Chapter 128: Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part 1

And now, let’s shift the timeline back to the present, at precisely 6:51 AM on the thirteenth day of the special exam.

Utomiya came across Tsubaki sitting beside her tent, looking up at the sky.

“What are you thinking about Tsubaki?”

“Just thinking through everything one last time. You need somethin’?”

“Well, I just thought I’d have a few words with you before we carried out our strategy. After all, this might be the last time we ever see each other.”

“Fair enough.”

Since this could very well be their final conversation, they decided to touch bases with each other.

“Why haven’t you been using your walkie-talkie to communicate with me like you do with everybody else?”

“Because you can’t understand what someone is truly thinking without talking to them face-to-face. You were there for the entire conversation with Hōsen-kun, so you should know exactly what I mean by that.”

“Indeed. While I could get the gist of what he’s up to over the walkie-talkie, it’s impossible to straight-up trust anything he said to us.”

“You say that mostly because you don’t like him, don’t you?”

Tsubaki’s words hit the nail right on the head, causing Utomiya to turn and look away with embarrassment clear on his face.

“Out of all the first-years, you’re the only one I can trust, Utomiya-kun. I let you hear about the plan face-to-face because I wanted to hear your raw, unfiltered thoughts on the matter.”

For a split second, a somewhat self-derisive smile took shape on Tsubaki’s face, but she quickly reverted back to her usual blank expression.

Utomiya had just been told that Tsubaki trusted him, but rather than get caught up in that, he remembered that there was something he needed to check.

“How are the preparations going?”

“Wanna see a GPS screenshot I took just a bit ago?”

With that, Tsubaki powered on her tablet and tilted the screen toward Utomiya.

Ayanokōji’s campsite was located in area E5, whereas the first-years were currently located in areas D4 and E6.

“Our positioning is perfect, just as you planned.”

“Well, we’ve been very thorough in that regard, wouldn’t you say? The terrain just so happens to favor us as well.”

Tsubaki slowly raised her eyes and looked at Utomiya, who was fixated on analyzing the screenshot.

Meanwhile, a certain young man approached the two of them.

“Tsubaki-san, do you have a minute?”

The young man was none other than Yagami, the effective leader of Class 1-B and a member of the same group as Utomiya.

“Everything’s good to go, so I guess I have time, but…”

Suspicious of Yagami’s intentions, Tsubaki let show a look of slight dissatisfaction.

“To tell you the truth, there’s something I really feel the need to talk to you about, Tsubaki-san.”

“Sorry, but hold on a second. There’s something I want to ask Yagami about first.”

Before Yagami could successfully pull Tsubaki aside, Utomiya interrupted with a strong tone.

“What is it?”

“Your GPS signal disappeared all of a sudden yesterday. Where did you go?”

“My apologies. My watch broke down all of a sudden, so I rushed back to the starting area to get it fixed.”

As he said this, Yagami held out his left wrist, showing everybody his watch.

“It broke, did it? That makes twice now.”

By this point Utomiya had raised his guard, fully suspecting that Yagami was up to something.

“What are you planning, Yagami?”

“It’s disheartening to hear that you suspect me of scheming just because my watch broke. Didn’t your watch break a few days ago too, Utomiya-kun? Wouldn’t that make you suspect as well?”

“Mine was nothing more than a simple software malfunction.”

“And the same goes for me.”

Utomiya scowled at Yagami, who had been smiling throughout this entire exchange.

“Hey, could you two stop with this bickering? We’re all friends here, no?”

“…Sorry. I guess I might just be a little on edge with the plan coming up here soon.”

“No no, I was out of line as well. I apologize.”

At this point, Tsubaki took the reins of the conversation and prompted Yagami for more information.

“So it took you a full day to get your watch replaced? Or is there something else?”

“Well, I went and prepared a gift of sorts for you in regards to today’s operation.”

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“A gift?”

“More accurately, it’s a plan to drive Ayanokōji-senpai into a corner. After all, things don’t always play out the way you expect them to, right?”

The plan was set to go into action very soon, and yet Yagami was now suggesting something unsettling.

However, the one who felt the most alarmed by this was not Tsubaki, but rather Utomiya, who stood right beside her.

