"For the teacher, who do you think we should get?"

Ryouta asked me that as we headed back to the kitchen to give an update on what we've achieved, and to check out how everyone else was doing.

"I was just going to ask Chabashira-sensei... she's the easiest to convince since she's my homeroom teacher, plus she's pretty useful."

"Ah, fair enough. I suppose we should've asked her to accompany us back in the hallway, huh?"

"We can leave it to last. Worst case scenario, we can ask a male teacher if the hunt is that close."

"True. I could try asking Hiden-sensei, maybe..."

"...I'd rather not ask him."

"Oh? Why not?"

To be honest, he just gives me the wrong vibe. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about the way he presented himself that I didn't like... but if I used that as a reason, it probably wouldn't convince Ryouta.

"I just... feel more comfortable asking Chabashira-sensei. That's all."

"I don't mind asking though..."

"It's fine, really. I think Hiden-sensei will be a popular choice anyways, since he's A Class's homeroom teacher. Chabashira-sensei is cold and not many students like her... so, she's probably a safer pick too."

"Fair enough. If you're so adamant on Chabashira-sensei, I won't mind."

When me and Ryouta arrived at the kitchen, the usually open door was shut for some reason.

"That's strange, the door is closed."

Mildly concerned, we glanced at each other, before Ryouta reached out and twisted the doorknob open.

"Who's there?"

Immediately, boiling hot water was splashed at our feet. Ryouta jumped back in surprise while I narrowed my eyes.

"What the... what the heck is going on here?!" Ryouta exclaimed.

The scene before us... it was a coupe.

There were two groups facing off. Our group, Matsushita, Zyriot, Satou, Ikeda, and Machida, against Shimada's group, who arrived in full with all seven members, Nakajima, Kouji, Kawaguchi, Yamamoto, Kishida, Yukada, and Shimada himself.

Holding all the carton of eggs was Machida, forming a physical wall around them with his arms. Meanwhile, Matsushita and Satou were holding two pots of boiling eggs each. In front of these three were Zyriot and Ikeda, who were armed with a frying pan and kitchen ladle respectively.

Meanwhile, opposite to them, Shimada, Nakajima, Yamamoto, and Kawaguchi all held kettles of boiling water in their hands. In Shimada's other hand was a paring knife. Flanking them were Kouji, Kishida, and Yukada, all holding metal lids to act as riot shields.

"Hand over the egg, and these two won't get third degree burns."

Immediately, Shimada didn't waste any time to turn me and Ryouta into hostages. He pointed the kettle at us, prompting Nakajima and Yamamoto to do the same. Before Yukada could close the door, Ryouta tried to shove me out of the way, but it was too late. Both of us were trapped inside, separated from our friends by a wall of boiling water and metal lids.

"That's a bluff. It's against the rules to use violence."

It seems the main negotiator of this showdown was Machida, who menacingly stared down at Shimada.

"If it's against the rules, why did those two so quickly pick up arms? You're not planning on hitting us with that frying pan are you, Zyriot?"

Zyriot remained calm, twirling it in his hand like it was a toy.

"It's more of a shield to protect myself from that scalding hot water. I should've known you were up to no good when you ordered them to start turning on the kettles..."

"Boiling water as a weapon though, that's pretty ingenious... I would've never thought of it." Matsushita said.

"Don't start praising them." Machida said.

"Are you really prepared to wait it out until our water goes cold?" Shimada asked.

"Damn right. The only way you're getting an egg is by trading with us like everyone else!"

"Huh? You're the last person to be giving that equality spiel."

Shimada turned around and chucked a whiplash of hot water at me and Ryouta.

"Takanori-san, look out!"

As the water flung to my side, Ryouta immediately pulled me out of range and moved me to his side.

"Gotcha!"

Then, from that angle, Nakajima let out a spray of hot water. Ryouta froze up, caught off guard by their pincer attack, but I side stepped and yanked him out of the way as well, letting the two of us escape with minimal damage.

"T-thanks..."

"No problem..."

