“Indeed, the winner and loser will be decided at the end of this uninhabited island exam. If you say you’re going to stop now, I won’t hesitate to make a comeback for good.” Ibuki froze up for a second, and then seemed to accept it, turning away.

Me and Ibuki separated then.

As I put my tablet back into the backpack, I thought of how I would respond to Amasawa.

“I’m going to I2 now, what are you going to do?”

“Why are you going to such an irrelevant area as I2? There’s not even an event there. Is this something you should be doing during a special exam?”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know why?”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb, what’s the purpose in throwing this piece of paper in the tent when I was asleep?”

I held the small piece of folded paper between the thumb and the forefinger of my left hand, and handed it to her.

“…Paper? Is that for me?”

Acting like this is some sort of monkey show. The paper was no longer useful anyway.

I handed it to her, the one who I thought was the original owner.

Amasawa took the letter, and opened it up to confirm the contents.

“It’s a string of irregularly arranged words… “Noon”, “K.A”, “Expelled”, “I2”.

Reading it once more, then closing her eyes.

“I really hate… how you like to play games, even to this extent…”

“Games? What are you planning to involve me and Ayanokouji-kun in?”

“This, I don’t know. Because I’m just one of the bystanders, just like you.”

“Don’t misunderstand. You appearing in front of me is the best proof that you wrote this.”

Amasawa flashed a difficult smile, and tore the paper to bits.

Tearing it 7 or 8 times, shredding it, throwing it away.

“Looking at those 4 words, what kind of bad feeling are you experiencing?”

“Ayanokouji may be expelled. It’s not hard to understand it like that.”

“Well-“

Her tone seemed to be clearer than mine.

Anyway, playing word games with her again was a waste of time.

I put my backpack on, and walked towards her.

“What a bummer. You obviously don’t know anything about Ayanokouji-senpai. You’re just acting like his partner because you’re in the same class.” When I reached her, Amasawa uttered that.

“About Ayanokouji-senpai’s situation. You don’t know anything about that, right, Horikita-senpai?”

I stopped in my tracks, as I cared about what was just said.

“So, are you saying that you know him better than I do?”

I looked over at her. She stiffened up and met my eyes for a moment, smiling smugly.

“That’s right. I know Ayanokouji-senpai very well. Why is he so handsome, so smart… and so much stronger than anyone else?”

I didn’t think a 1st year who just started school would know Ayanokouji well.

So, they knew each other before highschool?

Just like how Kushida and I were in the same middle school?

Amasawa continued, unconcerned. “Then, what do you know, Horikita-senpai?” What did I know?

In this school, he….Ayanokouji was my first…friend.

That’s right, he could be considered a friend.

We talked a lot because our seats were right next to each other…

At first, I thought he was just an average student, but he was actually much smarter than I thought.

He was recognized by my brother early on, and his fighting ability was good.

But he usually always hid that part of himself, wanting to live a quiet life on campus.

Very few people knew about his strength, but other than that, there’s no much difference in the information that others had on him.

“Yeah, it’s true. I probably know nothing about him. I can’t deny that.”

Thinking about Ayanokouji-kun again, it was natural that I came to that conclusion.

Maybe Amasawa was well aware of that.

Hearing those words that could be interpreted as a declaration of defeat, Amasawa smiled happily.

“But…”

“But?”

That wasn’t the point.

I thought that it didn’t matter how much I knew about him right now.

“from now until graduation, I want to continue understanding him better, as my classmate… As a friend, more than you are now.” That was my wish now, free of lies.

I have been helped by him more than once.

He was an indispensable person to the class, an important comrade who we can’t do without.

If he was in a dangerous situation right now, it would be impossible for me not to run to his side now.

That was the reason why I was going to give up on my designated area, and run there.

Now, I realized once again what I had to do.

There was nothing wrong with this choice.

It would have been better if it were just me worrying about nothing.

