After fooling Daichi, Houtarou left Class D's cave.
He wanted Kikyō to take him to see Suzune.
"So why do you absolutely need to see her?" Kikyō walked beside him, kicking away a stone on the ground with her foot.
"This isn't the cabin, control yourself a bit." Houtarou reminded her.
"Because it's disgusting." She said with her head slightly lowered, her eyes changing beneath her bangs, "Just thinking about Kanji Ike and the others wanting to confess to me makes me sick. Why would they think they can confess to me?"
Hmm. All these words were spoken in Dark Angel mode.
"Then if I were to confess to you…" He paused.
"I would reject you immediately." Kikyō said.
Oh. Without any hesitation at all. That's quite reassuring.
Because in the cabin, she had released her restraints, making him wonder if he had done something bad. So maybe he didn't need to take responsibility or anything.
Her rejection of him made his internal burden instantly disappear.
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Kikyō led Houtarou to where the girls were busy working.
It was a cornfield. Only two girls were on the side, the rest were in the field. Busy, of course.
This was also about experiencing life. Although there was a shopping street at school for consumption and leisure, ultimately they were confined to the school and had to stay for three years. So this kind of free life on an island was a good experience for everyone.
At the same time, whether harvesting vegetables or picking corn, these were all things they had never experienced before. So they were interested.
It was only the second day of island life, and they hadn't experienced the miserable situations of Class B students, so everyone was quite enthusiastic.
"Everyone~" Kikyō made a cute sound as she joined the group of girls.
The girls also noticed that she had brought a boy with her.
When the girls were bored at school, they participated in the school's handsome guy ranking list. So there really wasn't anyone who didn't recognize Class A's Houtarou. After all, his appearance was very attractive.
But Airi, standing at the edge of the cornfield, also noticed him.
"Oreki... Oreki-kun!" She was both nervous and somewhat aggrieved.
She didn't have many people to talk to at this school. The day before yesterday on the ship, she had taken a photo of him, although she was later frightened by Kei and others.
But undeniably, Houtarou was different from other classmates. Very gentle.
"We'll talk later, Sakura-san." He said.
He noticed that as he said this, the girls' gazes turned toward him. With Airi initiating conversation with him, she might be questioned later — and with her personality, she definitely couldn't handle it.
However, resolving this situation was quite easy because there was someone who didn't read the atmosphere.
Thinking this, he looked ahead, "Horikita-san, come here for a moment. I need to discuss something with you."
Suzune: "..."
Though expressionless, she walked out from the field.
When the other girls saw her moving, they all fell silent. Then they watched as Suzune and Houtarou left, seemingly curious about the relationship between the two.
As for Airi, she had already been freed from the pressure of attention.
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Houtarou took Suzune away, and they walked several hundred meters before stopping.
"You actually came back with Kushida." She said. As she spoke, she handed him a corn she had just picked.
"I don't need it." He said, "Your class provided plenty of supplies, and one of the five positions we got from Kōenji is also a cornfield."
Suzune: "..."
Despite being rejected, she showed no embarrassment. That's just how she is.
However, she seemed somewhat confused.
"You could have gotten more points, yet you chose to give 200 points to Kōenji." Suzune said.
This referred to the distribution of rewards in the island exam: 600 Reward Points, with Houtarou taking 300, then Rokusuke 200, and 100 to Class D.
She knew clearly that although Rokusuke was taking action now, in this exam, Houtarou was the one behind the scenes. So as the one in control, couldn't he have increased his profit a bit more?
He immediately understood that she was unhappy because she only got 10%, which meant of his 300 Class Points, she could only get 30 Points.
"On one hand, you have to admit you don't have Kōenji's ability to take action." Houtarou said, "Also, can you keep your classmates in line? You need to think about who's in Class D. In my Class A, once rules are set, the students will actively follow them. But your Class D probably gets living expenses based on Class Points."
"And maybe after two months, they'll want to back out. They'll feel uncomfortable that the living expenses came to their accounts and then had to be taken out, like their own things are being given away. So you need someone tough to keep them in check. As long as our share of points is passive, the other side's share will also be passive. We can't let Class D start being untrustworthy."
"Therefore, this is a troublesome thing. Are you willing to do it?"
He said this while looking at Suzune.
Would she be willing to do it?
Sae had asked her to take Class D to Class B, but that task had already failed, and she thought it impossible. And if she were to suppress Class D, wouldn't that be going back to the old path?
The classmates were troublesome.
"Daichi Ishizaki has entered Class D." Suzune immediately stopped mentioning the distribution of rewards and said, "He seems excessively friendly with Kōenji, like he wants something."
"We don't need to worry about that." Houtarou said, "He's genuinely a spy from Class C. But Kōenji will handle it himself; he also wants to collect 20 million and won't let this opportunity slip away."
Oh. So you already know all this information? Then why did you come to see her today?
