After the twice-daily roll call was over, the four first-year classes, as if by prior agreent, all began the new day's exploration at practically the sa ti.
Amid the dense, layered forest, a figure hurried past the outer periter of the Class C campsite. Then, as if discovering so unexpected windfall, he ca to a stop with keen interest and observed the state of the Class C camp.
A plot of land had been very visibly cleared out. Several tents were scattered around the periter.
The entire camp appeared to have been built centered around a spring. A murmuring stream ran through the heart of the camp, flowing downstream under the force of gravity and forming a shallow little creek.
Among everything, the most conspicuous sight was Ryuen Kakeru, lying sprawled on a hammock like so retired grandpa on a vacation. The guidebook was spread open and draped over his face. Both legs were splayed apart and dangling down to the ground.
"He actually did a decent job?" Fuyuji Mikage rubbed his chin and surveyed the camp's surroundings.
The entirety of Class C was orderly and thodically attending to their respective tasks. Not only was there none of the internal strife from before, it seed as though they had been properly unified.
One had to realize, Class C's opposition to Ryuen's violent rule had previously been total, from the inside out. Yet now, Ryuen could actually make them so docilely follow his orders.
Had Ryu-chan done sothing?
After yesterday's plan to trade personal points with Class A failed, what had he used to convince the previously restless, agitated Class C?
Not so small, petty matter, but sothing—a genuinely feasible plan—that had convinced the entire Class C student body, once again proving his capability.
Looking at the distribution of facilities within the camp, it was likely they had already spent a considerable number of points. It seed they were fully prepared to stay here for the full seven days. The zero-point strategy could be ruled out.
After observing for a while, Fuyuji obtained no other useful information.
Ryu-chan, that guy who specialized in underhanded sches, would never put such things out in the open. He could only wait until he made his next move before attempting to deduce his true intentions.
Having thought this far, Fuyuji turned around with crisp, clean decisiveness to lea—
"Crack..."
The soft sound of an athletic shoe snapping a fallen branch echoed gently through the forest.
Clutching the firewood she had gathered, the young girl nad Shiina Hiyori stared at Fuyuji, who had turned around to face her, and blinked with an adorably dazed expression.
The very next second, the firewood clattered to the ground.
Miss Hols trotted over in her small, brisk steps, pitter-pattering right up to Fuyuji. With a tone brimming with eager anticipation, she ca straight to the point.
"Is Fuyuji-kun here to scout out the situation of our Class C?"
"..."
Young miss, you've just killed the conversation dead. Couldn't you at least give a chance to talk my way out of it?
"No." Fuyuji's expression remained perfectly unchanged. "The truth is, I was just wandering around when I stumbled upon the Class C camp. Out of curiosity and a learning mindset, I ca to observe the layout and arrangent of the Class C campsite."
Shiina paid absolutely no mind to this explanation. Instead, she stepped even closer, her eyes sparkling brightly as she spoke. "Then, next, shall I give Fuyuji-kun a tour and introduction of our Class C's setup?"
"No, no."
Fuyuji still had no desire, for the ti being, to get acquainted with his own dear godson. He swiftly shifted the topic, directing his gaze toward the tents of the Class C camp. "How was Shiina-san's day yesterday? Are you adjusting to life on the deserted island?"
The mont the words left his mouth, Fuyuji realized he had asked a question that couldn't possibly be more stupid. Even Class A, under those conditions, couldn't sleep comfortably—let alone Class C.
"So boring." Shiina shook her head with a sense of desolate loneliness. Her eyes reflected the withered, yellowed fallen leaves. "No books. I could only sit alone, blankly, beneath the trees, gazing out at the ocean."
As expected of the bookworm miss. Even in this kind of situation—hungry, sleeping poorly—she still placed books as the number one priority.
A sense of profound respect arose from the very depths of Fuyuji's heart.
"Why not try thinking of sothing else you might be interested in?" Fuyuji offered consolation. "There are still five more days ahead. For instance, how about using this ti to carefully revisit all the books you've read? Look—if our current situation were placed into a detective novel, what's the very first thing that would co to mind?"
"And Then There Were None?"
The words, drifting and airy, tinged with a faint trace of deathly flavor, erged from those soft, marshmallowy lips.
A gust of sea breeze swept through, causing the leaves of the surrounding forest to rustle and whisper.
In that very instant, Fuyuji actually felt a chill rise up his back.
Young miss—could you please not describe sothing so terrifying in such a light, casual, understated manner?
Fuyuji stole a glance backward at the deep, dark, profound forest. Suddenly, with evil intent surging forth from his gut, he spoke in a dark, somber, drawn-out voice.
"Deep in the Pacific Ocean. Upon a forgotten, uninhabited island, sweltering under waves of heat—one hundred and fifty-nine students prepare to endure a seven-day special exam. On the morning of the third day, the tide delivers a gift: a police uniform, shredded by the reefs, wrapped around a bloated corpse. The pistol holster is empty.
And on that very sa stretch of beach where the body was washed ashore, a line of footprints, deeper than any ordinary human's, leads straight toward the dense, dark forest at the island's heart. The rules of the exam have been silently, imperceptibly rewritten. Deep within the forest, a pair of blood-red eyes opens. An axe is raised high—one, two, three... all the way to one hundred and fifty-nine..."
A fair, slender little hand abruptly seized Fuyuji's wrist. Shiina's eyes squeezed tightly shut. Her remaining small hand flailed helplessly through the air as she cried out. "Mister Watson! You scared again!"