“What exactly are you saying, Yagami? Are you seriously implying that you think our current plan will fail? That’s-”

“Yagami-kun, I’m not carrying out my strategy with the expectation of failure.”

Tsubaki raised her voice a little as she spoke, interrupting Utomiya.

“Of course you aren’t. Your strategy is effectively flawless, Tsubaki-san. You could even say it’s so airtight that not even a measly ant could slip past you. You’ve gathered the largest, most proficient lineup of first-years you possibly could’ve, so I certainly don’t doubt that you’ll succeed. However, don’t you think it’d be best to take whatever precautions you have available to you?”

Despite her suspicions about Yagami’s incessant chattering, Tsubaki responded calmly.

“Personally, I don’t want to do anything I don’t have to, but I’ll at least listen to what you have to say.”

Internally, Tsubaki felt like it would be fine to decide what to do after hearing out Yagami’s proposal.

“Moving forward, I imagine you’ll repeatedly use GPS Searches to pinpoint Ayanokōji-senpai’s location as you drive him into a corner. However, doing so will use up quite a large number of points, will it not?”

“We’ve had one of our backup groups give us a tablet in preparation for that.”

Utomiya chimed in to answer in Tsubaki’s stead, but it seemed that Yagami had already taken that into account.

“I understand that, but it’s hard to say that’s an efficient way of doing it. Do you know why that is?”

“Because we don’t know where Ayanokōji-senpai’s designated area is, and it’s impossible to predict his movements.”

Yagami nodded once, seemingly satisfied with Tsubaki’s answer.

“Right. Whether Ayanokōji-senpai chooses to head toward his designated area, chase after a Task, or simply try and escape from us… if we can successfully predict what he decides to do, then our efficiency will rise dramatically.”

“If it were that easy to find out where he’s headed, then we wouldn’t have any problems. But that’s exactly why we’ve prepared tablets from several groups so that we can run as many GPS Searches as we want.”

“I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about whether or not I could be helpful to you, so I decided to do a little investigating. Specifically, I asked myself: Of the twelve tables, which one does Ayanokōji-senpai belong to?”

Tsubaki had been idly twirling a lock of hair around her finger, but when Yagami said this, she stopped.

And at the same time, Utomiya suddenly drew silent.

“So you’re sayin’ you know what table he’s part of?”

“Yes. Although, strictly speaking, it’s this tablet right here that truly knows, not me.”

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Saying that, Yagami brought out a tablet.

“What’s so special about a tablet?”

“I borrowed this particular tablet from one of my peers in Class 1-B. As it turns out, their group is part of the same table as Ayanokōji-senpai.”

“In other words, with this, we’ll be able to find out Ayanokōji-senpai’s projected movements without any delays.”

Yagami nodded calmly.

By identifying Ayanokōji’s designated area right when it gets announced, it made anticipating his movements that much easier.

“And you’re 100% certain that this peer of yours shares the same table as Ayanokōji?”

Utomiya spoke roughly, practically demanding an answer from Yagami.

However, Yagami ignored him and continued addressing Tsubaki.

“As for how I went about investigating it, I─”

“Repeatedly ran GPS Searches until you managed to identify groups with similar movement patterns, right?”

Tsubaki had figured out the method without so much as a second thought.

“…Impressive. Perhaps my help wasn’t needed after all?”

Yagami, who had wanted to surprise Tsubaki, had himself been surprised in turn.

“Nah, I’d appreciate it if you lent me that tablet though. I’d like to refrain from wasting points if at all possible, considering how many I’m gonna have to spend moving forward. But are you really fine with it?”

“We’re in the same boat here, Tsubaki-san. Your success is directly tied to my own. Moreover, while Utomiya-kun and I have been fighting hard together on behalf of all the first-years, it’s gradually gotten more and more difficult for us to get into the top three. With that being the case, I’ve been left with no choice but to focus my efforts on other matters.”

The reason why Yagami had come here today was because he no longer found much significance in earning more points.

If he were in a position where he could realistically make it to first place, he wouldn’t have had the free time to come here.

Having made his point clear, Yagami continued.

“Furthermore, if you don’t accept my proposal, I won’t be able to provide you with insurance.”

“Insurance? What the heck are you getting at?”