“Do you think you can help? Horikita-senpai.”

“Maybe I’m not strong enough right now, but I intend to help him when he’s in trouble.” After all, my school life had just taken a turn for the worse.

This conversation, which at first I considered a waste of my time, might have a great meaning within.

I must thank her for making me realize this.

I was about to walk away when Amasawa stretched her right hand out and blocked me.

Seeing her face again, her smile had disappeared, and she looked at me with an intense killing intent.

“There’s something I got out of our conversation. Something’s gonna happen at I2. Otherwise, you wouldn’t try so hard to stop me here.” I couldn’t waste any more time here.

“Where are you going?”

“Don’t you understand? I’m going to I2 to help Ayanokouji-kun.”

This was the first step for me to become an existence that could help him when he was in trouble, as I said earlier.

“Don’t kid me, how could Ayanokouji-senpai need your help?” She said this, as if to correct what I said.

“That’s true, at least for now.”

“So you’re saying that it’ll be different in the future?” I nodded, and gave her a look.

“One more thing, I learned that you genuinely don’t want me to go to I2, which means you’re not the one who wrote that.”

I tried to walk past her right hand, avoiding it, but once again, Amasawa got in the way.

“I can’t let you go over there, Horikita-senpai.”

“The more you try to stop me, the more I must go to I2. From your tone of voice, shouldn’t he be having a hard time now?”

This has nothing to do with how much I knew about the situation.

It was obvious that something was happening around Ayanokouji-kun right now, of that I can be sure.

“Do you think you get past me?”

“Yes, I do think I can get past you.”

Even if I had to forcefully clear the obstacle in front of me now.

“Well~ Your determination has been conveyed to me. I’ll only wait until you put your backpack down.”

In other words, she was going to overpower me with force.

I didn’t think this was just a verbal threat.

I accepted that, honestly, and slowly put my backpack down by my feet.

“Let me tell you something first. I have experience with martial arts.”

“I already knew that.”

“…Ah, you really are an information warrior.”

Not just about Ayanokouji, but she also understood me.

“Let me also say right now that I’m super powerful, so you better keep that in mind.”

From the moment she unleashed her anger on me, I could tell firsthand that she was no ordinary student.

That must not have been a lie.

The fatigue from the uninhabited island exam has accumulated.

Even the Amasawa in front of me is the same.

There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her body, so as far as physical state, it can be said that we were evenly matched.

In that case, I wouldn’t be defeated so easily.

I slowly got into my stance, watching Amasawa’s movement in front of me.

She didn’t go into a particular stance, instead opting for a strange expression.

“Since you said you’re going to meet up with Ayanokouji-senpai, I’ll play with you for a bit.”

Amasawa’s left foot left the ground.

“Huh?!”

I was obviously on guard, but I felt the danger immediately, and jumped backwards. Her extended arm didn’t have any force behind it, maybe she wanted to grab me.

I needed to avoid the first blow, that was what I thought. But the moment I returned to my senses, she had already grabbed my shirt near my chest.

“Impossible…”

As I muttered those words, I felt my vision turning around in a circle.

It was only after feeling the pain in my back that I had realized that I had been hit with a body throw, landing on my back

“What’s impossible, huh?”

“Kgh-!”

It hurt so much that I couldn’t breathe, as I spit out the air within me.

“Oh no, you can’t take this lightly. Okay, I’ll give you some time to recover, stand up.” Amasawa looked down at me with an evil grin on her face.

I didn’t need to elaborate on how humiliating this was.

It only took one encounter with her to fully understand that Amasawa was extremely strong.

It was reasonable to say that even if there was a difference in strength, it would only be a small one, as we were both girls.

Hard work, resourcefulness, agility, luck. With those elements, it would be possible to beat her.

But I was probably too naive in thinking that.

Anyway, the damage to my back wasn’t light, it was enough to make the average person yield straight away.