They've got us completely boxed in... no matter where we move, there's a space Shimada, Nakajima, Yamamoto, and Kawaguchi can cover. The most safe space is probably across where Kawaguchi is, since he's probably most reluctant to burn someone after what he did in Karaikai...

"Oi, what's the big idea? You tried being violent just now!" Machida said.

"This isn't violence. I'm just accidentally spilling water in their direction."

"Don't try to loophole the rules! You're spilling that water with the intent to burn them!"

"What, you gonna report to a teacher about it?"

Machida gritted his teeth, clutching the carton of eggs tightly to his chest.

"Yeah, good luck with that. As long as we're blocking the door, you guys can't leave. Face it, Kouta. You're at my mercy."

Shimada leaned forward, showing off his twisted smile at Machida. Zyriot and Ikeda moved in to protect him, but Shimada simply spilled more boiling water at their feet to make them back off.

This situation... it's certainly a stalemate.

"Takanori-san..."

Getting close to me, Ryouta whispered into my ear.

"Are you by any chance good at throwing...?"

"...I'm not sure."

"That so...? Well, I'm a pretty lousy shot, so I'm scared to try, but..."

"What are you two whispering about?"

Shimada looked over his shoulder at the two of us, and immediately Nakajima threw hot water at our faces. Once again, me and Ryouta rushed to the other side to try and dodge it, but over there, Yamamoto threw another bout of hot water at us.

This time, Ryouta was able to shove me out of the way, but he was less lucky. The hot water hit him directly on the arm and torso, making him scream in agony.

"Good aim, Yami."

Yamamoto looked away, his face scrunching up, and his grip tightening on the kettle. It looked like he didn't want to be doing this, but had no other choice.

"Ryouta-san, are you okay?!" Zyriot said.

"I-I'll be fine..."

Ryouta muttered through gritted teeth, clutching his right arm. It was a good thing he was wearing his jersey, or else that could've ended much worse...

"Waiting time's over. Yami, Masaru, start chucking it at Zyriot and Arata."

Yamamoto weakly nodded, and started throwing the hot water at Zyriot and Ikeda's feet. Kawaguchi was mortified, paralysed on what to do. He didn't know whether to follow through with those vile instructions, or face the wrath of Shimada for disobedience.

"Masaru, are you deaf? Start chucking water at those two."

Zyriot managed to block the water with his pan, but Ikeda was less lucky. He tried to stand his ground, but instead slipped on the water Yamamoto had laid before him, and fell to the ground with a loud thunk.

"B-but Shimada-san, this is..."

Shimada then whirled around and spun his leg to kick Kawaguchi in the face.

Kouji and Yukada both stumbled back in fear. Ryouta's eyes widened. Even Machida looked unnerved from how mercilessly fast Shimada hit him.

Kawaguchi let go of the kettle in shock, falling to the floor instantly. Before the kettle could land and explode hot water everywhere, Nakajima caught it and presented it to Kouji.

"You. Take up the mantle for your classmate over there."

Kouji started breathing heavily as he saw Kawaguchi's mangled face on the floor. That sight must've reminded him of his days of getting bullied by Matsushita and Alice. Obediently, he shakily took the kettle and joined the frontlines.

"Shimada-san!"

From behind, it was Ryouta who suddenly yelled out Shimada's name. He slowly got up, rage infused in his usually calm eyes.

"Quit being so noisy, Hane."

"How could you?! Not only is violence prohibited, but that's one of your group members! How could you do that to him?!"

Shimada smiled, chucking the kettle at Ryouta.

Everyone fell silent. All of our eyes were locked on the kettle filled with boiling water as it arched through the air. Ryouta was frozen in place, completely shocked at what Shimada had just done.

Not only did he disregard the rule of violence being forbidden completely, but he also went a step further than before. Instead of just throwing boiling water at us, he had to gall to throw an entire heavy object filled with it.

No matter how you looked at it, Ryouta was going to be left with a massive injury if the kettle landed on him.

I reached for my back and pulled out the spare dictionary I brought with me. Then, I hurled it across the room, making it spiral out towards the trajectory of the kettle.

