After a good seven hours of sleep, I woke up at around 4:30 AM. I checked Kikyou's tent where Ibuki was supposed to rest. After seeing her sleeping peacefully, I proceeded towards the mechanism, alone.
Our right of exclusive possession was revoked at 11:10 PM last night, but we decided against reinvoking it immediately. After doing so, I returned to camp and swiftly scouted the perimeter. There are still no signs of Chabashira-sensei's arrival or any other person's presence. With that, I sneakily approached the girls' area to check one student's luggage.
Ibuki Mio of Class D. Since her bag looks different from ours, it was fairly easy to find. I grabbed it without hesitation. Speed was essential if I didn't want to be labeled as a pervert should anyone spot me doing this. Inside, I found the same kinds of things that everyone else had, like towels, a change of clothes, underwear, etc. However, one item had me intrigued.
"A digital camera, huh?" I muttered softly.
This item shouldn't have any practical use for surviving on a deserted island. I turned the camera upside down and found a rental sticker plastered at the bottom. I switched it on to check its usage. Surprisingly, there weren't any signs that it's been used at all. The battery was very much full and it didn't have any existing data.
Why did Ibuki have this?
Before long, I placed the camera back inside her bag. A lot of possible reasons were formulated inside my head. However, I can only ever know the truth once I get more information. I decided to kill some time by leaning against a nearby tree.
I observed the calming ambiance of nature. It was refreshing... and liberating.
"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun." A pretty face entered my distracted vision. "You're very early."
"Matsushita... Good morning." My inattentive greeting was met with Matsushita's smile.
She's really early too. If Matsushita woke up any earlier, she might've seen me rummaging through Ibuki's bag.
"Are you sleepy or something?" she asked before sitting down beside me.
"Not really... You can probably say that I'm just... captivated by nature... or something along those lines," I answered.
"So even Ayanokouji-kun can be this sentimental," she chuckled before looking at the sky, which slowly got illuminated by the sunrise. "But... I get what you mean."
I silently admired the soothing atmosphere of our place while being accompanied by a beautiful girl.
"Say..." Hearing Matsushita, I turned to my side to face her. Our faces got extremely close to each other. She's probably aware of what's happening given how flushed her cheeks looked. However, she acted like everything was normal and asked me a simple question. "Is it hard being a class leader?"
I turned away, feeling flustered by our actions. I don't know if my nervousness was seen from my facial expression, but I had to stop staring at her face at such a close distance. My male, teenage heart simply couldn't handle it.
"It sure is, but my position only requires me to think and move. As a "class leader", Hirata's position is much harder, in my opinion."
"Oh, that's true. I wouldn't want to babysit a whole group of teenagers. I feel bad for Hirata-kun sometimes."
"See? It's especially hard during an exam that requires us to survive on a deserted island," I joked.
"The two of you have been doing a really great job so far, I think. I can't imagine our base being this cozy without your instructions."
"It's a group effort. Ike's been a huge help, too."
"Ohh, true. The girls' opinion of him is slowly shifting. He's surprisingly reliable," she said.
Ike has never exhibited arrogance with his knowledge. It goes to show how he genuinely likes to share what he knows about the outdoors. Of course, he's probably putting in the effort to fix his reputation in the class, too.
"Yamauchi-kun, meanwhile... I mean, he's there, but nothing's really changed about him. He's been adamantly hitting on girls whenever he's free."
Well, it can't be helped, I guess. At least he's not slacking off.
"I see..."
Matsushita shifted her position to face me.
"You know, Ayanokouji-kun... Whenever we talk, it's almost always about the current situation of the class. It's great that we're having a productive conversation, but I want our talks to be more, you know... casual..." Matsushita looked down with a bitter smile.
Casual conversations, huh?
Well, we've had those before. Matsushita had already shared many things about herself, so I felt a lot closer to her than most of the girls. Meanwhile, I've rarely talked about myself, probably because she wants to respect my privacy. I'm starting to like it's a bit unfair because I'm usually the one who's asking.
"Sure. I don't know how we always end up having a progress report instead of a normal conversation, but I'm down to talk about casual stuff."
Her expression lightened up upon hearing my reply.
"Great~! Then, let's talk about you."
"Oh... Okay."
It was almost like she was reading my mind. I was feeling a bit guilty due to how our conversations usually go. But now, I was given the chance to mend that feeling.
"Ichihashi-san cleared up the misunderstanding last night, so all of the girls got off Horikita-san's back. But I'm still curious, you know? Do you like Horikita-san? If no, then do you like anyone right now?"
Ah... Of course, this topic was at the top of her priority list...
"No, not really. And I don't think I like anyone right now."
"Hm, hm, very direct. I understand, Ayanokouji-kun." Matsushita nodded with a satisfied expression. I suddenly felt like we were still engaging in a report-like conversation— just with a different subject. "How about a crush then? Do you have a crush on anyone? It doesn't have to be someone from the class."
"Ah, no, I don't think so..."
"Hehh, I see..." Matsushita pondered for a second before facing me again. "You're aware that a lot, and I mean a lot of the girls in our class have a huge crush on you, right?"
What? Huge crush?
