"Good morning, Ayanokouji-kun." Hirata greeted me with a smile.
It was currently 6:00 AM and everyone who was awake started to do their chores. I monitored Ibuki's tent the whole time and it wasn't long until she finally woke up. She's pretty early, but even if she decides to check the spot mechanism and see that it's been recently occupied, enough students are awake to throw her guesses off. The whole class was on guard, so if Ibuki ever tried to ask one of us about the mechanism, it was over for her should she turn out to be a spy.
Hirata Yousuke, a co-leader of Class B, and my close friend approached me with a refreshed expression. Looking at his wet face and hair, it seems like Hirata just finished washing up.
"Good morning, Hirata. You're early. Weren't you on night watch?"
"It got pretty humid, so I woke up earlier than expected. I think it's great, though. I can help out our classmates more."
That's very Hirata-like of you, Hirata.
"Ayanokouji, Hirata, can you guys come here for a sec'?" Ike suddenly called out to us.
We arrived at Ike's position after a few paces. He was currently staring at the river with serious eyes.
"Is everything alright, Ike-kun?" asked Hirata.
"I think we have a problem?"
"A problem?"
I turned my gaze towards the glistening river water, which looked the same as it was the day before. I can't really see anything wrong with it.
"The water won't warm up even at the hottest period of the day. I don't think it's enough. If our classmates bathe in this cold water, someone's bound to get sick..." he explained.
"Ohh, how could you tell, Ike-kun?" Hirata asked with an awed expression.
"Well, my old man used to babble about things like dewpoint and humidity, but I can't really wrap my head around those. The only thing I can do is feel stuff to know how they affect one another."
Hirata and I listened intently.
"A-Ah-! Of course, I'm not saying that my words are a hundred percent accurate. I'm just tossing around some suggestions." Ike panicked upon seeing our absentminded reactions.
"No, Ike-kun. We'll heed your warning. You're saying we should install a temporary shower, right?"
"Mn, I guess so... Some of us are probably fine with sticking to the river, but I'm worried about the frail students catching a cold."
We cannot spend our time boiling the water little by little. We don't have any large containers to store them in the first place. Our clean water should be used exclusively for drinking.
"You're right, Ike. Perhaps we should install one."
"We'll discuss it with everyone so we can decide later."
After Ike and I nodded to Hirata's words, the footsteps of three people could be heard not far from our location.
"Oh, so this is Class B's base, huh?"
"Kanzaki?" I said.
It was Kanzaki Ryuuji of Class C. With him were two other male Class C students; Beppu Ryouta and Hamaguchi Tetsuya.
"It's been a while, Ayanokouji," he greeted.
"What's up?"
"Your base looks pretty nice."
Beppu and Hamaguchi followed suit. I was acquainted with them because of Ichinose. It's also probably the reason why she sent these three to check our base.
"Nice to meet, you. I'm Hirata." Hirata also expressed some basic etiquette with them.
"I'm Ike." And of course, so did Ike.
Kanzaki addressed me after they exchanged pleasantries with the two.
"It looks like things are going well for Class B," he commented while looking at the state of our one-day-old campsite.
"How's Class C doing?"
"Hmm. If we compare ourselves with you guys, we're probably faring with the same amount of comfort."
"We've been tackling the exam with the same types of strategies then."
"I guess so."
"Where's your base camp located?" I asked.
"There are large broken trees along the path from here to the northern beach. If you enter the forest and walk west, you can find our campsite. You shouldn't get lost if use those trees as a guide."
I thought he'd show any sort of hesitation, but Kanzaki answered my question instantly.
"Ichinose told us that you can come by if you want. We'll report what we've seen here so it's all fair if you scout our place in return." As expected of Ichinose. Even if they were in Class C right now, their abilities as the original Class B are totally showing.
"Alright, I'll come by with some people, if that's okay with you guys."
"Sure." And with that, Kanzaki left with his classmates after bidding us a brief goodbye.
Hirata and Ike gave me a wondering look.
"So you're friends with them, too?" asked Hirata.
"I wouldn't call us friends, to be honest. We haven't talked that much."
"You sure know a lot of people from Class C, Ayanokouji. You're even close with someone like Ichinose. She's such a babe!" said Ike.
"It's not that many, but I guess that's true. Though it would be nice if I can establish some sort of connection with Class A or D."
"Isn't that impossible, though? Class A should be wary of us and Class D is led by that bastard Ryuuen." Ike's expression turned sour.
"I suppose you're right."
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2nd Day, 8:00 AM.
Class B finished breakfast as they waited for Chabashira-sensei. A little over 30 minutes after she finished the roll call, two familiar faces entered our base camp's premises.
"Huh? What the hell are you two doing here?!" Ike, who was the first one to react.