Everyone's gaze switched from the kettle to the flying dictionary, wondering if it'd make it in time. As the two item's paths crossed, one of two things could happen.

Firstly, the dictionary misses, the kettle hits Ryouta, and he'd be left with a head injury so severe, he'd be forced to retire from this special exam.

Secondly, the dictionary hits the kettle, knocks it out the way, and Ryouta is saved from both a potentially life threatening injury and retiring from the special exam.

I could only hope for the latter.

At the intersection point, the thick spine of the dictionary bashed against the kettle's handle, clipping it. Through that sudden movement, the kettle's continuous path had been shaken up, and it started swerving to the left.

Seeing that movement was just enough to force Ryouta out of his stupor, letting him sprint out of the way as the two items collided to the floor.

First, there was a bang as the kettle smashed to the ground. Second, there was a huge gush of water spraying into the air and onto the floor from the newly formed cracks, causing everyone to step back and take cover. Thirdly, there was the uneventful splash of the dictionary as it fell into a puddle of water, mixed in with the broken kettle parts.

"Takanori-san... you saved me... t-thank you so much..."

Ryouta, clearly shaken up by the whole thing and clutching his racing heart, did his best to bow deeply to me in gratitude. However, that wasn't what we needed to focus on right now.

Instead, we had to stop Shimada, who used the distraction of the flying kettle to breach Zyriot and Ikeda, and reach Machida who held all the eggs.

"What the... when did you?!"

Machida stumbled back in surprise as Shimada did a flying kick towards him. However, what he wasn't aiming for was Machida, but rather the goods he was clutching in his arms.

"Surprise, bitch."

Shimada's foot crashed into the cartons of eggs, knocking Machida back and spilling the eggs everywhere. There was a mixture of cooked and raw egg splattered from the floor, mainly due to Shimada stepping on the majority of them when he landed on Machida.

However, in the midst of the runny yolks, overcooked egg whites, and cracked shells, there was one whole boiled egg.

Shimada swiped it up and slipped it into his pocket, before knocking the pans out of Matsushita's and Satou's hands, and jumping over the counter to make his grand escape.

"Everyone, make a move for it!"

Me and Ryouta did our best to stop them, but the horde of five armed with boiling water was too much for us. The threat of a third degree burn was enough to move us out of the way when Nakajima sprayed it at our feet, and the six boys made their escape while ditching their weapons on the floor on their way out.

The only person left from their group in the kitchen was Kawaguchi, who continued to lay on the floor in a painful daze. He wasn't the only injured one though, as Ryouta, Ikeda, and Machida all sustained injuries from this ordeal.

"...our eggs..."

Now that the chaos had settled, everyone was able to check out the extent of Shimada's destruction. Not only was he able to forcibly take a boiled egg from us, but he also destroyed our remaining stock by stamping on the other eggs, both raw and boiled, when he landed.

He even destroyed the ones Matsushita and Satou were protecting by knocking the pans out of their hands. When they landed tot he floor, the eggs got crushed in the process. It meant our entire stock of boiled eggs was gone.

We only had one left, which was secured in Machida's pocket. While it was good for us, since it meant we could clear the challenge, for the groups that had yet to trade an egg with us, clearing it would now become impossible because of Shimada.

"We came at a really bad time... I'm sorry you guys."

Ryouta, feeling guilty that everything escalated because we became hostages, bowed deeply in apology to the five of them. However, none of them seemed cheered up by it. In particular, Machida looked the most depressed from the whole ordeal.

"No... it's fine, don't worry about it. I'm more glad that you're okay, Ryouta-san."

The first to speak up was Zyriot, who retained a calm head throughout this entire situation. I suppose he was used to this senseless violence, mainly because he came from America and because he dealt with it daily from the delinquent in his class.

"I gotta say though, Yuuto-san... you really surprised me back there. When everyone else was frozen in shock, you were the only one able to move."

"Oh... well, I actually got the idea from Ryouta-san."