Fortunately, there was dirt beneath me, but it still took some time to recover from the damage.

If my opponent prided herself on being in a position of absolute superiority, then I had to use that. I decided to stand up by taking a few dozen seconds for each step of the way.

“I’ll wait for you, don’t worry. It’s okay to take a 5 or 10 minute break just like that.”

“I’ll do that, as long as your motive isn’t to stop me from going to Ayanokouji-kun.”

“It’s best to give up with the fighting, right? At least for you, Horikita-senpai.”

That was true. If I started a fight in the final stages of the uninhabited island exam that had been going smoothly until now, it might be bad enough for me to withdraw from the exam, or maybe I’ll even be expelled.

“….Again.”

When the pain in my back had almost disappeared, I once again assumed a fighting stance.

This was the same kind of fighting as earlier.

I merely had insight into martial arts, but I’m not very good at fighting.

I can only play to what I have learned, and unleash my strength like that.

The speed of Amasawa’s movements was surprising, but if she was just good at Judo, I had some ideas. There was once a karate teacher who taught me what to do if a boy grabbed a girl, pushing her down.

As I recalled that in my brain, I practiced the moves in my brain.

It would be dangerous, but if the other person was Amasawa, there would be nothing to worry about.

Give up on the fact that she was younger than me, and convert it to the mood similar of fighting with a master.

“Yahahahah!”

What I noticed was not Amasawa’s face, but the subtle movements of her feet, and shoulders. She seemed to find this amusing, and laughed out loud.

“Uhuh, I get it, Horikita-senpai, I do understand how you feel. Buuuuuuuut~?!” I couldn’t play word games with her.

Now, I needed to give my full attention to see through her moves–

I realized after an attack and pain that I had managed to deal with her right foot, but the left foot approaching me at high speeds hit me directly above the side of my abdomen.

“Ah!”

Close to tears from the pain, I was kicked to the ground.

My arm didn’t have the time to defend myself, as I was kicked in the body. I rolled twice or thrice on the ground, threw into confusion, even though I knew what just happened.

“You thought I just used judo, didn’t you? That’s too naive of you.”

“Huff, hu….huuu….!”

As I subconsciously pressed on the right rib that was kicked, I closed my eyes.

The pain was so intense that my heart instantly surrendered to it.

This was the second time where I had felt such desperate pain.

Since the confrontation with Housen-kun…

That was something that happened only recently, and if this kind of thing would happen regularly, it would make me lose confidence.

“The 1st years this year, they aren’t cute at all…”

“So you’re saying that last year’s Horikita-senpai was a cute kid, unlike me?” Although I thought she asked the question trying to be mean, it still stung.

Although we were different types, her uncuteness was comparable to me.

I tried to stand up, but when I tried using my leg, there was a sudden feeling of disengagement.

Because of the body slam and the kick, my strength was slashed beyond imagination.

“Who are you? You seem to know the Ayanokouji-kun in the past…”

One thing was certain. Amasawa had incredible strength, just like him.

When he fought against my brother, and when he fought against Housen-kun, Ayanokouji-kun showed us his true strength.

“How do you expect me to tell you about these things, senpai?”

“True, you don’t seem like the kind of person who would respond honestly to that.”

In any case, her willingness to match me in delaying the fight was one of the few pieces of good news I had.

Her objective was to block my way to Ayanokoouji. It didn’t seem to matter how much time she took. In order to move forward, I had to let the damage to my back recover a bit.

“How should I say this? You really are a disappointment. You aren’t as good as I thought you are, Horikita-senpai. It’s because of this that Ayanokouji-senpai didn’t seek your help.”

Amasawa’s eyes gazed at me, as if she were peering straight into my heart.

“When you say you want to help him, it actually is to find out what Ayanokouij-senpai thinks about how you aren’t being trusted by him.”

“…Maybe so.”

“I also just said, Horikita-senpai, you aren’t worthy for Ayanokouji-senpai to rely on.”

