After leaving Yosuke, I gave Ishizaki, from Komiya's class, a call, and asked him out.
Since I thought he was still at school, I set off to meet him.
"Yo! Are you finally thinking to group up with us!?"
He said that enthusiastically with a bright smile on his face.
"Sorry, that's still under deliberation. I'm here for something else today."
Ishizaki looked slightly regretful upon hearing these words, but recovered quickly.
"So, what did you want to discuss with me?"
I wanted to discuss my problem with him right away, but a girl was approaching Ishizaki. It was Nishino Takeko from Class 2-B.
"What, you said you 'something', did you mean a meeting with Ayanokouji-kun?"
"Hey, didn't I tell you not to follow me, Nishino? Sorry about this, Ayanokouji."
After apologizing to me, Ishizaki urged Nishino to go to Keyaki mall first.
However, Nishino didn't listen to Ishizaki and approached me.
"You're rather close with Ishizaki. That's a surprise."
Nishino observed me as she directly addressed Ishizaki without an honorific.
"Hey, you didn't listen to me at all! This is why you're ostracized!"
"Ostracized?"
"Ah no, just that this girl's isolated in our class right now. That's become a bit of a problem."
"Isolated? I'm hardly troubled by that."
Speaking of isolation, Ibuki was also a lone wolf, and Nishino seemed to belong to the same category.
"Anyway, can you just leave, okay?"
"No."
"No? Yo-you say no? This girl… Sorry, Ayanokouji, wait a minute. I'll just get rid of her right now."
"But I'm curious as to why you and Ayanokouji-kun are secretly meeting, Ishizaki."
Although I'd never spoken to Nishino, she seemed to be the type who spoke her mind without hesitation.
People like her made enemies easily. However, it was only natural for her to be incredulous, seeing us meeting secretly. Chasing her away without giving an explanation would only backfire on us, so I decided to tell Nishino about what Ishizaki and I were going to discuss.
"Our relationship became better after being in the same group in last year's Mixed Training Camp."
First, I told her how our current relationship got to here, and then got to the topic at hand.
"I contacted Ishizaki because I wanted to ask him a few questions about Komiya from your class. I decided to meet here because this conversation isn't meant for others to hear."
"Because of Komiya-kun? What's going on?"
She didn't drop the suffix while talking about Komiya. I explained my reasons as I held that impression.
"I heard that he and Shinohara from my class decided to form a group. Do you know about this?"
"No, it's the first time I've heard of it. But it's not that strange, right?"
Wanting to team up with someone from another class was indeed nothing out of the ordinary.
So it wasn't unreasonable for Ishizaki to find my asking about it to be a bit strange.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Because even in the kindest of terms, Shinohara isn't the kind of person who would be very active in this uninhabited island exam. So our class is worried about whether her grouping up with Komiya is a good idea or not. We want to know what kind of person he is beforehand."
"He's just a nice guy in general, right? He also has good motor skills, and because he's in the basketball club, he has good physical strength as well."
Right? Ishizaki confirmed this with Nishino who nodded her head in agreement.
"It seems like one of them invited the other to form a group, are they dating?"
"Eh? Th-that's hard to say…"
"Even if you ask Ishizaki these things, he wouldn't understand. You don't know anything about love, do you?"
"Shut up! Do you understand it then?'
"At least more than you. Although they're not dating, Komiya-kun certainly likes Shinohara-san, right?"
"Eh? Komiya likes Shinohara, really? Oh, but he did say he liked a girl from another class… although I only vaguely remember it…"
Ishizaki recalled a past memory, and told us this.
If any students were to form a group, it was natural for one to seek something from the other. Elements such as ability, friendship, or even, romantic feelings. Like Nishino said, if Komiya had a crush on Shinohara, then it was reasonable for him to want to form a group with her.
"But why do you care about that?"
"I saw the two of them together this morning. Since Komiya called Shinohara by her first name, I felt that they were close, which is why I thought it might be the case."
"Ahh… Eh, what? Don't tell me, Ayanokouji, that…. You like Shinohara?"
"No."
Even though I denied it immediately, Ishizaki had a delighted smirk as if he had already convinced himself of that fact
"Wha? She's the type of girl a blockhead like you'd fall for though? Am I right, am I right?"
"I just said no."
"Don't hide it from me, we're close friends, eh?"
No, I don't think we were that close at all until the Mixed Training Camp…
Indeed, I had recently gotten to know his character even better than my own not-so-familiar classmates.
"But since it's you, I'm pretty sure you can aim for a cuter girl."
If this continued any further, there was a possibility that false rumours would start spreading.
If that happened, the relationship between Ike and Shinohara might become even more tenuous than it is now.