I pointed at Ryouta. He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Y-you did?"

"Earlier, you were asking if I could throw well. It gave me the idea to throw the dictionary at the kettle to knock it off course."

"If we go by what we just saw there, obviously you can!"

"...I'm still confused by what you meant though."

"Well, I was thinking of throwing the dictionary as well... but at one of their boy's hands instead. That way, it'd hopefully knock the kettle out, and we could've grabbed it for ourselves as a weapon."

"So we both thought of the same thing, but applied it in different ways... huh."

"Sorry to be such a downer, but... I think I need to go see the nurse... my ribs don't feel good after that." Ikeda said.

Considering he landed on solid ceramic floor with the side of his torso, it's understandable that Ikeda wanted to go check out his condition straight away.

"While you're at it, you should also probably bring Kawaguchi-san with you." Zyriot said.

"Yeah... I'll come too. I need some ice to cool down this burn."

Ryouta laughed awkwardly, wincing a little.

"I'll lead you guys there." Zyriot said.

"What should we do about the scavenger hunt, Zyriot-san?" Satou asked.

"Takanori-san, can you handle it? You four should be more than enough to finish it. We're only missing a few items now anyways."

"Yeah, that's fine. Matsushita-san, can you fill me in with what we've gotten so far?"

Before Ryouta left, he discreetly handed me Alice's underwear.

"Here... you'll need this."

"Thanks. I hope it's nothing serious."

"It isn't, it just stings and hurts a bit... I'd be in a much worse position if it weren't for you. I really am grateful, Takanori-san."

Together, he and Zyriot helped carry Kawaguchi to the infirmary. Ikeda trailed behind them, lagging because of the pain in his ribs.

"Ishigami-san."

Zyriot called out to him. Satou raised his head.

"Could you help Ikeda-san? He seems to be struggling."

"...sure thing. Sorry you guys, I'll leave it in your hands."

"It's alright. Take care you five."

In the end, it was just me, Matsushita, and Machida left to take up the mantle of completing this scavenger hunt.

"Through trading, we managed to secure a rare Vanguard card, an azalea, a left footed trainer, and a watch."

These four items, combined with the boiled egg, dictionary, and underwear I have, means we ticked off seven items. We were just missing the glasses, socks, and teacher now.

"Aren't we lucky... who had the azalea, may I ask?"

"Handa-san from C Class. Since his group only had six members, they got the advantage of being shown what one of the items looked like. Obviously, they chose the flower, and thus traded one for an egg."

"Guard it with your life. While me and Ryouta-san were out, we got the dictionary and underwear."

As Matsushita stared at the cotton white panties, a strange smile crept on his face.

"...those are totally Alice-san's, aren't they?"

"...no comment."

I'm more creeped out by how he knows it was hers...

"What about the glasses and teacher?"

"We've still yet to find Mitsuba-san's group. As for the teacher, I'll just ask Chabashira-sensei."

"Gotcha. Let's make that our priority then, since there might be someone in his group who has white socks."

"Actually, did they swing by the kitchen yet?"

"They haven't. I'm not sure what they're doing, but after the mess Shimada-san made, it seems they won't be able to complete the challenge after all."

"That's annoying... and it's the group with most of our classmates in as well."

"What are you thinking? Should we give our last boiled egg to them?"

"No. Don't you even dare think about it."

Suddenly, it was Machida who jumped in the conversation. He stood up, swiping back his bangs which were splattered with yoke.

"I wasn't. Even I know that our group comes first."

"Good. Now let's hurry and find that trap. With the way how things are going, we'll end up coming last."

"What do you mean...?" Matsushita said.

"We're dilly dallying and standing around instead of talking while moving. Come on, I know you two were Drachma dead brains before you moved up to being Zoa zit faces, but at least use your common sense if you had any!"

Machida banged on the table in frustration, before storming out of the kitchen to go find Mitsuba's group.

"...he has a point. Let's follow him. He seems to know where Nora-san is anyways."

