At 8 p.m. the second group discussion for the Special Examination began.
The thought of sitting through another hour of pointless talk made Hikigaya feel a little disheartened.
Of course, if it were just sitting idly, it wouldn't have been a problem for him. He rather enjoyed doing nothing. But what bothered him was the way everyone kept glancing up at him, or worse, glaring at him. That kind of attention made it difficult to relax.
Unlike the first discussion, where everyone remained mostly silent, this time people were at least talking—though calling it a discussion would be generous.
The conversations were scattered and disorganized, lacking any real direction, and there was no leader to steer them toward a meaningful topic. It felt more like half-hearted small talk than a serious exchange of ideas. Worse, the attempts at probing each other's thoughts were painfully obvious and poorly executed.
Hikigaya, uninterested in the weak attempts at conversation, flipped through the light novel he had brought along, all the while keeping an eye on the other students.
Unfortunately, this group didn't seem to harbor any hidden talents worth noting. At least on the surface, they all appeared to be pretty average students within their respective classes.
The most restless were the students from Class B. After their recent slide from the top in the last exam, it was clear they had taken quite the blow.
Right now, they were trailing Class A by only 59 points—a gap small enough that with some effort, they could easily close it. As a result, they were the most eager to engage, constantly trying to throw out conversation starters. Yet, out of caution for Hikigaya, they never committed to any topic for long, always pulling back before anything meaningful was said.
Perhaps after dinner, their nerves had settled, and they started thinking that maybe Hikigaya had only been bluffing during the earlier discussions. After all, the idea of figuring out the VIP based on a mere self-introduction seemed far-fetched, even to them.
But for everyone outside of Class D, the other three classes had experienced firsthand what Hikigaya was capable of. Nearly half the students in the room were regularly paying tribute to him every month—and would continue to do so until graduation.
With that kind of power imbalance, even if Hikigaya wasn't intentionally lording it over them, most people probably didn't want to deal with him directly.
Hikigaya chuckled internally. No wonder Inoue hasn't reached out to me since that summer. No matter how many points he accumulated now, Hikigaya still couldn't forget about that 500 yen from his childhood. To a young boy, that had been a fortune.
Time marched on mercilessly, and before he knew it, the hour had passed. The second group discussion ended with just as little progress as the first.
If nothing changed, the remaining four discussions would likely conclude just as fruitlessly.
Leaving the room assigned to the Rooster Group, Hikigaya didn't return to his cabin. Instead, he wandered around the ship before circling back to the second floor, where he reentered the group's room.
Naturally, it was empty.
During the exam, the second-floor rooms were open 24/7, unlocked, and free for anyone to use. At first glance, this made it seem like a poor choice for private meetings. After all, anyone could wander in at any time. But, on the flip side, who would walk into another group's room unannounced? Outside of designated discussion times, there was little reason for group members to return without a purpose.
In other words, this space was more discreet than most places on the ship for secret discussions.
Hikigaya sat down and waited patiently. About half an hour later, the door finally creaked open.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Hikigaya-kun. Have you been here long?" Matsushita entered with a smile, her voice light and teasing.
"Yeah, quite a while," Hikigaya replied dryly. He shot her a look of mild irritation.
They had agreed on no more than ten minutes, and now it was almost ten o'clock. What was worse, she had even changed her clothes—why had she taken the time to do that?
Though the exam was taking place on a luxurious cruise ship, most of the students, even Sudou, had opted to wear their school uniforms for the group discussions. Yet here Matsushita was, dressed in a simple but elegant dress, smelling faintly of body wash.
Wait, did she even take a bath?!
"You should be more considerate toward a lady, especially at times like this." Matsushita pouted playfully, sliding into the seat next to Hikigaya. Her body was so close to his that it was practically touching.
"...I'd appreciate it if you were more considerate of me," Hikigaya muttered, subtly shifting away from her.
Honestly, if anyone walked in and saw this, it would be a problem in more ways than one.
"Let's get down to business," Hikigaya said, cutting off her playful antics. "Did you manage to probe Karuizawa? Is she the VIP?"
"No, Karuizawa-san says she isn't." Matsushita sighed, her tone slightly disappointed, but she answered honestly.
"We had a small chat during dinner, just the girls from our group. Everyone claimed they weren't the VIP."
Of course, they did. With friendships as shallow as theirs, who would tell the truth? Hikigaya scoffed internally, though he wisely kept his thoughts to himself.