"It's Ike. Ike from my class likes Shinohara."
"Huh? The heck, isn't it you, Ayanokouji?"
"Which is why I was trying to understand their situation."
"I get it now, but, love isn't something that others can interfere with."
"I also agree with that, meddling in someone else's business is out of the question."
"Normally, that would be true. However, for our class, it's a situation that we can't ignore. Ike being active in the special exam is indispensable to Class D."
The more strained their relationship became, the more chance Ike would go off in a strange direction.
The uninhabited island exam, where his skills can finally be of use, was approaching. However, this development was not favorable. That being said, helping out in this situation wouldn't do any good to Class B. Rather, it would give an advantage to their enemy. It was probably something that they wouldn't want to help out with.
Although that's what I was thinking—
"Alrighty, I can help out if you need it. What can I do?"
Ishizaki offered to help me out, as he said he didn't mind helping.
"Wait, Ishizaki, are you serious? You're Komiya's friend right?"
"So I should just ignore Ayanokouji, who's currently in dire straits?"
"No, you have to leave it alone. I understand that you're friends, but you're also supposed to be enemies."
"Isn't there a saying, that yesterday's enemies are tomorrow's friends?"
Technically speaking, it should be "today's friends", but that was fine, so I ignored it.
"Although that's very generous of you, I'd be troubled if you want something in return."
"Something in return? I won't ask for anything. It's normal to want to help out a friend who is in trouble."
Ishizaki wasn't a good liar, so I knew he meant it when he said that he would help me unconditionally.
Although that was very generous of him, I couldn't make such an unreasonable request of him considering that he was Komiya's friend.
And if we forcefully separated Komiya and Shinohara, it would invite Nishino's ire.
"In that case, hmmm… Could you first ask about Komiya's feelings for me, Ishizaki?"
"So you just want to know if he actually likes Shinohara, Ayanokouji?"
"Yeah, but please keep the fact that somebody's specifically asking for this under wraps."
"Of course, but how should I confirm that? Any ideas?"
Nishino lent a helping hand to Ishizaki, who couldn't think of a way to approach Komiya on this matter.
"Ayanokouji-kun, you saw the two of them enjoying each other's company, right? Then let's just pretend that Ishizaki was the one who witnessed this instead of you and use it to find out whether they're dating. As a guy who's not popular with girls, it would simply look like he cared that his friend might have gotten a girlfriend before him, right?"
Ishizaki, who had little material to use as a motive for asking, immediately accepted Nishino's suggestion.
"Fe-feels somewhat empty as a motive, but I suppose it'll work… Al-Alright, I'll give it a try then. Give me a moment. club activities haven't yet started—"
Ishizaki guessed that it might just work, and gave Komiya a call after saying that.
"… Ah, Komiya? Sorry to call you right before club activities start. Ah no, I've got something I wanted to ask you. Did you talk to Shinohara from Class D this morning? … Just as I thought. No, we formed a pact of not getting a girlfriend before telling each other, but I think you might be leaving me behind in that respect."
Ishizaki smoothly asked Komiya about Shinohara, unexpectedly.
"You're telling me you aren't dating? Really? If you're lying, then you'll be in trouble later, eh?"
After confirming that Komiya and Shinohara weren't dating, Ishizaki made an OK gesture with his right hand.
However, immediately after that, his expression changed slightly.
"Eh… Seriously? Oh, oh, I see, ahh…"
Ishizaki, was asking the questions in a manner easy for me to understand, but the amount of information I got from him suddenly diminished.
He was listening carefully to what Komiya was saying on the other end of the phone.
"… Is that so? Ah, I see, nah I get it. The time has finally come for you to become a man, and of course, I'm rooting for you. Let me know how it goes."
From the direction of the conversation, I was able to roughly understand what Komiya told Ishizaki.
After ending the call, Ishizaki looked at me somewhat awkwardly.
"That Komiya guy, he's planning to confess to Shinohara on the uninhabited island."
"I see—"
If they form a group, they would have to work together the entire day. A perfect time for him to confess would present itself.
"What can we do? In the end, there's no way we can stop it."
That's true. Komiya had the right to confess his feelings.
After all, even though Ike and Shinohara liked each other, neither was willing to take a step forward. So if someone came in between them, then that was just fate. Or maybe Ike might just be able to win her back at the last minute.
"Anyway, thanks for the great help. I think I'll talk to Horikita about this. If Nishino's having trouble forming a group, you can talk to me. I might be able to help in some way."
"I said I don't need anything in return."
"We should help each other when things are tough. I'll help you as much as I can."
"Thanks, although it's not easy for you either, do your best."
After listening to Ishizaki's word of sympathy, I decided to tell Horikita about this.