Chapter 127: Karuizawa's Underwear!
Hachiman's thoughts went a little deeper.
Guessing a class leader's information only gives +50 points and causes the other party to lose 50 points, with no points awarded for the stronghold.
Since almost all the stronghold were completely taken by Koenji, the stronghold points obtained by Class A can almost be ignored.
However, guessing Class A's leader correctly can cause them to lose 50 points, and our class will gain 50 points, thus shortening the gap by 100 points.
However...
There was no rule saying that a class can only be guessed once.
So what if Class A is guessed correctly by three other classes?
That would mean they would lose 50 points * 2 = 100 points.
Therefore, in total, it's possible to shorten the distance to Class A by up to 200 points during the class leader guessing phase.
But it doesn't stop there.
If they can make Class A guess the wrong leaders for other classes, even better.
Hachiman's class had accepted Ibuki, so it was almost certain that Ichinose's side had accepted Kaneda.
Then.
If the two of them send false leader information for Class B and C back to A-Class's Katsuragi, then...
Class A will lose points for guessing the wrong leaders for two other classes.
Suddenly losing 50 * 2 = 100 points.
It's a pleasant thought.
But to make this happen, there were two conditions: First, they had to make Katsuragi guess the leaders of Ichinose's and their own class, and second, those guesses needed to be wrong.
The second condition was about obtaining the leader's information from Class A.
Katsuragi was an honest and steady person, so obtaining information about his class leader would be difficult.
Although Class A's students were split into two factions, Hachiman didn't believe that members of the Sakayanagi faction would intentionally leak the leader's information at this time.
So.
Hachiman's class didn't have a spy like Ibuki to go to Class A, so they would still have to rely on Ryuen to gather information.
It was only the first day of the exam, and Ryuen may not have yet obtained the leader's information from Class A.
He would need to give Ryuen a little more time.
At the same time, they needed Ibuki to pass on the wrong leader's information.
Hachiman was confident that Koenji would agree to change the leader at the end.
So, they needed to make sure Ibuki saw Koenji's leader card.
Now, they could slightly act like Ibuki.
So, Hachiman said:
"It's possible. After all, their class's points are already deducted, but they've traded with other classes, so they've already gained a lot in this exam."
"So the leader doesn't need to suffer on the island. I think their class has given up on the exam."
"Ryuen is really ruthless," Hachiman said.
The other students nodded, seemingly agreeing.
At this time, in the corner of the campfire.
A short-haired girl suddenly spoke.
It was Ibuki, who had returned after going to the beach.
"I'm afraid I really have been abandoned by my class," Ibuki said. "Maybe I'll have to trouble you guys again. I don't want to go back to the ship and see Ryuen's face."
"This is unavoidable. Ryuen from your class is too scary. He can even be ruthless to girls," Hachiman said. "So, you can stay for now."
"..." Kushida.
But at this moment, Kushida glanced at Hachiman.
It seemed like she was saying, "Why are you stealing her saintly lines?"
Horikita Suzune also paid attention to this.
Her body was still in the same state, but her thoughts had become clearer.
Now, watching Hachiman's actions, she thought back to when Hachiman asked Kushida to deliver fruit to Ibuki, which was to have Ibuki serve as a guinea pig for poison testing.
Now, by deliberately leaving Ibuki behind, was there another purpose behind this?
...
As night fell, and after a long day of work, the students were feeling sleepy and exhausted.
They entered the tents to rest.
Because they had an abundance of supplies.
In addition to the two tents provided by the school, they had also exchanged for two more tents, which provided ample space and didn't feel too crowded.
However, because Hachiman wasn't used to camping in the wild, his sleep was very light.
Then, around 5:30 AM, a boy's tent was opened.
Three boys walked out.
There was Koenji with blonde hair.
Sudo with a red crew cut.
And Hachiman, whose dead-fish eyes made him look like a delinquent.
"Well, let's get going," Hachiman said.
Then he, along with Sudo and Koenji, left the camp.
This was a meeting that had been held the previous night while Ibuki went to the beach to check on the class situation.
Ibuki had been abandoned by Ryuen's class and looked pitiful. As they were from the same school, they couldn't let her be alone outside with no supplies, and with snakes outside, it was dangerous, so they decided to temporarily take her in.
