Soon.
Because it was the first day on the island, and it went very smoothly.
Aside from the team collecting firewood encountering a snake, the other students still viewed this as a good opportunity for camping.
They were in high spirits.
Before long, the smell of roasted fish and the aroma of stir-fried greens with lard wafted through the air.
It was just a pity that Class B had occupied the vegetable patch, so they couldn't use the vegetables from there.
"Everyone!"
Kushida cupped her hands around her mouth like a megaphone, "Dinner's ready!"
"Oh, there's even fish soup."
"It smells so good, it must taste amazing."
"As expected of Kushida."
"Hehe, not at all."
Kushida said, somewhat embarrassed, "Actually, it's all Sudo's credit. He caught the fish and prepared it too."
"Ah, I…"
Sudo, suddenly called out and instantly becoming the center of everyone's attention, seemed surprised, a look of astonishment on his face.
However, the surprised gazes of his classmates made him feel quite pleased.
Even he wanted to be praised and acknowledged by others.
"Everyone, if you want to thank someone, thank Sudo. I didn't really do anything."
Kushida smiled sweetly, and her words touched everyone, especially Sudo, who was filled with gratitude. However, Hachiman was not surprised by this at all.
Kushida had always been managing her "Kushida Empire," drawing everyone into becoming her "friends." She would even draw in people like Sudo.
And she naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity as this.
After all, she didn't lack this little bit of goodwill; she had already done enough on a daily basis.
Instead, by generously attributing Sudo's credit to him and telling everyone, she could also gain goodwill from others, and make Sudo feel grateful to her.
"It was super tough,"
Kushida counted on her fingers, tilting her head cutely, "He had to cut open the fish, endure the fishy smell to remove all the internal organs, and scrape off all the scales. Sudo really put in a lot of effort."
"That's truly impressive."
"Sudo, thank you."
"I didn't know you had this skill."
Under Kushida's guidance, the students of Class C praised him one after another. Even Shinohara, who had argued with Sudo about starting the fire earlier, found an opening to talk to Sudo.
Even those who usually had grudges against Sudo wouldn't say anything inappropriate at this time.
After all, they were eating his food, and they were now drinking fish soup, which was partly due to Sudo's efforts.
Using the glass cups for toiletries, everyone was served a full cup of delicious fish soup.
They held the glass cups with both hands, then took a sip, revealing expressions of enjoyment.
As 'everyone's Kushida', Kushida's cooking skills were naturally perfect, otherwise she could easily lose points.
The Class atmosphere became good again.
"Kouenji, this is yours."
Kushida personally served soup to everyone, a sweet smile always on her face, but in front of a blonde boy, she scooped a large piece of fish meat for him.
"Hmm."
Kouenji nodded lightly, then walked away naturally.
He didn't say thank you, nor did he feel anything wrong with getting more fish than others.
And the others, seeing this scene, also said nothing, but rather accepted it readily.
"Why?"
Ibuki Mio, who had been silently observing everyone from a distance, keenly noticed this subtle difference.
"Ibuki."
Soon, Kushida came over with a cup of fish soup, a angelic smile on her face, "Drink it while it's hot, and tell me how my cooking is."
"Thank you."
Ibuki Mio nodded lightly, not showing any strange expression.
But Kushida didn't leave; instead, she blinked her big eyes and looked at Ibuki Mio with some anticipation.
"It's very good."
Ibuki Mio took a small sip, her eyes lit up, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
"That's good."
Kushida patted her chest, relieved, "I was afraid it wouldn't suit your taste, Ibuki."
"How could it? I'm already very grateful that you took me in."
"And have you finished the fruit?" Kushida asked.
"Yes, I've eaten it all," Ibuki said.
This made Kushida nod lightly.
But Ibuki Mio secretly shook her head, feeling a little touched in her heart.
Even though she was there as a spy, facing the angelic Kushida, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Kushida was so kind, giving her fruit and fish soup, yet she had to betray her conscience and deceive her.
...
And around seven in the evening, the students of Class C were still doing their own things.
However, most of them were roasting by the fire in the cave and preparing to take a bath.
Normally, roll call was at 8 AM and 8 PM on the beach.
But Hachiman's Class showed no signs of moving.
At the same time.
"You… "
Ibuki looked very surprised, "Your supplies are so abundant."
After dinner, she was also brought to the cave base.
Then she stared in astonishment at the rich, even somewhat luxurious, supplies.