“Even so, this shouldn’t come from your mouth, but his.”

“Do you know what I mean by that?”

She didn’t hide her agitation, and walked over to me.

“Still, even Kushida-senpai is more discerning.”

“Kushida-san? Why did you say her name?”

“Stand up, Horikita-senpai. I no longer want to talk to you. It’s annoying me. So let’s end this.”

At least she gave me a sort of mercy, as she gave me the time to get back to my feet.

But, even I couldn’t give up on the fight until the end.

Mercy was shown, to say the least, as she gave me the time to get me back on my feet.

Then, even I, in the end, could not give up on this fight.

Standing up, I focused everything into seeing Amasawa’s attacks clearly.

Again, as this was all that I could do. There was no other way.

“Alrighty!”

Amasawa ran over, with a brisk pace.

Defend? Evade? Neither would work, surely.

In that case, I’ll try and get my revenge–!

Boom! The sound of a fist rang in my ears.

But there was no pain. A figure appeared in front of me, blocking my view.

“You, why….”

A student grabbed the fist in front of me, and said, without turning around.

The short figure’s back belonged to Ibuki, who was supposed to have left.

“Ahah…. Do you call that fighting?”

“Good catch~ You startled me, with that slightly unexpected entrance.”

I hadn’t understood the situation yet, my body still couldn’t move, and Ibuki, who turned around, glared at me.

“The one who beat you is me, and so I don’t want you losing to some first year I don’t know in front of me.”

She said, releasing a tightly clenched fist. Once away, Amasawa pulled away.

“I’m Amasawa Ichika. Please remember my name, Ibuki-senpai.”

“I’ve got a bad memory. If you want me to remember, you’d better impress me a little, yeah?”

“Ahaha, that seems a little interesting.”

“I’ll have fun with her, so you go where you want to go.”

“What are you talking about? You worked hard in this special exam just to beat me, right?”

“Aren’t you going to give up on the designated area as well? In that case, even if I comeback and get the W, there’s no point in it.

[Is that the sort of thing you came back for?] I swallowed those words back.

“She’s incredibly powerful. You might regret it later, is that okay?”

“What? Are you saying that I’ll lose?”

“She’s a formidable opponent.”

“I don’t see me losing to Ibuki-senpai at all.”

“…Huh, isn’t that great?”

My clumsy warning seemed to backfire, instead igniting Ibuki’s emotions.

“Even if you defeat Amasawa, if you go too far, or raise an emergency alarm, you’ll likely be withdrawn from the exam. You might even be expelled by yourself.”

“You’re the same, right?”

“Ah? Well, yeah.”

“I have faith that I’m stronger.”

Saying this, she waved her hand at me, indicating that I should leave quickly.

“Who’s going to fight? Hurry up and decide~~”

“I will fight her.”

“You really saying that? The person who just almost lost? You’re going to be a hindrance, back off.”

“This is my fight. It’s none of your business.”

“Talking about how strong your opponent is and now you’re messing around like this?

Did you bang your head or something?”

That’s—”

No, there was no way to stop Ibuki with such a half-hearted statement. But I can’t just leave this to her now.

I grabbed Ibuki’s shoulder, and forced her to back up.

“What the hell!”

“I’ve thought about it, and if you ask me, you can’t win against her.”

“Stop joking around. Don’t decide before it even happens.”

“That’s the truth. I couldn’t do anything, so there’s no way you can win against her.” Since she was already angry, I’ll just ignite the flames of her rage till the very end.

“Then prove it, right here in front of me….” I stretched my left hand out to Ibuki.

“What for?”

“If you don’t want to lose, if you want to break this stalemate, show me your resolve. Form a group with me. If something happens to one of us and have to withdraw, the group will still survive. That’s the only way to effectively prevent the withdrawal.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would I form a group with someone like you?”

“Didn’t I just say? I need you to come to an understanding. If you haven’t yet, then don’t join this fight.”