Matsushita sighed as we followed Machida outside. Considering we didn't find Mitsuba's group inside, it was a good idea to see if they were here. We were exploring for awhile, but it seems Machida noticed something, and headed deeper into the forest.

"Machida-san, isn't that dangerous?" Matsushita asked.

"Grow some balls."

"This guy... what should we do, Takanori-san?"

"Let's just follow him."

"I feel scared though. Knowing him, he might just murder us while we're down there."

"You're forgetting who you're with."

Matsushita raised his eyebrows in surprise before chuckling a little.

"You know, I would pay to see you fight one on one with Machida-san."

"...really? Sounds like a boring match."

"Huh, are you that confident in your own abilities?"

"Not really. It's just, he always surrounded himself with Albert-san and Koishi-san, two people stronger than him... plus, whenever he did get violent, it's always against someone much weaker, like Nora-san. I can't imagine him being all that strong actually."

"Maybe you should test it out."

"I'd rather not. Violence is prohibited anyways. Plus... for better or worse, our group needs a guy like Machida-san."

"We do...? What benefit does a guy like him even bring?"

"I mean, you saw for yourself. His egg strategy netted us four items, two of which would've been a hassle to find normally. What Machida-san excels at is immoral strategies. He'll do the dirty work others refuse to if it means he'll win in the end."

"...I kind of get it. If it was up to the rest of us, we'd probably do things properly. However, because Machida-san took the lead, he roped us into doing a more sly and unfair tactic, but it meant we didn't have to do much work at all."

"That's right. Ryouta-san, Ikeda-san, and Zyriot-san are all upstanding people. They would never stoop so low to achieve what they want. The same goes for you and Satou-san."

"I suppose... I do have an image to keep up, after all. But if I don't have to care about it... I'd be willing to do some underhanded stuff too."

Considering his intense bullying of Kouji in the past, I wouldn't put it past Matsushita to be capable of that.

"But what about you? Where do you land on all of this?"

"...who knows. What do you think?"

"I think you're someone with even less morals than Machida-san. If anything, you remind me of Shimada-san a little bit."

"I do...?"

"Yeah. A more restrained version... if that makes sense?"

"Are you saying you would expect me to host a full on coupe for a single egg?"

"That's exactly right."

"You have a seriously messed up perception of me..."

"You're the one who did messed up things to me in the first place."

Our conversation was interrupted as Machida stopped and smirked.

"Heh. I thought I saw you."

"....Machida-san."

It was Albert Obama, one of Machida's former classmates. With him were the rest of Mitsuba's group, all sitting around on the fallen logs in the forest. I presume this was their base of operations.

"Oho, it's Takanori-kun and Matsushita-san too!" Mitsuba said.

"Tch, what's the dirty ikemen doing here?" Yukimura said.

Machida glanced at Nora and immediately stepped back in disgust. He threw a dirty glance his way, making Mikitaka step in and bring Nora closer to his side.

"Funny running into you guys. What are you all doing, out here in the forest?" Mikitaka said.

"Trying to find you guys." Machida said.

"Huh... what do you need us for?" Mitsuba said.

"I'll keep it simple. We're missing three items, two of which your group have."

By framing it this way, Machida was showing we weren't close to finishing yet, meaning they'd be more likely to trade with us if they think we still have to find something after.

"And what would they be?"

"The glasses and white socks."

Machida pointed at Nora, who fit both. Nora squeaked, hiding the colour of his socks. It was too late though, since everyone saw that they were white, like mine.

"Wait, you guys got girl's underwear?!"

Of course Mitsuba would be focused on that... Machida simply glared at him, so I had to speak up.

"That's actually the last thing we're trying to find."

"Aw man... here I was hoping we could've traded those two for that."

"Even if we did have them, there's no way we'd give it away for two items. We'd still be set back by one." Machida said.

"Fair enough..."

"Anyways, I'll leave it to these two since you're their classmates. Takanori-san, you better not screw up."

"...I'll try."

I sighed as Machida forced me and Matsushita to negotiate with Mitsuba's group for the other two items. At the very least, I was friends with most them, so it shouldn't be too hard convincing them to just hand over the items without trading.