They were Komiya Kyougo and Kondou Reo.
"Why are you here?! Is Ryuuen also coming here?!" asked Yamauchi.
The displeased looks of Hondou and Miyamoto also greeted the two Class D boys. The sound of their voices echoed throughout our campsite.
"Is everything alright?"
Hirata, Horikita, Kikyou, and Karuizawa check out the commotion, leading most of the class to their place, including myself and Ibuki.
"Is everything alright?" asked Hirata.
"Aren't those guys from Class D?"
"That's Ryuuen's class, right?"
"What are they doing here?"
"Look at them... They're..."
Our classmates started murmuring among themselves, clearly bothered by the presence of class members of the guy who attacked us. Some were irritated by their obvious prodding, but most were just afraid of whatever they were scheming, albeit only slightly.
I noticed something strange between the two of them. I'm sure that the attention of most of us was also captured by those irregularities. Komiya and Kondou were currently stuffing their faces with potato chips and drinking bottles of soda. Not water, but soda.
"Hehh... Seems like you guys have been living frugal lives. As expected from the original defects." said Komiya.
"The hell? Aren't you guys in Class D now? That's rich coming from the current defects!" snapped Ike.
"Oi, oi. Are you really getting arrogant over such a fluke? It's obvious that one of you just figured out the S-System. If we're talking about merits, we're still one class ahead of you. The placements represented by our points mean little when it's this early in the game." Kondou responded in return.
This is pretty bad. It seems like Ryuuen figured out the reason for Class B's ascent much faster than I expected. He's better than I initially thought.
Regardless, Kondou was absolutely right. If I were to pick out the seven best students in Ryuuen's Class D and our Class B and evaluate the class as a whole without those students, I'm sure Class D would come out on top. In the end, it's still too early. Unless every one of our classmates surpasses them in terms of consistent growth, our class will forever be, as they worded it, one class behind them.
"Say that again, Kondou! I'll beat the shit out of you!" yelled Ken.
"Stop it, Ken. Violence means nothing here, especially with Chabashira-sensei nearby..." Akito immediately halted Ken's angry charge.
"Did Ryuuen-kun send you here?" Hirata finally asked the question that everyone wanted an answer to. Instead of being displeased, he was more worried about what they were planning.
"Yeah, obviously. We even have a message from him. He said that if you want to enjoy your summer vacation to the fullest, come to the beach right now. Don't hang back. If you're sick of living like cavemen, then we're happy to share our luxuries."
Ryuuen's "message" left all of us confused. Of course, no one bothered asking them to elaborate. At the end of the day, it could just be him trying to provoke us or waste our time.
On Hirata, Karuizawa, and Kikyou's orders, everyone just went back to their chores. Some groups went to the forest to find food and some groups took care of the things in and around the campsite.
The two continued indulging in their food and drinks while walking around outside of our main area. They weren't really being critical in observing our place. It was more like them to harass us by showing off how good of a life they were living while casually strolling around our base camp.
We obviously felt a bit uncomfortable, but we'd be wasting our time if we confronted the two when they were not really doing any harm.
Meanwhile, Ike's group, who were busy fishing, couldn't stand Komiya and Kondou's presence.
"Why are you still here?"
"Yeah, get outta here."
Despite their open hostility, Komiya and Kondou only smirked.
"What? We're not doing anything to disturb you guys. We're just scouting out the place, no?"
"Yeah, it's not like we're restricting you from doing the same thing with us. Any of you are welcome to our place."
Ike and Yamauchi, who were almost screwed up by Class D's actions, could only click their tongues in frustration.
After ten more minutes or so, they decided to call it quits and left.
"I don't think they were looking for me." Ibuki, who was watching the whole thing unfold with me, suddenly spoke.
Komiya and Kondou would still probably notice Ibuki's presence even if they were just walking outside the occupied area, but it seemed like they didn't care about her at all.
"Seems like it. 'Guess they just wanted to harass us," I replied.
Their sudden visit was surely strange. They had chips and soda in hand when they arrived. It should also take more than thirty minutes to come here from the southern beach. There's a big chance that Komiya and Kondou left right before the roll call, which would cost them 10 points.
What was Ryuuen thinking? They're just casually burning through their points.
"Kondou and Komiya said something about sharing luxuries. 'Any idea of what they were talking about?" I asked.
If they're living in luxury, then that's practically going against the main method of this exam, which was frugality.
"Who knows... But with their words alone, things might just be heading towards the worst-case scenario that I imagined..." Ibuki replied with a grave expression.
After that, Ibuki headed towards a tree right outside the camp.
Worst-case scenario, huh? I initially wanted to take a hike a bit later, but right now seems like a good time. I'll go ahead and assemble the search party group.