“So annoying…”

“It’s alright if you don’t like it, but I’d like to rely on you if you’re going to join the fight.”

“This sucks. But it wouldn’t be much fun if you’ll be forced to drop out because of some 1st years.”

Although we both knew that our minds were completely incompatible with each other.

But, each of our watches were crossed in an overlapping position.

10 seconds was needed to complete the formation of the group.

Amasawa would be able to stop it if she wanted to, but she showed no sign of taking action.

Amasawa looked down on our side, in a god-like manner, seemingly enjoying it. “It’s not a bad strategy. If separate students form a group, it’s true that if something happens to one of them, they can still avoid being expelled.” Amasawa turned her back to us, quietly keeping her distance.

This 2 vs 1 situation didn’t make her feel any sense of danger. After moving some distance away, she stopped, looking back our way.

“But there’s just one thing you thought incorrectly, Horikita-senpai.”

“Incorrect? What exactly do you mean?”

“It’s alright for one person to withdraw, which means, it’s okay for me to break one of you.”

She showed a smile I had never seen before, a smile of pure evil.

“Made you angry, huh? Isn’t that great?”

Ibuki had directly felt the opponent’s power, but acted happy. At that moment, the signal of the end of group formation sounded.

“So which one should I destroy first—?”

The expression of Amasawa, who ran up to us in one breath, was excited.

She didn’t make any sort of stance, just coming our way, with her hand outstretched.

“Hahahah! Hahahahhahaha!!”

A high-spirited smile emerged on her face, looking too distorted to be human.

Was it me? Or Ibuki? Although from her perspective, I was the problematic presence, I couldn’t assume that it was me who was being targeted.

“Let’s go, Ibuki! You go to the left!”

“Don’t order me around!”

Ibuki said, while moving to the left. I moved to the right, in order to confirm who Amasawa’s target was. Amasawa, who was running straight towards us, had no intention of playing any tricks. Not going to let me make a judgement at the last second? Even then, I could slowly see it clearly. As both sides took action, the distance was instantly closed, and collided.

Because my fists and Ibuki’s could not possibly work in tandem, the timing of our attacks would naturally diverge. But even so, it would be impossible to respond to it easily.

Nonetheless, Amasawa dodged as easily as if it were training. We kept attacking, bringing out the most out of our consecutive attacks.

“Alrightly, let’s stop for a while.”

In response to our consecutive attacks, Amasawa calmly accepted them and stopped us. “What’s going on, this 1st year….!”

“Seriously…”

We stood together, panting, looking at Amasawa in front of us. Despite her being only a temporary partner, it was still 2 against 1. If it were a normal situation, we should have been able to overwhelm her, but instead, we were being overwhelmed.

Within the framework of common sense, she was an unrecognizable existence. It was like a sharp blade pressed right against us. If we did as we pleased here, we might be forced to withdraw.

“Ibuki, don’t get too careless.”

“Let go of me!”

Perhaps being unable to bear being pinned down, Ibuki used her soft body to show off her kicking ability to the max. As if she were waiting for it, Amasawa grabbed it with her flexible arm to counter, grabbing her.

“Ah!!”

“Didn’t I tell you to stop?”

In that moment, I felt an indescribable sense of uneasiness during this inhibited battle. There was a clear battle gap. Was Amasawa engaging in this battle like a game? It looked like she was fighting using minimal movements just now.

It was the same when fighting with me one-on-one. What if she wasn’t just waiting for me to recover? But this can’t be considered the right answer.

With her power she could easily suppress us both. I came up with a strategy that I wanted to try. But first, we had to break out of this situation.

“Ha!”

I swung my left fist at Amasawa’s side, but she easily avoided it, just like she avoided Ibuki.

“Okay, let’s start over.”

Amasawa looked down at us with a slight smile, and pulled away once more. “Aren’t you the same as me?”