"If you guys are missing glasses, socks, and underwear, I've got the perfect solution." Mikitaka said.

"And that is?"

I raised an eyebrow as Mikitaka pushed Nora forward.

"E-eh? M-Mikitaka-san, w-what are you...?"

"Takayuki-san has everything. Glasses? Check."

Indeed, Nora wore glasses. That was the whole reason we went to their group in the first place, so we could get those off him.

"Socks? Check."

Mikitaka lifted the ankles of Nora's jogging bottoms, revealing to us he wore white ankle socks with a cute floral design etched into them. Surprisingly girly for a boy... actually, everything about Nora is girly for a boy, I shouldn't be surprised.

"Underwear? Check."

For a moment, everyone went silent. Nora's face went dark red as Mikitaka might have casually exposed him. Not even Mitsuba, who wanted girl's panties the most, could say a word when faced with this bold statement.

"...did you say, underwear?"

Gulping, it was Matsushita who had the bravery to speak out first. Mikitaka nodded, causing a loud scream of surprise from multiple people to echo through the woods.

"D-de gozaru?! N-Nora-dono is an u-underwear crossdresser?!"

"You're joking! Nora, tell me this is a joke! There's no way!"

"Oi blud, dat's bare fruity uv you mans, copping knickers like dat, like sheeeeeesh!"

"Y-you mean this entire time... this entire time... Nora-chan was wearing panties?!"

Mitsuba clutched his head as smoke billowed from his nose. Nora squeaked and hid behind Mikitaka for safety.

"N-no, wait! P-please, I think this is a misunderstanding... in the first place, I don't know what Mikitaka-san means either!"

"Huh? I meant what I said. They can use your underwear for the scavenger hunt."

"B-but I'm not wearing girl's underwear...!"

"You aren't?"

Somehow, I think Mikitaka's the one who's had a misunderstanding here...

"N-no! W-why would I use girl's underwear?! W-where did that idea even come from?!"

"But, before, in your house... I saw you wear it."

"Y... you did...? S-since, s-since when...?"

A look of despair washed over Nora's burning red face.

"The last time all the girls went over.... they made you wear those girl's clothes, didn't they?"

"T-that... t-that was..."

Nora, completely ashamed that this was being exposed to the rest of the guys, buried his face into his hands and dropped to the floor, curling up into a ball of deep embarrassment.

"Eh? My best friend, what's wrong?! Are you okay?! D-did I upset you?!"

Mikitaka, immediately hearing the soft sobbing coming from Nora, knelt down and tried to comfort him. Yukimura facepalmed whereas Machida made a disgusted face.

"I hate to be insensitive about Nora-san's feelings, but we're running out of time. There's at least one group ahead of us, so we need to get these three items as soon as possible."

Since things were quickly going off track, I said those harsh words to pull everyone back into focus. Mitsuba looked surprised as I revealed that crucial piece of information to everyone.

"There's someone nearly done before you guys?! But your group is stacked!"

"And also down four members. An incident occurred so we were forced to split up. Right now, it's just the three of us doing the challenge. As for a group being ahead of us... that's the minimum. In actuality, there's probably two or three, potentially even four, who are doing better than we are."

This was a half-truth, half-lie. I was confident our group was currently ahead of most others since we have seven items, but what tipped me off that there was a group ahead of us was the missing egg from earlier.

That meant there was at least one group in the boy's side who mobilised faster than we did. Whichever group it was, they were our invisible main enemy, and also the greatest threat of securing first place in his challenge.

"In fact, you guys are doing just as well as we are, aren't you?"

"Well, we've found six items... the last four are proving to be a pain in the butt."

"Tell you what. Let's game the system."

"Game the system...? Wait, Takanori-san, do you have some brilliant plan that will win us first place?!"

In some ways, Matsushita was right.

"Yeah."

I was willing to do even more immoral things than Machida if it meant winning.

"All we have to do is bring Nora-san with us."

As Nora heard that, he raised his head a little and sniffled, looking at me.