Suzune, who had just received instructions, looked at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to actually have someone he liked.
After all, hadn't he been constantly dealing with Kikyō's feminine charms, using her to build up his resistance?
Yet here he was, admitting to having feelings for someone.
Houtarou paid no attention to Suzune's thoughts.
"I really like her. Everyone knows how cute she is, right? I've known her since middle school. But since I'm in Class A and she's in Class D, it's been difficult to interact. So now you understand why this is happening to you." Houtarou stood up, "Don't harass her or speak ill of her, otherwise..."
He looked at Suzune.
"Then I'll post all your photos on the forum." She said without hesitation.
Houtarou turned and left, with Suzune following.
How effective would this offensive prove?
Once the two had left, the girls' group finally exhaled in relief.
However...
"This is just too much." Shiho said, barely containing her anger.
She had thought Houtarou was handsome and that she might have had a chance with him. But he was secretly in love with Kei from Class D?
And worse still, she had been treated this way.
"We have to tell Ryūen." She said, "Didn't he promise to lead us to Class A? He collects points from us monthly — he should protect us!"
"Let's not do that, Manabe." Rika said through tears, "Even if Ryūen is powerful, it takes only a second to post photos online."
"If those photos appear on the forum, I couldn't go on living." Saki added.
"So we're just going to let them keep our photos for nothing?" Shiho couldn't accept it.
"We have no choice." Saki said, "For all we know, Horikita has already shared the photos with Oreki. They could be hidden away somewhere, or shown to others."
"..."
The thought was terrifying.
Barely a few hundred meters away, Houtarou received a phone call.
[Houtarou Oreki.]
It was Shiho's voice, trembling with tears.
[Please don't spread or show our photos to anyone. We'll do anything for you.]
Hmm?
Houtarou glanced at Suzune, who had already deleted the photos.
Success — four Class C spies acquired!
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"Now that we've secured four spies and planted the seeds for Ryūen's class's 250,000-point extortion scheme, let's see what he does..."
Houtarou and Suzune returned to the cabin.
Since it was already late and they needed to shower, the two parted ways at the corner.
Suzune deleted all the photos — keeping them would be evidence of wrongdoing.
Houtarou didn't object. His main goal was simply to prevent that group from targeting Kei, not to keep the photos.
He had already sent Kakeru the information about Class C's VIP from the Monkey Group test.
There hadn't been any response yet. Was he not taking action? How disappointing.
While pondering this, Houtarou tried sending a message to Kikyō's backup number.
But...
『 You are not the recipient's friend, message not sent. 』
There was only one explanation for this message.
"..."
Kikyō had blocked him.
He reconsidered his assessment of Kakeru.
That guy was moving quite swiftly after all — he'd already made contact with Class D's spy.
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The time was 22:40.
"Sorry to bother you at this hour." Houtarou said, standing at the girls' dormitory entrance.
Unable to reach Suzune by phone, he'd come to the dormitory in person.
Only Airi was there. He learned Suzune wasn't answering because she was in the shower.
Kikyō had just left, but he'd found another hidden beauty.
"It's no problem. But Kushida-san just left." Airi said from the doorway.
She looked different than usual — her pink hair fell loose instead of being tied up. The faint scent of body wash suggested she'd recently showered.
It was enough to make one's heart skip.
Preparing for bed, she wasn't wearing her usual decorative pink-framed glasses.
This was her true face, unadorned.
Airi was truly beautiful, easily matching Suzune's beauty. On the first day of the island exam, she'd forgotten her glasses, revealing herself as another stunning classmate.
Looking at her now confirmed it — she was indeed beautiful.
Yet Houtarou remained unfazed by the pink-haired beauty's charm. After all, between the adorable Arisu, the elegant Suzune, and the cute Kei, he'd built up quite a resistance to beauty, even if Airi was undeniably pretty.
Since Suzune was in the shower, it wouldn't be appropriate to have another girl fetch her phone. Instead, he decided to borrow Airi's phone.
She and Kikyō were friends, and since the little devil maintained her angelic image in class, she would have added everyone as contacts — even on her backup phone.
Though Kikyō had blocked him, she hadn't blocked Airi.