“I’m not like you, I went for it knowing that it would turn out that way… In order to reassess my strategy.”

“Excuses, how lame.”

Probably anyone would say the same about me if they looked only at our current situation.

“Since you don’t believe me, I’ll tell you.”

She climbed up, so I grabbed Ibuki’s arm to stop her from acting alone.

“What are you doing?”

“Now that you’re my partner, follow my instructions. You can do that, right?”

“Huh? Impossible.”

“If you don’t then there’s no point. You should understand how strong Amasawa-san is. Neither you or I cannot beat her alone.”

“Even if that’s the case, I won’t follow your instructions.” I was thinking.

What’s the best way to deal with Ibuki? If Ayanokouji-kun was here, in the same situation as I was, what would he do? How should I get us two, who didn’t get along well, to work together in this situation?

“Ibuki-san.”

“Didn’t I tell you that I don’t want to?”

“I am aware that our relationship is like water and oil. Although it turned into this due to the dispute we had in last year’s uninhabited island exam, there’s one thing that I approve of you.” Yes, that’s what I needed to do now, without hesitation.

“Your fighting sense is comparable to me. No, I think you are slightly better than me.” “Huh, so sudden. So you gonna admit losing?”

“However, your fighting style is specialized for one-on-one fights, and I am more familiar with how to fight with strong opponents two-on-one. The word cooperation may be unsuited for you, but lend me your strength.”

After listening to those words, for a moment Ibuki looked at me..

“You are equal or stronger than me in terms of fighting, but that’s it. In other areas, we are not on the same level. You are not good at academics, you can’t lead your class, and you can’t cooperate with others. I don’t want to be mean, but calling yourself my rival is just you being narcissistic.”

Although the words may make her angry, I would not stop talking.

“It’s about time for you to change yourself as well, isn’t it? Mio Ibuki-san.”

“…What was that all about?”

“If you keep fighting alone like this, you will surely be in danger of expulsion at some point.”

“Not a big deal, if that happens.”

“Which means it’ll be your complete loss to me. Is that fine?”

“Huh?”

“If you get expelled halfway, you can’t be considered my rival. You need to persist til the very end, and grow into a rival that can pose a threat to me.”

“Arghh, I know, I know, so shut up. I will only listen to you here. That’s enough, right?”

“Good.”

“So, what should I do?”

“Like before, we attack Amasawa-san at the same time. However, actually hitting her is of secondary importance. I want you to dodge her attacks, make sure not to get caught, and continue to attack.”

“Hitting her is of secondary importance? What use would that be?”

“If my guess is correct…that will be our chance to win. When I give you the signal, attack with all you’ve got.”

Although Ibuki didn’t quite get it, she still left to assume her position.

” Meeting time ended? Then, why don’t we start the second round?”

We started moving at the same time, heading towards Amasawa from both the left and the right. In order to not get caught, getting too close to her was forbidden.

I judged the timing to extend my fist, according to the distance of my reach, Of course, if Amasaka didn’t do anything in response, the attacks would hit her.

Therefore, she had to exhaust energy in order to deal with the continuous attacks. I didn’t rush, stayed calm, and put distance between us when I sensed danger.

If I were alone, I wouldn’t be able to escape. However, now that her attention was split in two directions, this fighting style worked. Not yet.

Before I got out of breath, faster, faster—! Due to our dangerous continuous attacks, Amasawa’s movements began to slow down. Although she was still smiling, she was obviously breathing quicker.

“—Now!!”

In order to not miss this perfect chance, I swung my right fist at Amasawa with all my strength.

She stopped my attacks easily with one hand up until now, but she took a defensive stance.

Although my fist didn’t hit her body directly and was blocked by her, Ibuki who moved behind her stomped at the ground, her tightly clenched fist hitting Amasawa, who was turning around to respond, in the face. An attack hit her for the first time, and Amasawa’s body started shaking.

