The hours continued to pass aboard the luxurious ship under the name of the Special Exam.
With us being required to attend two sessions every day, the students couldn't stop thinking about the exam instead of enjoying their summer vacation.
This might be the worst vacation I've ever had. No, without a doubt, this is the worst.
Even most of my time was spent between cafés and restaurants. Perhaps the best thing was that the food was delicious in most places, although I hated the fancy ones. I always felt restricted in them.
I followed the wind that was pushing me along once again until I passed by a restaurant on the upper floor whose visitors were fewer than the others. This time, my goal wasn't food, but simply to relax for a while away from all the noise.
I entered through the restaurant's doors and, as expected, it was completely empty except for one table.
A huge boy with dark purple hair was sitting there. I recognized him immediately just by his back.
What was Ryuuen doing here? Should I leave...?
But it seemed that he was the one leaving this time. He stood up from the table, revealing a girl with short yellow hair who had been sitting in front of him, hidden behind his huge body.
So, Kushida and Ryuuen were secretly meeting.
What a strange pair. No one would expect it.
Ryuuen passed by me, pretending he hadn't seen me, and continued walking forward without saying a word.
This was better than having to deal with him now.
Kushida stood up from the table as well, apparently preparing to leave. It seemed that her secret meeting with Ryuuen after the Special Exam had ended.
The moment Kushida stepped past me, I quickly turned toward her.
It seemed like it was more than just a secret meeting, wasn't it?
"Hey, Kushida..." I called out to her quickly.
She stopped in place for a moment before reluctantly turning toward me.
"Ah, Hikigaya-kun. What do you want...?" Kushida said with a strained smile, trying to maintain her angelic image no matter what.
This was getting annoying.
I needed to finish this quickly. Her face was starting to annoy me too.
"You're the VIP, aren't you?" I said without any introduction, trying to get straight to the point.
Kushida froze in place.
Her shoulders trembled for a moment before all the warmth that had appeared on her face disappeared.
"You... How did you know?" Kushida said, clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.
I looked around, trying to convince myself that she really was the same person who had been smiling just a moment ago.
Her ability to change personalities so quickly was frightening in itself.
"Hmm... Just a guess..." I said, raising my shoulders indifferently.
At first, it had really been nothing more than a guess.
But it seemed I had actually hit the mark.
"Tsk..." Kushida clicked her tongue in annoyance before turning away and walking off, stomping her feet against the floor.
Scary.
Really scary.
I had completely lost my appetite.
I'd just settle for a can of coffee.
I left the restaurant and headed toward the vending machine in the hallway to get a black coffee.
I opened the can while looking out at the sea.
It seemed there was a leak from our class.
Perhaps it wouldn't stop there...
She really was crazy to make a deal with the devil, but what was her goal?
Kushida had been in the same group as Horikita and Hirata, but apparently things hadn't gone well there and wouldn't be going well either.
While I was lost in the bitterness of the black coffee, my phone suddenly vibrated inside my pocket.
I threw the can into the trash while taking out my phone.
It was a message from Yukinoshita asking where I was.
Hmm... What was going on?
Suddenly, my phone started vibrating again.
A call from Yukinoshita.
For a moment, it almost slipped straight out of my hand and onto the floor.
I pressed the green button and placed the phone against my ear.
[Yo...]
[I see, Hikigaya-kun. Why are you taking so long to answer my question? It wasn't that difficult, was it? Or do even questions outside the exam confuse you?]
Without any warning, Yukinoshita launched straight into an attack without mercy.
[Okay, okay, enough. I'm on the upper floor, in the hallway.] I said quickly before Yukinoshita could end the call.
What was with her?
She really didn't let anything slide.
I had only taken a second to reply.
Maybe next time I should go straight to her before she even sends the message.
It didn't take long before Yukinoshita arrived, carrying her notebook in front of her.
She looked a little tired as she approached.
Her cheeks were also unusually red.
"Are you okay...?" I asked, looking at her from the side.
Yukinoshita touched her face with her fingers as if checking it before shaking her head.
"I'm fine. I was at the spa. There was also a massage session." Yukinoshita said as she placed her hand on the railing.
"So those things are available here too."
That made sense.
It wouldn't be a luxury ship if it didn't contain every kind of comfort.
"Yes. Most of the students see it as an opportunity to try it, and since I hadn't visited one in a while, I thought it was a good opportunity." Yukinoshita said as she opened her notebook and slowly flipped through the pages.
"Hmm..."
So she really was used to these kinds of things.
I wouldn't be surprised if she had experienced a luxury trip before.
No, that might be a bit much.
But these massage sessions were probably something high school students would enjoy.
It wasn't an opportunity that came around often.
Although I personally didn't like them at all.
Who would want to lie there without clothes while someone else messed around with their body?
That was really bad.
"Here..." Yukinoshita said, pushing her notebook toward me.
I took the notebook calmly and read the three names written inside.
Yukinoshita.
Kushida.
Karuizawa.
"Hmm... What exactly is this?"
I stared patiently at the names, trying to figure out what they meant while waiting for Yukinoshita's explanation.
"They are the names of the VIPs from our class..."
I glanced at the page for a moment before looking back at Yukinoshita.
"Did they tell you themselves...?" I asked.
Perhaps the people who had received a different message from everyone else had decided to reveal themselves now.
"No. I figured out the system used to select the VIPs." Yukinoshita said as she reached for the notebook to turn the page.
There was a long explanation written on the next page detailing the system.
My eyes moved quickly between the lines, half surprised that she had managed to figure all of this out by herself.
"As you can see, the selection is based on the group number, by arranging the names alphabetically..."
I raised my hand to stop Yukinoshita before she could begin her lengthy explanation.
"I really understand this part..." I said, pointing at the notebook with my finger.
"Really? I thought you had trouble learning and understanding things like this..." Yukinoshita said with a sly smile before reaching out to turn the page again.
"Just so you know, I thought about it the same way from the beginning..."
The words stopped between my teeth as I looked at the contents of the next page.
There were names of some students from the other classes.
"Are these the VIPs from the other classes?" I asked while reading all their names and trying to memorize them.
"Yes. Although there is nothing guaranteeing that they are correct." Yukinoshita said as she took the notebook from my hands.
She might be right about that.
Even if the theory matched our class, there was still the problem of whether it matched the other classes as well.
Although there were ways to confirm whether it was correct.
"Even so..." Yukinoshita said before beginning to tear out the pages in front of her.
Then she calmly threw them into the trash.
"We won't use them for now."
I stared at the trash, watching those papers sitting on top.
Anyone might consider them the key to victory, or at least the beginning of a path toward victory.
Yet Yukinoshita had abandoned them completely.
"Are you still sticking to your idea...?"
As she had mentioned this morning, she had no intention of interfering with any other group, no matter what happened.
"Yes. We were divided into groups so that we could work on this exam outside the framework of our classes. Therefore, everyone should rely on themselves, especially certain individuals before they become nothing more than obstacles..." Yukinoshita said, brushing her hair back.
Perhaps this time she wasn't tying her success to complete victory.
Instead, she had simply solved the dilemma of the exam and returned her focus to her own group.
"Are you sure...?"
"Of course." Yukinoshita said, nodding deeply.
Perhaps even if another class managed to achieve victory in this exam, it would be a good opportunity for our class to experience what it felt like to hit a wall within a Special Exam.
Perhaps we should focus more on the Pig Group and achieve the result required of us.
I closed my eyes for a moment as I recalled all the names I had seen on that paper, one after another.