Using her phone's GPS system, Houtarou quickly located Kikyō's whereabouts.
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To secure cooperation from all students for Outcome 1 of the exam, they needed agreement from representatives of each class.
While Class A and Class D would be manageable, and Class B just needed persuasion, Class C posed the real challenge.
Kakeru was stubborn — he wouldn't back down unless forced to. Yet knowing his importance, he'd likely make excessive demands, creating complications.
So Houtarou had laid a trap.
He would let Kakeru attempt to gather other classes' VIP information on his own, then let him taste failure.
As part of this plan, he'd used Class D — Suzune had secured all their phones in a safe, and everyone in Class D had been notified that she held the key.
The message was clear: whoever obtained the key could access the safe and learn the identities of Class D's three VIPs.
Kakeru would certainly act, pushing his Class D spy to steal the key.
So it's you, Kikyō?
Following her backup phone's GPS signal, Houtarou made his way to the ship's top deck — the same place he'd brought Suzune to find Rokusuke before the island exam.
The open deck offered an unobstructed view of an endless starry sky. Like a glittering spider's web, these stars shone with a brilliance impossible to witness in the light-polluted city.
"This is magnificent..."
The vista before him surpassed any photograph or description. This nighttime spectacle, impossible to witness in major cities, made the stars appear as vivid as the moon's surface.
In the late hour, with no artificial lighting, the darkness held a dreamlike quality. Yet few would venture up here to admire such scenery at this time.
Right?
His gaze shifted forward.
A solitary figure stood at the guardrail, gazing at the stars. From the silhouette, he could tell it was a girl.
Houtarou approached quietly, his footsteps barely audible.
Yet the figure seemed acutely aware of his presence, turning at the sound.
She spoke first.
"Eh? Oreki... kun?"
"...That voice, could it be... Kushida?"
Emerging from the darkness was Kikyō, wearing an expression of surprise.
Was her surprise genuine?
Perhaps — after all, coming to such a place at this hour was rather unusual.
"Can't sleep." Houtarou said, "I've been wrestling with some challenging ideas about this exam."
In other words, he came here because something was troubling him.
"Well..." He turned to look at her, "Kushida-san, are you here alone too?"
"Yes." Kikyō nodded, "I came by myself. I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to come out and look around."
I see. Not very credible.
After all, it had only been a few dozen minutes since the meeting ended. Going to sleep already, without even taking a bath?
Then again, some girls prefer to shower in the morning, so not bathing at night isn't unusual. And turning in early isn't impossible either.
Perhaps her explanation deserves about 10% credibility.
She seemed to be observing his expression.
"..." She brushed her smooth hair aside, "Though this kind of place is perfect for couples, isn't it? The stars are so beautiful."
"Perhaps..." Houtarou said, "In that case, I'll head back now."
He turned to leave.
"You're leaving already?" Kikyō seemed surprised.
"I'm getting sleepy."
"Is that so…" She fell silent for a moment, then showed a cute smile, "Then see you tomorrow, Oreki-kun. Good night."
"Yeah, good night Kushida-san." Houtarou nodded.
He turned to walk away.
"..."
One step.
"..."
Two steps.
"..."
Three steps!
"Wait..." Kikyō's voice rang out.
Houtarou stopped, and suddenly she pressed herself against his chest.
The young woman's fragrance and soft body created such intense sensory stimulation that he couldn't help but look at her in surprise.
This was unprecedented — Kikyō taking the initiative to get close to him!
"These past couple of days, I've been feeling down."
"Is that so?"
Today was the first day of the Special Treatment Student exam.
The island exam had ended just yesterday afternoon. During their time there, Houtarou would take her to Base 41 every couple of days to vent.
Kikyō wasn't a pure white lotus — she had a dark side. Though she played the role of everyone's favorite good girl, she carried considerable internal pressure from keeping so many confided secrets.
She needed regular pressure release, like hitting the railings.
But after Houtarou discovered her doing this, she became depressed about it and stopped.
Only at that secret base could she freely express her feelings again.
So in just two days since leaving the island, had her psychological pressure already begun building up again?
⍟⍟⍟
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