The VIP would stand to gain a hefty 500,000 personal points if they managed to stay hidden until the end. But if word got out, it would be hard to keep all the spoils for themselves. Not to mention, revealing their identity offered no real benefit, so it made sense for anyone to keep quiet.
"Do you think Karuizawa is lying?"
"Hmm, it's hard to say," Matsushita mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "She seemed pretty natural to me like she wasn't hiding anything. But you never know with this sort of thing."
True enough. Most women were natural-born liars.
While some might call this view sexist, Hikigaya saw no reason to change his mind.
"It's fine. I'll find a way to test Hirata next."
If Karuizawa was going to reveal her identity to anyone, it would likely be Hirata, her self-appointed protector. And if Hikigaya's deductions were correct, there was a pattern that could help him. Fortunately, he still had Kushida in the Dragon Group as another test subject.
Whether Kushida was the VIP or not, Hikigaya was sure she would confide in Hirata and Horikita. It wasn't because she trusted them, but because she wouldn't want to risk being exposed alone. If the Dragon Group failed the exam, Hirata and Horikita, being in the know, would have to take some of the responsibility.
Kushida would never allow herself to be solely blamed for failure due to secrecy.
"Just keep watching Karuizawa. You don't need to ask her anything directly or stick too close. Just observe if she does anything suspicious."
"Got it," Matsushita nodded, agreeing without hesitation.
She then pulled out her phone. "By the way, I've gathered the names of the students in the other four groups. I'll send them to you now."
"Ah, thanks. That's a big help."
It was a simple task on the surface, but surprisingly difficult without the right connections or social skills. While Hikigaya could have asked Hirata for the information directly, Hirata had been growing closer to Ayanokoji lately, no doubt because of Ayanokoji's performance during the uninhabited island exam.
Although Ayanokoji often used Horikita as a shield, Hirata wasn't like the other students in Class D. He had a sharp eye for people and likely had already sensed Ayanokoji's hidden strength. If Ayanokoji was planning to lead his class to the top, he would undoubtedly need someone as competent as Hirata on his side.
"Hey, Hikigaya-kun, you haven't forgotten about our promise, right?" Matsushita's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"...Of course not."
"Then why the mysterious pause?" She puffed out her cheeks in protest. "Just remember, no backing out during the summer. And don't even think about using the student council as an excuse."
"Yeah, yeah," Hikigaya sighed.
He never forgot a promise. If he said he would do something, he would see it through. Unless, of course, the other party forgot about it first. Then it wasn't his problem anymore.
Unfortunately, Matsushita didn't seem like the forgetful type.
Sigh.
They continued chatting for a while longer, and by the time Hikigaya was finally freed, it was nearly eleven. They left the room separately to avoid being seen together, as that would raise too many questions.
Back in his cabin, Hikigaya found Hirata and Yukimura sitting on the sofa, deep in conversation. Ayanokoji was off to the side, silently listening to the discussion.
He hadn't expected them to be strategizing this late.
They were dedicated.
Meanwhile, Kouenji, also in the room, was not participating. Instead, he was shirtless in the corner, doing handstand push-ups with effortless grace.
Is this guy a high school student?
He looks like he could compete in an underground fight club.
"Welcome back, Hikigaya-kun. You're a bit late. Don't tell me you were on a date?" Hirata greeted me with his usual gentle tone. If only he could keep the unnecessary comments to himself.
"...No, it wasn't a date."
Hikigaya flatly denied the assumption, feeling the need to clarify. He didn't consider what had just happened a date, so he was technically telling the truth.
"Heh, sure, we'll go with that." Hirata chuckled but didn't push further. "By the way, we were just discussing the exam. If you don't mind, could you tell us how things are going with the Chicken group?"
All three of them looked at me, especially Yukimura, who seemed to be radiating nervous energy. He was very concerned about the class points.
Well, they were my classmates after all. Maybe I should say something to ease the tension.
"Don't worry. Everything's fine. Nobody in our group is motivated enough to even look for the VIP."
"How is that reassuring?" Yukimura sighed, clearly exasperated. "Honestly, I was hoping you, of all people, would take this seriously. But you're just like Ayanokoji…"
Although Yukimura was being polite enough not to say it outright, Hikigaya knew he wasn't being compared to Ayanokoji as a compliment.
"Come on, don't stress. We still have plenty of time before the exam ends. Let's figure something out together." Hirata offered a gentle smile, hoping to calm everyone down as he pulled out his phone and began typing.
"Hikigaya-kun, I received word from one of the VIPs in our class. I've already told Yukimura-kun and Ayanokoji-kun, but I thought it'd be good if you knew as well."
