Hachiman's Class had a mixed composition of students.
It was formed by the 40 worst-performing students after being screened according to the school's uniform standards.
However.
Although it seemed like they were dealt a bad hand, there were also some problematic students with actual abilities.
These problematic students with abilities were bombs.
Then there were some really bad students.
These students were either potential deadweights or outright deadweights.
But now.
Hachiman suddenly felt that discovering some difficult classmates also had a purpose: to be scapegoats.
Although he still couldn't confirm who the culprit was for stealing the underwear, if Yamauchi was named, most people would believe it.
So, Yamauchi could be made to take the blame for this incident.
This was a way to immediately deal with the current Class division.
The driving force that can unite a group is a common enemy.
First, find someone to take the blame, and then, after Ibuki's role is completed, push everything onto Ibuki, and then the Class can regain unity.
Of course.
It was also possible that Ibuki was the one who stole the underwear.
Because she had a very good reason.
She was here in Class C as a spy to obtain information about Class C's Team Leader; relying solely on observation would be difficult to get the answer, especially since some of Class C's students seemed to be wary of her.
Therefore.
If she caused chaos in Class C, she might be able to fish in troubled waters.
So, Ibuki's motive was also very strong.
If that were really the case, then she would truly be despicable.
Ibuki.
And if Ibuki really did it, it meant that Ibuki was faithfully completing Ryuen's task, which was part of Hachiman's plan, but if Ibuki really did it, she chose the wrong person to steal the underwear from.
How could she choose Karuizawa?
Even if she stole Kushida's underwear, he wouldn't find it troublesome.
"Boys simply cannot be trusted; I can't accept continuing to live in the same place."
At this moment, Karuizawa had already come out of the tent, her eyes swollen red, clearly having cried.
Besides her, Kushida and Sato also walked out of the tent together.
And Horikita, who was frowning.
Horikita shouldn't have encountered such a thing, but she probably found the occurrence of such an event very disgusting.
So she kept frowning.
And Hachiman glanced at Ibuki.
Ibuki sat in the corner, not saying a word, only occasionally glancing over.
"That's right, I also can't stay in the same place with a pervert who steals panties."
And seeing Karuizawa come out, Shinohara Satsuki immediately added, "This kind of thing is absolutely impossible."
"Get the boys' tents out of here too! We absolutely must draw a line!"
At this moment, Hasebe also chimed in.
Hasebe had always taken leave during swimming Class.
But it was clear that she wasn't taking leave due to physical discomfort; she probably didn't want to wear the school swimsuit.
Because in the 'Big Chest Ranking' organized by Yamauchi when they first enrolled, she was ranked high.
Although boys liked large chests, for some girls, perhaps being too large was a bother.
So she might not like boys looking at her.
And now, with an opportunity to not camp with the boys, she naturally spoke up.
However, if this continued, it would lead to conflict between males and females and the degradation of the Class; although it would benefit Ibuki in obtaining Team Leader information, it would not be conducive to Class unity.
Hachiman knew his Class was very fragile.
Its cohesion basically relied on Hirata and Kushida.
There were also many contradictions among themselves.
So if it wasn't handled well now, it would lead to serious consequences, even insubordination.
Then what was the point of the special exam?
"Indeed, one of our classmates did something wrong."
At this moment, Hachiman stepped forward.
"But is it really good to deny all boys like this? Or do you think Hirata is also a pervert and cannot be trusted?"
Hirata was everyone's angel.
Both boys and girls trusted him greatly.
So Hasebe, who had just spoken, instantly wavered.
"I, I certainly didn't say I wanted to deny Hirata," she quickly said.
"Rather, I believe Hirata would absolutely not do such a perverted thing."
Although she said that, Hasebe also instantly shut up.
She wasn't stupid; she immediately realized that Hikigaya was now firing at her.
So she took two steps back.
And at this moment, Hikigaya walked in front of Shinohara.
"Then Shinohara, are you going to deny Kouenji?"
Hachiman continued to Shinohara Satsuki, "Do you think Kouenji also cannot be trusted?"