Because even if they wanted to shower, Class C had double sets of shower equipment, one for boys and one for girls.
And some of the students even had books to read.
It should be known that students were checked by their Teacher upon arriving on the island to ensure they hadn't brought any extra items, such as books, which were considered unnecessary. So, the fact that they could still read books now could only mean… they had exchanged points for them after arriving on the island.
Then there was also a corner piled with large amounts of bread and water, as well as some seemingly unnecessary supplies.
"Don't you know yet?"
"Our Class spent all of our initial points, so now we have a lot of supplies. And because we spent all our initial points, we don't have to go to roll call anymore."
Yamauchi, who had found her, said this beside Ibuki.
"You're too crazy," Ibuki commented.
Crackling.
As for Hachiman and Horikita, Hachiman put a branch into the fire, and the bonfire became more vigorous, the temperature of the intense flames warming them up.
"I'm convinced."
Yamauchi really has no sense of caution at all, directly telling Ibuki about our initial points being zero.
Horikita sat down, watching Hachiman play with the bonfire, then pressed her left hand on her right elbow and sighed helplessly.
"Isn't that good?" Hachiman said. "Although we haven't experienced many special exams yet, I think this school will definitely have some cruel exams, for example, if they demand that someone in our Class must be expelled."
"Society always has situations like this, saying that because of poor performance, companies lay off employees."
"So someone must be laid off, and for us, in special exams, there might also be situations where someone is expelled, or even where we might have to choose a student to expel ourselves," Hachiman said.
"Then isn't that terrifying?"
A girl picked up on Hachiman's words.
This was Kei Karuizawa, with a ponytail.
Her friend Sato had gone to queue for a shower, but she was still here.
In fact, there were more than a dozen students by the bonfire now, and Ibuki, being from another Class, accepted Kushida's help, but she was also sensible, knowing that half of the students in Class C didn't welcome her.
So she stayed in a corner by herself, and Yamauchi saw her alone and walked over.
Everyone watched Yamauchi's back.
But they were quickly drawn in by the topic Hachiman was discussing.
Because how could it be like that, making everyone choose their own classmates for expulsion?
"It's terrifying, but we can't deny that such a situation won't occur," Hachiman said. "This is a very difficult choice."
"My dad was laid off," a student suddenly said at this moment.
This made the atmosphere on the scene seem a bit heavy.
Kushida then interjected.
"Then what if our Class faces such a situation? I don't want anyone to be treated so unfairly," Kushida said.
She showed a slightly sad, yet saintly expression.
Hachiman, who understood her, knew that this expression was mostly genuine.
Although Kushida was a problem child, she truly kept making friends with everyone and busied herself with various troubles for her "friends."
So this sentence was mostly from the heart.
Then. Now that the topic of expelling classmates from their own Class was brought up, was there no one who opposed it, apart from the heavy atmosphere?
For example, did Hirata not object?
Of course not, because Hirata had already gone to the shower room to bathe.
So it was no problem to discuss such a topic that might make him explode now.
Moreover, it could also give the classmates in the Class a heads-up.
Hachiman continued.
"If such a situation truly arises, there are two solutions," Hachiman said. "One is to gather 20 million points. 20 million points can be used to transfer to a desired Class, or it can exempt one expulsion penalty."
"So we can save the student who is to be expelled by spending money."
"And 20 million, while it looks difficult, when spread out, is only 500,000 per person," Hachiman said.
Oh.
Everyone had to pay 500,000.
Almost as Hachiman said this, because Kushida's saintly demeanor had brought up the idea of not wanting to lose members, and at the same time, others were also concerned about what would happen if they were expelled, so it was best for others to oppose anyone being expelled.
But.
They felt that if it wasn't themselves being expelled, then they didn't want to spend 500,000.
Because what was the concept of 500,000? It was points that they could only accumulate by continuously getting high Class evaluation scores for 10 months.
Although it was also possible that with each month's special exam, the Class evaluation scores would rise, and everyone's living expenses would also increase.
But.
500,000!
It could be used as money in the Shopping Street and at school!
It was equivalent to 500,000 Japanese Yen in purchasing power, and they had to spend it all in one exam?
Although there were only a dozen students warming themselves by the fire, half of them were already showing reluctance.
Hikigaya continued.
"But I won't choose this plan," Hachiman said. "Accumulating 500,000 is not easy, and I don't want to spend it like that."