“Ah! Ah!”

I crouched down deep, unleashing a punch on her undefended abdomen. Spitting out some air, Amasawa went down. I straddled her body in the next instant, rendering her immobile.

“Ah… That worked really well…”

“Hah, hah…. Heheh, Amasawa…. I’ll admit that you’re strong, but it seems like your stamina isn’t infinite.”

I caught her out on this surprising weakness and finally turned the tide.

“Ahhhhh, have I been exposed? My physique is actually unexpectedly weak then.”

Despite the situation now having been reversed, she stuck her tongue out, smiling. As I absentmindedly stared at Amasawa’s gym clothes, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Her skin was faintly exposed from underneath her outfit.

I couldn’t help but grab her uniform, and forcefully pull it above her navel.

“What is this…”

It was a mark like a bad bruise. You could tell that she had been hit several times already.

It was a completely different kind of damage from the one clean hit that I managed to land.

It was an injury that had been sustained before the fight had begun.

“I just had a fight, before I fought you senpais.”

Normally, in such a situation, her expression would have been distorted in pain, and her walking would have been affected. And yet, she was still stronger than the two of us in this near crippled state. She was not without stamina.

From the beginning, she fought, on the verge of collapse.

She was fighting in a condition where she needed more recovery than I did. This fact made me feel lightheaded. Someone who faced Amasawa in perfect condition and was able to injure her so much.

Even if I considered the boys, I could only think of Housen-kun. “Do you want to know who caused it? Could it be Housen-kun—?” There was no doubt that Housen-kun was strong.

He would be able to gain an advantage even against Amasawa who had unrealistic strength.

However, her personality was easy to understand if you just put a little thought to it. She wouldn’t answer honestly. In the end, she only offered me one convincing answer that I would accept. If that’s the case—there’s someone else that could beat Amasawa? Even if we considered every student in the school, I couldn’t think of someone. If it was Yamada…. No, he wouldn’t gain anything from this.

“Sorry, but I can’t believe you. Who is it?”

“That’s not something I can answer….. Ah!” Seeing that I was careless because of the shock, she didn’t let this moment pass.

“Oi, what are you doing!”

“…Yeah, I was too careless.”

It was clear that this was our only chance, and yet I let Amasawa escape.

“Nice going, we’re both back to square one now.”

Although our opponent had already taken a lot of damage, the situation has now been reversed again. Could I overpower her again… Honestly, I wasn’t confident. But that was the only thing I could do. And now, not knowing what she was thinking, she walked to her backpack and took out her tablet.

“It seems like it’s over. It’s a bit interesting, but it’s going to be a while again.”

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s that. If you guys want to pass, feel free~~”

Saying that, Amasawa opened up the path that she herself had strongly defended, not letting us pass. Was this some kind of trap? Before I could grasp the situation, Amasawas was already getting ready to leave.

“Where are you going?”

“Where? Well, to the designated area i guess. After all, there’s still a special exam going on.”

In any case, if she was hear to buy time, I should go and confirm Ayanokouji-kun’s status—

“Ah, by the way, I don’t think you need to go after Ayanokouji-senpai anymore.”

“…Why?”

“It’s all over. If you think I’m lying, go ahead and see for yourself.”

“—What about Ayanokouji-kun?”

Hearing that question, Amasawa closed her eyes slightly.

“Why don’t you go and confirm it yourself? But it might be too late for you to regret it by then, though.”

It seemed like Amasawa really was planning to walk back, passing us. Could it be that he had been injured by someone?

“What are you going to do? You going to go after Ayanokouji? That’s why you fought with Amasawa, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll go.”

Having already come to this place, it was even more impossible to go back without confirming the situation now. “Then I’ll go too.”

“Why?”

“I’m thinking, if Ayanokouji’s in danger, I can taunt him next to you.”

“You really are a bad person.” We hurriedly put on our backpacks and ran towards I2.