Uh.
Kouenji was a hero in this Uninhabited Island Exam, having captured a large number of strongholds; if there were no accidents, they would receive a guaranteed 300 Class evaluation points, and the 100 points allocated to Kouenji would also allow everyone to increase their living expenses by over 20,000.
So, no one wanted to offend Kouenji at this time.
"I, I didn't say that..."
Shinohara's tone became less self-righteous than before.
"Everyone is a classmate, what's wrong with trusting each other a little?" Hachiman said.
"If they really aren't worth trusting, then it wouldn't be now, but someone would have already exhibited perverted behavior in school."
"So."
Hachiman looked at Yamauchi and said, "Yamauchi, confess, don't let all the boys be judged negatively for your actions."
"I suggest isolating Yamauchi now.
Give him some supplies, and then let him go to other strongholds to spend this Uninhabited Island Exam."
At this moment, almost everyone looked at Yamauchi.
"Huh?"
Yamauchi only then realized that he had become a genuine underwear thief.
"No, I didn't steal it!"
"I didn't do such a thing!" Yamauchi quickly said.
But these words seemed to have little power of defense.
"If we just conclude that Yamauchi is the culprit who did this..."
Hirata felt that Hachiman's actions were too arbitrary.
But Hachiman walked towards Hirata, then pulled Hirata to a corner, not far from Ibuki, and lowered his voice.
"If we don't find someone to take the blame now, then the girls will definitely demand to search the boys' luggage later, and if underwear actually appears in the boys' luggage, then the girls will definitely directly oppose the boys."
"And the consequences after that are what neither you nor I want to see."
"As for Yamauchi, we'll isolate him first, then contact Karuizawa in a couple of days and have her say her underwear is lost again, or ask Kushida for help and have her say her underwear was also stolen, but since Yamauchi is isolated, it couldn't have been Yamauchi who committed the crime.
Then Yamauchi will be cleared."
"And during this time, we can seize the opportunity to thoroughly investigate and find the culprit, and if we can't find them, we can ultimately pass it off as a conspiracy by an outside Class," Hachiman said.
Hearing this, Hirata instantly fell silent.
Because the current handling was indeed the best solution, and although Yamauchi might be innocent, he also didn't want to see the Class split like this.
Moreover, it wasn't a complete false accusation against Yamauchi; if the culprit was found, then Yamauchi would certainly be innocent.
If it really was Yamauchi who did it... then moving Yamauchi away also protected his classmates.
Killing multiple birds with one stone.
"..." Ibuki.
But Ibuki in the corner was speechless.
Because were they really conspiring right in front of her? Although their voices were low, her body was trained and her physical abilities were excellent, so she could hear Hachiman and Hirata's conversation.
...
And Hirata and Hachiman had already turned around.
"It seems this is the only way," Hirata said.
"Yamauchi."
"Hey, Hirata, you believe I didn't steal the underwear, right!" Yamauchi said.
"I believe you, but Yamauchi, later you'll pack your luggage, I'll give you a sleeping bag, and then go to another stronghold.
For the next few days, you'll live there, but don't worry, I'll send you supplies and food," Hirata said.
"Huh?"
Yamauchi reacted.
Because this was defining him as the underwear thief.
And even Hirata said so!
"It couldn't be me! If it's stealing underwear, isn't Ike more likely?" Yamauchi quickly defended himself.
Because it was something he didn't do, why did everyone think he did it?
"..." Ike Kanji.
Last night, by the campfire, he heard Hikigaya talk about a situation where a classmate might have to be expelled, and then Hikigaya said Yamauchi would be sacrificed.
So he nervously went to warn Yamauchi.
But what he got when he warned Yamauchi wasn't, "Ike, you're jealous of me."
It was.
Now.
"Isn't Ike more likely?"
Ike was stunned.
...
To prevent the girls from demanding to search the boys' luggage and actually finding underwear, leading to conflict between males and females, Hirata immediately took action.
"Sudo, VILLAGE, can I ask for your help?"
"We'll take Yamauchi together."