“Our number one priority is to drive Ayanokōji-senpai into a corner with your strategy and force him to retire from the exam. However, that might end up failing for any number of reasons. For instance, what if Ayanokōji-senpai is traveling together with a third party for the entire day? You can’t attack him when there might be witnesses, right?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. He’s been pretty much all on his own since day eight.”

Utomiya quickly commented that Yagami’s concerns had already been accounted for, but Yagami simply shook his head.

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“But you can’t guarantee that that’ll still be the case here on day thirteen.”

“Sure, I guess that’s true. But what’s your point?”

“In the event that something unexpected happens that causes the plan to fail, why not change tactics? We can prevent him from reaching his designated areas, denying him from earning points. Furthermore, tomorrow is day fourteen, the final day, so we’ll have three additional opportunities to prevent him from earning anything.”

“So you’re saying we can make him face a penalty a total of five times between today and tomorrow?”

“No, we’ll actually be able to make him face a penalty a total of seven times. Yesterday, Ayanokōji-senpai failed to reach his third designated area, area D4, since it was randomly designated too far away from him, and he didn’t make it to the area after that, D2, either, meaning that he’s already missed two in a row. I’ve gone and verified that he had focused on doing Tasks instead.”

“If he gets penalized seven times, that’s twenty-eight points down the drain… That’s nothing to scoff at.”

There were only two days left in the exam. Losing twenty-eight points during such a crucial period would be quite a serious blow.

At this point, Utomiya felt like this ‘insurance policy’ Yagami had come up with might very well be worth considering after all.

“For the time being, Ayanokōji-senpai is still alone. While it’s unclear exactly how many points he has, I doubt he has very many given that he’s the only one in his group. He might even use points on the GPS Search to try and escape us once he knows he’s under attack. And to top it all off, if we can predict the Tasks he goes for and make it to them before he does, we’ll have a decent chance to make him drop down to the bottom of the leaderboards.”

“Well, you’re definitely not wrong.”

“If this ‘insurance policy’ successfully makes Ayanokōji-senpai retire, then how about we split the bounty 25-50-25? I take five million, you guys get ten million, and we distribute what remains to the groups that failed. Everyone should be satisfied with that, no?”

“It doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me, what do you think, Tsubaki?”

While Utomiya was truly awestruck by Yagami’s proposal, Tsubaki didn’t seem to have much of a reaction to it.

“Tsubaki, I think we should take advantage of this.”

Faced with Tsubaki’s silence, Utomiya spoke up once again, encouraging her to accept Yagami’s proposal.

“Well, if you’ve truly gone outta your way to get that tablet for us, I wouldn’t really have any other choice but to accept. However…”

Tsubaki trailed off as she reached into her bag and took out a stack of three tablets: her own, a previously-mentioned backup, and now a third one.

“What’s this third one?”

“A tablet from someone with the same table as Ayanokōji-senpai, same as yours.”

“What? When did you…?”

There had been no need for Yagami’s help in the first place. Tsubaki already had everything she needed right in the palm of her hand.

“You’ve really gone beyond my greatest expectations, Tsubaki-san. To think you had already come up with the very same idea…”

“Then, why didn’t you say anything about this!?”

Frustrated, Utomiya pressed for Tsubaki to explain herself.

“I just didn’t like it. That is, that Yagami-kun had also thought of the same exact plan of makin’ Senpai miss his designated areas. I was tryin’ to act dumb and let him have his moment, but it ended up being way too similar to my own plan for me to keep my mouth shut.”

Yagami and Utomiya exchanged glances at Tsubaki’s more-or-less childish logic.

“If that’s the case, it’d be inappropriate for me to try and claim remuneration. Allow me to forgo my five million points. In the meantime, I’ll take a step back and keep an eye on things from a distance.”

“Thanks. It really is quite hard to get things done when someone you don’t trust is breathing down your neck, so that helps I guess.”

No matter how unabashedly blunt Tsubaki’s words may have been, Yagami accepted them with a calm, satisfied look on his face and promptly took his leave.

Once he was out of earshot, Utomiya spoke up.

“Tsubaki, suppose we manage to take down Ayanokōji by force, will the school really end up retiring him from the exam?”

“Nothing is guaranteed when using heavy-handed tactics like this. Worst case scenario, those of us who set this up might be the only ones kicked out of here.”