"Weren't you the one who brought it up yourself?" Fuyuji raised his hands in a helpless gesture, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. "Look—'And Then There Were None.' The classic closed-circle mystery. Toss in a homicidal maniac, and in an instant, the atmosphere becos absolutely spine-chilling. Then sprinkle in a few deductive elents, and voila—one detective novel, fresh out of the oven."
Shiina released Fuyuji's wrist. She wrapped both arms around her knees and sat down on the ground, resting her chin on her knees. Puffing out her cheeks, she declared, "Even so, you can't say it right now! There are still five more days ahead."
"Doesn't Shiina-san plan to write a detective novel? Since there's nothing else to do anyway, you could use these five days to flesh it out and perfect it." Fuyuji smiled and sat down beside her.
"It won't work." Shiina let out a faint, shallow sigh. "Even now, I still can't figure out how that Mister Moriarty managed to do it. Absolutely no clue." After thinking for a mont, she shook her head with a slight headache. "Let's not talk about that anymore. What about Mister Watson? Did you sleep well last night?"
"Class A's camp is a cave. I kept feeling like the ground was poking and prodding at . It was fine during the day, but at night it was far too stuffy and hot."
"A cave, huh. That's also a frequently appearing location in detective novels. And then? How did Fuyuji-kun pass the ti last night? As for , I went to sleep very early."
"A whole bunch of us just sat around a campfire and chatted." Fuyuji raised his hands and traced a large circle for Shiina.
"You did nothing at all? Just quietly watched like that?" Shiina pressed further, appearing very interested in this.
"Right. Did absolutely nothing. Occasionally tossed a piece of wood in. Sat there, watching the orange-yellow flas cling to the wood, crackling and popping as the color darkened bit by bit into black. Sotis, a gust of wind would blow straight at you, bringing the heat along with it, and for a mont it would suddenly beco very hot. But very quickly, the heat would disperse. At tis like that, it felt as if the ti had just slipped away in an instant."
"I feel like that sounds so interesting." Shiina swiveled her head and rested her cheek on her bent knees. She closed her eyes, as if picturing this scene within her mind.
"Interesting? You could try suggesting Class C do the sa tonight?"
"But it seems like... then it wouldn't have that sa feeling anymore." A muffled, sullen voice drifted out.
That feeling, huh...
Fuyuji gazed thoughtfully at Shiina, now curled up into a little ball.
He glanced at his watch, then shifted his gaze toward the firewood that had just been dropped.
"Then how about the two of us try burning one right now?" Fuyuji suddenly felt it might not be quite appropriate. "During the dayti, though, it seems like it might not quite—"
"Hontou ni?!" The little head that had been listless and devoid of energy just monts ago abruptly snapped up. She leaned in close beside Fuyuji and asked, her voice brimming with hopeful anticipation.
"It... It should be fine." Fuyuji leaned his body back slightly, breaking out in a cold sweat of embarrassnt. "But... there probably isn't the right atmosphere right now."
"It's alright. Atmosphere... can be created. As long as there are two people. Fuyuji-kun, wait right here, okay? I'll go get a lighter."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Shiina was already dashing back toward the Class C camp with light, joyful little steps.
...
The ocean waves lapped gently and rhythmically against the shore, like a lody that had been playing ceaselessly since ti immorial.
"Crackle... crackle..."
A small cluster of orange-yellow flas danced quietly before the two of them.
It was still broad daylight, not even nine in the morning. At the boundary line where the forest t the sandy beach, two students, bored out of their minds, had gone to great lengths to haul the firewood here, pile it into a conical shape, ignite it, and then simply sit and watch it burn in silence.
Fuyuji casually picked up a dry, fallen branch and gently tossed it into the fire. The tongues of fla imdiately licked upward, consuming the dried wood and producing an even louder, sharper crackling and popping sound...
Shiina sat with her knees bent, both arms wrapped around her calves. Her small, delicate chin rested upon her knees. Her clear, limpid eyes stared unblinkingly at the very heart of the flas. The orange-yellow light danced and flickered within the depths of her eyes, like the shimring ripples spreading across the surface of a calm lake when a pebble is cast into it.
The sea breeze swept through the treetops, bringing a gentle rustling whisper. At the sa ti, it also blew a warm current, laden with the heat and sparks of the fire, toward the two of them.
"Mm..."
The warm breeze brushed past her cheeks. Shiina subconsciously narrowed her eyes and emitted a vague, indistinct syllable. Yet her body did not move. She continued to gaze at the flas with persistent, unwavering fixation.
Fuyuji said nothing. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the young girl's focused profile. A strange, peculiar feeling arose from the depths of his heart.
Ti seed to lose its customary scale and asure. There were no strategies to contemplate. No tedious sches between classes to calculate. For this brief mont, they had even temporarily cast aside the complex riddles of detective novels.
The orange-yellow flas dyed Shiina's fair, snowy cheeks with a warm, honeyed glow. Her long eyelashes, illuminated by the leaping firelight, cast small, trembling shadows upon her cheeks, like the wings of a moth resting motionless upon a lampshade.
The two of them sat side by side just like this, doing nothing at all, simply watching the campfire burn.
"As expected... it truly is very interesting." Shiina spoke softly.
"I also have a feeling I can't quite put into words."
"So boring... and yet so blissful." Shiina narrowed her eyes, as if striving with all her might to commit this scene before her to mory. She slowly opened her mouth.
"It's not that exaggerated."
"It is." Shiina earnestly corrected him. Clenching her small fist, she cheered herself on with adorable, dazed determination. "Alright. I've decided. Soday, I'm going to write this into my book."
"Again?"
"Yes."
"So what kind of book is it, exactly?"
"Mm... I don't know. A moir, perhaps?"
...
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