But to protect their own class leader's information, they had Koenji bring two students along while swiping the card, to confuse others.
This was all part of a performance for Ibuki.
They wanted Ibuki to confirm that every time they went out, it was three people swiping the card together, so she wouldn't be able to determine who the leader really was.
Although this method seemed pointless, Koenji didn't stop it.
Also, he had something he wanted to say to Hachiman.
So, the three of them left the camp, but before they reached the first stronghold, Koenji spoke to Sudo.
"Red-haired boy, you can rest now."
"The short-haired girl from Class D didn't catch up."
"Also, can you stop being a nuisance?"
"My time is precious."
"..." Sudo. "Koenji!"
Sudo instantly became furious. Because Koenji was saying that he was a nuisance. It was clear that Koenji's personality was awful.
"Then I'll rest too," Hachiman said. "The rest is up to you, Koenji."
Now, it was Koenji who needed to go to the stronghold, but previously Hachiman had been carried by the other party, and it felt very off. He didn't want to do that again.
After all.
Although he had aspirations to be a househusband, he didn't want to be treated by some muscular type of guy.
It was too strange.
"Hikigaya-kun," Koenji looked over. "What are you planning to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"You must have some idea about leaving the short-haired girl in the class," Koenji said.
"..." Hachiman.
Koenji was indeed a very smart person.
"This class can't be helped," Koenji said.
That was what he wanted to say.
Hachiman seemed to be trying to save the class, aiming for a large amount of class evaluation points, meaning his target was Class A.
However, Koenji didn't think this class had the ability to match Class A.
"I know," Hachiman said. "So, I'm just planning to bring the class up once, and then slack off."
"Quite interesting," Koenji said. "So you want to prove your own strength, huh? That's fine. If you really manage to bring the class to Class A, after graduation, I'll allow you to work at my company."
"I started my own company before entering this school," Koenji said.
In other words, this was a guarantee for future employment.
However, this sort of thing.
Was exactly what Hachiman refused the most. He didn't want to work as an office drone. His goal in life was to be a stay-at-home husband.
Thus.
After waiting for over half an hour at a stronghold, when Koenji returned, Hachiman and Sudo, along with the others, finally returned to the campsite.
That was considered a stronghold visit.
Then, as long as Ibuki was still in the class, they would have to repeat this performance several more times. They would also need to find an opportunity for Ibuki to see Koenji's leader card, then return and report it to Ryuen.
...
However.
When Hachiman and the others returned to the campsite, they realized something had gone wrong.
It had gotten noisy.
The boys and girls seemed to be confronting each other. The boys looked innocent, while the girls looked very angry.
"What happened?"
Hachiman had returned.
"Hikigaya-kun!" Hirata looked like he had found a savior. "Something big happened."
Something big?
Let's rewind the time to 10 minutes ago.
Hachiman, Sudo, and Koenji had gone to visit the stronghold, but most of the students were still asleep.
The boys were the same. However, there were angry voices from the girls outside the boys' tents.
"Guys, wake up!"
"Is something going on?"
Although still tired, Hirata, with a sense of responsibility, groggily unzipped his tent and poked his head out.
But as soon as he saw what was going on, he instantly lost all sleepiness.
Because outside the tent, more than a dozen girls had surrounded the boys' tent.
And they all had unfriendly expressions, with a strong sense of hostility.
It was clear they came with a lot of animosity.
The leader was Shinohara Satsuki, a girl with blue short hair. She was part of a small group with Karuizawa.
Because she usually stood up for the girls, her relationship with the boys had become somewhat strained.
And it wasn't unusual for her to show hostility towards the boys.
But it wasn't just Shinohara Satsuki; the other girls also looked upset.
"Hirata-kun, something big has happened."
When the girls saw Hirata coming out, their expressions softened a little. "Although we know this has nothing to do with you, we still need to confirm something."
"What happened to Karuizawa?"
Hirata was confused and couldn't help but ask out loud.
"This morning, Karuizawa's panties are missing."
"..."
"Karuizawa is still crying in her tent, and Kushida and the others are comforting her."
Since Hirata was the one she was speaking to, even though Shinohara Satsuki was angry, her tone wasn't as harsh as before.