Suzune thought he had come to compare information between the two classes. But... it seemed that wasn't the case. He actually knew even more.
Thinking this, she saw Houtarou raise his hand and extend it toward her.
"??" Suzune looked at him in confusion.
"Let's shake hands again." He said, "We'll do it every day for the next few days."
Suzune: "..."
Even she wondered if his behavior might have... some kind of hint.
"If you were to confess to me, I would reject you." Suzune said after a moment of contemplation.
Oh. You're like that too.
"Don't worry, I won't confess to you." Houtarou said, "I feel complicated about my future. I won't casually confess to girls."
Oh. So what are you saying? Didn't you firmly believe before that high school was for studying seriously, not for romance?
Suzune couldn't understand.
"So you and Kushida came back together..." She had seen him appear with Kikyō.
"Our relationship has grown closer." Houtarou said, "And... I can feel myself wavering."
Oh. Suzune understood.
Houtarou was once again under that girl's beauty attack. And now his behavior was actually... wanting to gain some experience from her in resisting Kikyō's beauty?
Although Suzune was cold and didn't understand social cues, she knew she was very pretty. At the same time, she was aware that Kikyō often deliberately used her beauty to attack Houtarou. And his resistance was extremely low.
Moreover, in this plan to divide up Class D, there was no share for Kikyō. So perhaps because of this, he was being harassed by her.
Suzune also knew that though that girl appeared to be an angel, she was quite a troublesome person, and would sometimes even dump garbage on her.
Wouldn't that make people dislike her more?
So she couldn't understand. Kikyō clearly disliked her, and she disliked Kikyō, and surely she knew this, yet why did Kikyō still cling to her?
However, just as her brother said, learn more from Houtarou. So she should first protect him from that girl's harm.
"You should improve your resistance to girls." Saying this, Suzune didn't refuse and placed her hand in his.
〖 Do you want to use Restoration Ability on Suzune Horikita? 〗
Yes!
〖 Beep! 〗
〖 Restoration Ability used on Suzune Horikita, restoring her physical state to before she became ill! 〗
The superpower remains effective. However.
〖 Side Task: Give Me My Money, Dumb ATM! 〗
〖 Task Requirement: In the Island Exam, gain control of Class D and turn them into an ATM! 〗
〖 Task Duration: 6/8 Days 〗
〖 Task Reward: Enhancement of Restoration Ability (Extending disease healing duration) 〗
〖 Task Punishment: When using Clairvoyance, eyes will become cross-eyed (Charm decreased by 20) 〗
〖 Task Progress: 25% 〗
If the Restoration Ability could be enhanced, then perhaps Suzune could directly enjoy the benefits, instead of having to repeat the treatment process every day.
"It's done." Houtarou said, "But do you want to continue holding hands?"
He only needed to use his superpower on her to restore her health. So it wasn't about wanting to hold hands with a beautiful girl.
His left hand had already relaxed, but now it was Suzune who hadn't let go. So now it wasn't him holding her, but her holding him back.
Then he noticed she seemed to fall silent for a moment. She wasn't just silent but lost in thought.
On one hand, she felt that Houtarou had little resistance when dealing with girls, and as a collaborator, to prevent her partner from running away, she needed to help him. This was her responsibility.
And holding hands wasn't a troublesome thing. Just reaching out was enough.
But she also wanted to understand something. On the boat that day, her body had felt unwell, but after shaking hands with him, the heaviness and discomfort had disappeared.
She consulted her roommate, Airi. She could have consulted Kikyō, but Suzune didn't like that girl. So she asked the gentler girl instead.
Airi's explanation was that it was a good thing if contact with the opposite sex made her body feel relaxed. It might be a signal of love. She even congratulated her on finding romance.
So does that mean she's interested in Houtarou?
If that's the case, she would reject it. She only wanted to collect 20 million points to prove she wasn't useless. During high school, she just wanted to study. For things like romance, she felt she had no time — also no interest.
So she found Airi's answer questionable.
And now, their hands gripped again. Suzune closed her eyes.
Then gently opened them. Indeed, there was no strange feeling. It was probably just psychological. She felt relieved.
However.
"I feel like you've become quite used to holding hands. You even let go of me first. And just by shaking hands like this, can you really resist Kushida? Also, your body temperature seems to have risen. It feels different from the previous two handshakes." Suzune said, "What happened between you and Kushida before you came here?"
"You seem to be in a state of embarrassment explosion. Can you really resist her with just a handshake like this? What is her new offensive strategy against you? Are you completely unable to resist?"
She seemed somewhat curious.
But.
Houtarou: "..."
Alright, Suzune, please stop saying these things. Also, you just rejected him, so don't be curious.
Kikyō had endured embarrassment to give him experience points. And as the receiving party, the innocent Houtarou also felt very embarrassed.
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