"But just watching a classmate get expelled, don't you find it unacceptable?" Kushida continued.
She still had a full saintly demeanor.
This made some students who felt their performance was mediocre and might be expelled feel very relieved listening to her words.
Kushida was on their side.
But.
"What if the person to be expelled is Yamauchi?" Hachiman said to Kushida, "If it's you, Kushida, or Hirata, I'd be willing to pay 500,000 points, but if it's Yamauchi, I'm not willing."
"…This kind of thing…" Kushida seemed conflicted.
This meant that if they encountered such an exam where someone had to be expelled, Hikigaya was determined to expel someone.
But what she was focusing on now was not that point.
Because.
Hachiman's words just now included her name.
If Kushida were expelled.
If Kushida were expelled.
Hikigaya Hachiman, what do you mean by this? Do you want to expel her?
Didn't she help you with the exam? Are you really that ruthless?
Thinking about this matter in her heart, her resolve had already wavered, but Kushida tried hard to maintain her Little Angel appearance on the surface.
"So," Hachiman said. "If such an exam truly exists, then let's choose to expel Yamauchi."
"After all, his current actions don't consider the safety of our Class," Hachiman said. "Our initial points are gone, so we rely entirely on the base points. Once our Team Leader's information is leaked, the base points might also be gone. Do we still have to tolerate someone who completely disregards everyone's interests?"
"…"
"…"
These words silenced the students around the bonfire.
Normally, Hachiman's words were full of divisive meaning.
Even somewhat cruel, who would directly expel a classmate?
But no one around the bonfire refuted him.
Moreover, one point was very important.
That was, if someone truly had to be expelled, and if that student was identified, then wouldn't everyone else be safe?
If Yamauchi was expelled, everyone else would be safe.
"So," Hachiman said. "If such an exam truly appears."
"I hope everyone here chooses to expel Yamauchi," Hachiman said.
Yamauchi's current actions were very dangerous. Although some people looked at Ibuki and felt pity for her, now that they had eaten and were sitting by the fire, listening to Hikigaya's analysis, they suddenly felt the danger increase.
If Ibuki really was a spy, and there was a problem with the base points, wouldn't they suffer a huge loss?
At the same time.
All the responsibility for keeping Ibuki was thrown onto Yamauchi. If an exam requiring expulsion appeared, Yamauchi would take all the blame, and everyone else would be safe.
So Yamauchi was the necessary sacrifice if such an exam appeared.
Sacrificing Yamauchi would also keep themselves safe.
If any unforeseen circumstances affected them, it would be very uncomfortable.
So, expelling Yamauchi to protect everyone and themselves, wasn't that very safe?
Then, if they could make an agreement now, they could safely get through such an exam in the future.
Just as Hachiman was about to make a group agreement.
A student suddenly stood up from the bonfire.
"Ya-Yamauchi… don't get too close to Ibuki."
This was Ike Kanji. He had also heard Hachiman's words and quickly stood up and walked towards Yamauchi. He was also one of those warming themselves by the fire.
He and Yamauchi were friends, and he didn't want his friend to be expelled.
But he also understood that the Class's initial 300 points were used up, and the risk of keeping Ibuki was too great.
If, if the base points really were lost, then Yamauchi would truly be expelled.
"Ike Kanji is indeed someone who values emotions," Hachiman said, watching Ike's back.
Because being able to withstand the pressure from the bonfire and still go to Yamauchi, hoping to pull him back, Ike had truly gone all out.
However, Hachiman didn't think Ike's method would be useful. Even if he managed to persuade Yamauchi, when everyone initially had the idea of expelling a certain classmate, if they truly encountered such an exam in the future, it was possible it would be implemented.
For self-preservation.
So he was giving a heads-up here.
After all, he was also protecting himself.
If he were jointly expelled by some people, he would also find it troublesome.
After all, he was still thinking of earning some points at this school, then exchanging them for cash, and heading towards a future with a stable economic foundation.
He didn't want to suffer a setback.
Actually, thinking this way was quite frustrating, because Hachiman was very clear about the Class's situation. When they truly encountered a situation where a classmate had to be expelled, the classmates would not expel someone based on who made what contributions or who would be useful to the Class.
Instead, they would probably expel people based on their own preferences.
Isn't this terrible?
Even good generals might be expelled. And he himself might be expelled.
So choosing a sacrifice first was a means of self-preservation.
At this moment.
Some noisy sounds came over.
-----------------------------
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