Hirata was someone everyone trusted.
And it was the moment Shinohara spoke that the boys reacted immediately.
"Hey, what do you mean by that? Are you accusing us?"
"Of course, it must be someone from your side, sneaking over and stealing them while we were all asleep!"
"It's not just Karuizawa, maybe you did something else too! It's disgusting!"
"And Yamauchi, you're the one who did it, right?" Shinohara immediately pointed at Yamauchi Haruki, who had just come out of his tent and was rubbing his eyes.
"Huh? No, that's impossible..." Yamauchi's brain was still a little fuzzy from sleep, but realizing something was off, he quickly said, "I, I would never do something like that!"
"Didn't you discuss the 'Breast ranking' with Sotomura and the others when school just started?"
"I always thought you might end up doing something criminal because of it, and it turns out you really did something disgusting!"
"Eh?!"
That was so early in the school year.
Yamauchi instantly felt like he had been shot.
And almost as soon as Shinohara brought up that matter, the other participants in the conversation, Ike and Ayanokouji, subtly distanced themselves from Yamauchi.
Perhaps they were worried they would be seen as key suspects too, so they quickly distanced themselves from Yamauchi.
"I didn't do this!" Yamauchi hurriedly said.
He felt the eyes of his classmates all looking at him.
"Rather, I didn't do it, and if we're going to suspect someone, it should be someone from another class, right?"
"Like Ibuki... Ibuki, right?" Yamauchi quickly said. "She's from another class!"
Uh.
This statement made those around them freeze for a moment.
Because wasn't it just yesterday that you were following Ibuki around, trying to be nice to her?
Now... you're throwing her under the bus.
Even Ibuki was staring at Yamauchi in shock.
"Ibuki is a girl, how could she do something like that?" In contrast to Ibuki, Shinohara thought it was more likely Yamauchi who did this.
"Why are you so sure of that?"
"I—I really didn't do it!" Yamauchi clutched his head in distress.
"Yamauchi, why don't you just admit it?" Some of the boys began to persuade him. "Just bring out the panties. Don't make things worse."
"But I didn't do it..." Yamauchi seemed very troubled.
"If you bring out the panties now, we won't accept it anymore!" But the girls directly pinned the suspicion on Yamauchi.
Then Shinohara continued:
"In any case, I will absolutely not stay in the same campsite as a pervert who steals girls' panties."
Though some of the boys thought it might have been Yamauchi, Shinohara had now also scolded them.
The boys were starting to get more upset.
"Then why don't you move out! This island is so big, we have plenty of strongholds, right?"
"You girls should move out! We're not the ones who would steal boys' underwear in the middle of the night!"
"Don't act like we're the culprits! It's clearly Yamauchi who did it. We're innocent! Why are you bringing us into this? We're the real victims!"
So, when Hachiman returned, he found that the boys and girls in the campsite had become completely divided.
That's when Hirata showed the troubled expression.
Hirata, who always prioritized harmony, was very resistant to this class divide.
And Hachiman began to think.
He knew the students of his class, but he couldn't confirm that none of them were perverts.
So, he couldn't be sure whether the students in his class would actually do something like this.
And then.
"Was it Karuizawa's panties that were stolen?" Hachiman asked.
"Yes, Karuizawa's. She's still crying in her tent, and Kushida is comforting her." Shinohara Satsuki glanced at Hachiman as she spoke.
Just now, Hachiman, Sudo, and Koenji had been out visiting the stronghold, as they had discussed yesterday—to cover for Koenji while he visited the stronghold, so they were safe.
However.
Hachiman felt it was a tricky situation.
Because.
The deal he had with Karuizawa was to protect her, and she would help him with his tasks.
But now she was crying.
If the current situation wasn't handled properly, it would affect her negatively.
Indeed.
Pinning the blame on Ibuki, an outsider from another class, seemed like the best plan—it would maintain the peace in his own class. However, it also required Ibuki to "discover that Koenji is the leader, then report it to Ryuen, and inform the A-class' Katsuragi." But now, forcing Ibuki to leave would ruin that plan.
So, should Yamauchi take the fall?
In fact, many people already thought it was Yamauchi who did it.
Well, then... for now, they would just have to let him take the fall.