“If that were to also happen to the groups that helped us, we’d be dealing with quite a serious number of expulsions.”

An outcome where only the first-year students were expelled. Utomiya’s expression stiffened at the thought.

“But, realistically speaking, the chances of that happening are almost zero. As the one pulling the strings, the one who would take on the brunt of the punishment would be me and me alone. After all, the school can’t afford to expel ten to twenty first-years.”

“That’s a problem in and of itself. Are you really planning to shoulder the burden all on your own?”

“When the school first announced the previous special exam, I was the one who proposed we try to expel Ayanokōji-senpai. You just went along with it, no?”

“That’s true, but…”

Utomiya recalled the previous special exam that took place just after enrollment, where they had to form pairs with one of the second-year students.

It had been bundled together with another, hidden exam that would award twenty million private points to whomever could get Ayanokōji Kiyotaka expelled from the school. At the time, Utomiya hated the idea, proposing that Class 1-C remain neutral as spectators.

However, Tsubaki’s repeated attempts to persuade Utomiya eventually won him over. She reasoned that twenty million private points would be an invaluable asset for Class 1-C if they wanted to set their sights on making it to the upper classes.

When he asked her how exactly she planned on getting Ayanokōji expelled, she instantly stated that she’d try to pair up with Ayanokōji and throw caution to the wind as she intentionally bombed the exam. And then, following her expulsion, the twenty million point bounty would fall into his own hands, given his status as her co-conspirator. She had requested for him to use the points for Class 1-C’s future endeavors.

“When you first told me about this plan of yours, you told me not to ask too many questions about your motives.”

“Oh, are you curious? About why I’m so fine with letting myself get expelled?”

“…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t. It simply isn’t natural for someone to be so eager to leave when they pretty much just got here.”

“Well, I’ll admit that Class 1-C has been far cozier than I expected. Since I’m gonna be expelled either way, I figured that I might as well go out in a way that best benefits the class.”

Tsubaki left it at that, clearly reluctant to explain herself any further. Utomiya also sensed that nothing good would come from trying to press her any further, so he instead turned his gaze toward the forest.

“Maybe it’s best if I go as well. I’m confident I could take Ayanokōji one-on-one.”

“That’s not happening. You’re an indispensable talent for Class 1-C, Utomiya-kun. Furthermore, even though I’ll be taking responsibility for what happens, there’s a chance you might get hit with the same punishment by participating. Leave Ayanokōji-senpai to the others.”

“If we were facing an ordinary opponent then I’d be fine with that. But Ayanokōji has a twenty million point bounty on his head; he’s far from ordinary. Even Hōsen wasn’t able to take him out and he tried his hand before any of us. We should play every card we’re dealt.”

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“True. We should definitely consider him as someone at least at Hōsen-kun’s level.”

Despite her agreement, Tsubaki still didn’t give Utomiya the green light on his request, instead instructing him to stay behind with her.

“…Alright, I get it. I’ll stay here and keep an eye on how you do things.”

“Hey, Utomiya-kun.”

After a short pause, Tsubaki called out to Utomiya, who had begun to distance himself so as not to get in her way.

“What?”

“You seem pretty strong; where’d you learn to fight? You’re not a delinquent, are you?”

“It’s not really all that worth getting into. I think we can both agree there’s no need to pry too deeply into each other’s affairs.”

“Fair enough. But let me ask you this, just to be sure… you’re not hiding something important from me, right?”

“Hiding something? No. The upcoming fight has been the only thing on my mind.”

“Alright then.”

And so, just like that, 7:00 AM arrived, bringing with it the start of the exam. With a walkie-talkie in one hand and a tablet in the other, Tsubaki pressed down on the transmission button. From the information displayed on the tablet, Ayanokōji’s first destination was area C3.

“Attention everyone, the enemy’s first designated area is C3. Those in D4 are to remain on standby. As for the E6 group, start heading north and prepare to flank. Do not engage without permission.”

Tsubaki issued her orders before quietly releasing the button.

“After eliminating Ayanokōji-senpai, I wonder which second and third-years I should crush before the school catches on…? Hmm…”

Tsubaki spent these final moments mulling over her next potential target.