"It's the only way, I guess," Sudo said.
He usually hung out with Yamauchi and Ike.
But this time, Yamauchi became the target of everyone's attack.
Yamauchi usually had a bad reputation in Class and also liked to brag, and now even Hirata said it might be Yamauchi who did it.
He couldn't speak for Yamauchi either.
Because Yamauchi really could do something like that.
...
Thus.
After Yamauchi was taken away, the atmosphere became slightly heavy, and the morning of the second day of Grade 1 Class C's Uninhabited Island Exam arrived.
Because such a depressing thing had happened, everyone's enjoyment of camping life greatly decreased.
And no one was interested in cooking breakfast anymore.
They ate bread and mineral water exchanged with points.
Afterward, most of the students were by the campfire; although Yamauchi had been taken away, there was a slight estrangement between the boys and girls, as if there was a line separating them around the campfire.
And Karuizawa, for example, returned to the tent.
Hachiman immediately followed.
There weren't many people in the tent where Karuizawa was; it could be confirmed that Sakura, Karuizawa, Shinohara, Kushida, and Horikita were all inside.
"Can I come in?" Hikigaya said from the tent entrance.
"No one is stopping you," Horikita said, glancing at him.
However.
"So, was the underwear really stolen?"
The moment Hikigaya entered the girls' tent, his first words made people want to kick him out.
"Huh?" Shinohara had been rebutted by Hachiman earlier and was a bit timid.
But now, her upright and resolute personality resurfaced.
"Of course, it was really stolen," Kushida, who was good at sensing the atmosphere, quickly said, seeing that Karuizawa seemed about to cry again.
"But, is Yamauchi really the culprit?" Horikita suddenly said at this moment.
"Isn't Yamauchi the culprit?" Shinohara immediately asked.
"I think it's possible, and it's also possible it's not," Hachiman replied.
"Eh?"
These words made the girls in the tent stunned, with Sakura looking over in surprise.
Because Yamauchi had already been expelled and assigned to another base.
So, was Yamauchi possibly innocent?
"Don't look at me like that," Hachiman said. "I want to be promoted to Class A, and since it's unit-based, if the Class is divided internally, it's almost impossible to get any points. So I must prevent you from being antagonistic towards the boys."
"You're really pragmatic."
Hikigaya had said more than once that he wanted to be promoted to Class A, and now he was being very realistic.
It didn't make the girls feel strange.
Hachiman continued.
"So let Yamauchi settle this for now."
"Furthermore," Hachiman said, "I don't recommend you continue investigating this matter."
"Why?" Shinohara disagreed. "If you let us check our belongings, then perhaps we can find the culprit."
In other words, if Yamauchi hadn't been sacrificed just now, you would have mobilized people to search belongings, and then the male-female antagonism would have been fully exposed.
Hachiman felt he had dodged a bullet.
He then continued, "If the culprit is really a boy from our Class, then the underwear won't be found."
"Because if the pervert is really in our Class, they wouldn't be that stupid, right?"
Hachiman explained, gesturing, "After all, if a girl loses something, they'll definitely demand a search of the boys' belongings the next day. Hiding it in a backpack or inside a tent isn't safe."
"That makes sense…"
These words made the girls look at each other, all a bit hesitant.
"Could it be on their person?"
Shinohara Satsuki asked, then revealed a disgusted expression.
Stealing a girl's panties was one thing, but carrying them around.
That was too disgusting.
"It's possible."
Hachiman nodded, then continued, "However, if it's truly a pervert, merely carrying the panties on their person wouldn't satisfy them. The greatest possibility is that they're wearing them."
"Wear, wearing them?" Even Sakura, who had always maintained a low presence, spoke up.
Because this statement was beyond her comprehension.
"How disgusting…"
"Hikigaya-kun, please don't say any more."
Even Horikita showed a disgusted expression.
They felt they had probably underestimated what a pervert would do.
-----------------------------
I've posted the next 40 chapters exclusively on Patreon!
If you like this story, please come and support me.
Here's the link: [pateoncom/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your continued support!