"Huh? No...?" I understand if they're fond of me like one would towards a reliable friend or classmate... But if it's the romantic kind of fondness—
"Are you serious...? Well, I guess that makes sense. The girls in our class are quite confident right now since Class B's Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is still unknown in the eyes of other classes. All of them were holding off on the idea of confessing," she explained.
"Wait, wait, wait. What you're saying is definitely intriguing, but how did you even get to know all of this? Are they even true?" My doubts should be grounded. Every girl in Class B has shown me a considerable amount of fondness and goodwill, but I'm not so self-conscious as to misinterpret their nice attitudes as shows of romantic interest.
"Don't underestimate a girl's information network, Ayanokouji-kun. I may not be as popular as Kushida-san, but I've got connections, too." Matsushita proudly grinned.
"I suppose..."
"Well, I guess you have to be ready, then. I think the dam's about to break for the girls in our class."
I don't think it's the best metaphor to get her point across, but I might have an idea of what Matsushita is talking about.
"Every girl in our class was freaking out when they saw you waving at the girls of Class C. They already felt threatened when they found out that you and Ichinose-san were good friends, you know?" Matsushita shook her head with a wry smile. "After seeing that you were also close with a lot of the girls in Class C, I think many Class B girls will start to test their luck and confess their feelings for you."
I've already heard about this from Kikyou. It seems like one of her friends wanted to confess to me. But if Matsushita's words are true, then...
"You're not just teasing me with an elaborate lie, are you?"
"Ahaha~! It would make sense for you to say that, but you should start becoming more aware of your popularity now. Well, I guess that innocence is part of your charm." Matsushita raised an eyebrow before pointing a finger at me. "But don't let it get to your head, Ayanokouji-kun. Arrogance is a huge turn-off, especially for me."
"I don't think that'll ever happen, though... I have little to no knowledge about things like social popularity. Acting arrogant about it just isn't possible for a newbie like me." After all, arrogance means having an overflowing amount of self-confidence. While I am self-confident in things like academics and athletics, social interaction just isn't my forte.
"Well, you were a loner back in America, after all. It's understandable," she nodded.
Her response was what I would consider a 'waiting move' in chess. It seems like Matsushita wanted me to progress the conversation myself. The last part of her words earlier; "Arrogance is a huge turn-off, especially for me.", was a signal that she wanted me to shift the topic to her feelings on the matter.
"You keep saying things like 'all of the girls in our class', 'the girls of Class B', etc. Does that mean you're one of them?" This should be within the range of responses that she was expecting. Matsushita should be thinking that she's in control of the conversation's flow.
"Oh~? You're curious about that, Ayanokouji-kun? What will you do if I'm one of the girls who like you?" I've been teased by a similar question a bunch of times in the past, so this one was quite expected.
"Who knows? I'd probably reject you if you ever confess to me," I shrugged.
"Eh-?! Do hate me or something? That's harsh, Ayanokouji-kun!" Matsushita started ranting adorably. She probably knew that I was joking.
"I'm kidding. It doesn't really matter whether it's you, the other girls in our class, or even my female friends. I'd be left speechless all the same. It's a first-time experience for me, after all." That was a good closing remark, in my opinion. I subtly brought it back to the general populace instead of isolating Matsushita's name.
"That's fair, I guess." Matsushita glanced at me with a smile.
"Speaking of which, you're quite popular yourself, Matsushita." I bounced the topic back at her.
"Really now?" That expression— I've seen it a bunch of times from Kikyou before. She's totally aware of how popular she is.
"Yeah, even Ichinose knows about you. Apparently, a few boys in her class were dropping your name."
"I see, that's pretty interesting." Her expression said otherwise. Matsushita wasn't interested in them at all. It makes sense. She doesn't even know who they are, but wouldn't she be willing to ask?
Now that Matsushita has switched positions with me as the "interviewer", I'm finding it hard to ask a good question.
"You don't seem enthusiastic about the idea of popularity. Is it related to how you don't like troublesome things?"
"Not really~!" she chuckled. "Being popular naturally feels nice. I just don't care about other guys, I guess."
That's a pretty straightforward answer.
"If my understanding is correct, your words mean that you already have a guy in mind, right?"
"Ding-ding~! You're right on the money, Ayanokouji-kun!" Matsushita confirmed my suspicion in high spirits.
"Is it alright if I ask about the name of this boy?" I put on a joking tone.
"Boop-boop! No way!" She shook her head while crossing her forearms to form an 'X'. "Once you develop a crush on someone, then we can tell each other. It's all about the equivalent exchange, Ayanokouji-kun."
"Seems fair. That's a deal then."
"Sure~!"
So Matsushita likes someone. I wonder who he is? Well... I say that, but my brain latched onto the idea that Matsushita's mystery guy might be me. Because of Matsushita's words, I became more conscious of the girls around me. I developed some sort of hyper-awareness towards their actions.
For example, as Matsushita and I engaged in our friendly talk, Ishikura had a very subtle look of anxiety on her face when she saw the two of us. Does that mean she's one of the girls who like me? Or was she worried for her friend who likes me? I mean, what could be the reason for her slightly uneasy expression? I would've thought of other things, but my conversation with Matsushita made me more self-conscious.
To be honest it's a pretty interesting experience. She made me understand the nuances of friendship and romance in a way that books won't be able to accurately describe. I'm quite grateful for it.