With that, he turned the screen toward me.
The VIP of the Dragon group is Kushida.
Well, this saved me the trouble of probing Hirata. He was being incredibly helpful. But… only Kushida? Both the Dragon and Rooster groups followed the expected pattern, so I had assumed the VIP of the Rabbit group would be Karuizawa.
Yet Hirata only mentioned Kushida's name, leaving Karuizawa out. Could it be that Karuizawa was hiding the truth? Or maybe Hirata was?
If neither of them was lying, then the pattern might be wrong altogether.
Hikigaya frowned, a bit uncertain.
The idea of Karuizawa keeping this from Hirata didn't seem likely. She wasn't exactly the type to act independently. Besides, Matsushita had already mentioned over lunch that Karuizawa had gone straight to Hirata for help after the briefing. If she had been selected as the VIP, she would have informed Hirata by now.
But if Hirata was hiding something, why would he reveal Kushida's identity in the first place?
Wait a second...
Hikigaya glanced at Yukimura and then at Ayanokoji, and suddenly it clicked. Both of them were in the Rabbit group, just like Karuizawa. Hirata might be withholding information to protect her, thinking that if he exposed her, it would put her in an awkward position within her group.
Hmm... This was getting troublesome.
Hikigaya wasn't foolish enough to press Hirata on the matter, so he decided to leave it at that for now.
"We've been discussing it," Yukimura began, "and we believe each class should have three VIPs distributed evenly. But in our class, two of them haven't revealed themselves... It's a disaster. We have no unity."
Hirata tucked his phone away and tried to reason with him. "That's not necessarily true. Those two might just not have told me but have confided in someone else. After all, the more people who know, the greater the risk."
As much as I appreciated Hirata's thoughtful approach, it didn't change the fact that, as a class leader, he was falling short. But what could you do? The only people capable of quickly figuring out their class's VIPs were Ichinose and Ryuen.
Just then, the sound of Koenji humming filled the room.
He's getting into it…
Yukimura, who had been quietly tolerating it, seemed to grow more irritated by the second until he finally snapped.
"Koenji! Can't you sit still for a minute? And I'm not asking you to take this seriously, but at least give it your best during the exam. Don't you dare pull another stunt like on the uninhabited island!"
"What could I do? My health was in poor condition then. It was unavoidable," Koenji replied, without a hint of shame.
"You were faking it!" Yukimura accused, though his words barely fazed Koenji, who casually shifted and stood up, moving with the grace of someone completely unbothered.
"Well, the exam is still going on for two more days. It's just another boring task," Koenji said as he picked up his phone from the bed.
"Another boring task? You haven't even thought about it! You are full of yourself." Yukimura scoffed at the absurdity of his words.
"Heh, it's nothing more than a simple game of exposing a liar. Am I wrong, Mr. Zombie Eyes?"
For some reason, Koenji directed his words at Hikigaya. It wasn't so much a question as it was a pointless jab—much like what happened on the uninhabited island. This guy had way too much time on his hands.
Hikigaya decided it wasn't worth responding, so he simply ignored him.
Suddenly, the phones in the room all started buzzing at once, indicating a new message from the school.
"What did you do?" Yukimura, already suspecting the worst, shouted. Hirata and Ayanokoji quickly pulled out their phones to check the notification. Hikigaya couldn't be bothered to reach for his, so he glanced over at Hirata's screen.
The monkey group's exam is now over. Students in the Monkey group no longer need to participate in the exam. Please be mindful of your actions and avoid disturbing others.
Just as we thought. Koenji had sent the name of the VIP to the school, prematurely ending the exam for the Monkey group.
Monkey group, huh? That was on Matsushita's list of group members earlier.
While Hikigaya was still piecing things together, Yukimura's voice rang out again.
"You're in the Monkey group, aren't you, Koenji?"
"Indeed. Now I'm free to do as I please. Adieu." Koenji didn't care what anyone thought. True to his nickname, the 'free spirit,' he acted entirely on his whims.
But Hikigaya doubted Koenji's actions were as random as they seemed.
"Koenji, wait a moment."
Koenji, who had been heading for the shower, paused and glanced back at Hikigaya with a curious smile.
"What is it, Zombie Eyes-kun? Do you have a question as well?"
"I want to know whose name you submitted."
"...Heh, I see."
After a brief pause, Koenji's face lit up with a confident smirk.
"It seems, Mr. Rotten Eyes, you'll miss out on the thrill of the chase. But I'll humor you. The name I sent was Chihiro Shiranami."