I focused back on my main mission, which was bringing Oshita to the outdoors school.

Eventually, after clambering through the mountain to find paths where I could walk while carrying her, I managed to get back to the school.

I first went towards the meal station to get in contact with the teacher manning the stand. I could get permission to enter inside through them.

However, I paused, seeing which teacher was there.

It was Hiden-sensei.

Out of all people to be here, why'd it have to be him...

After what happened last night, I couldn't bring myself to trust him. At least, not in this moment. I kept myself hidden behind a tree and gently placed Oshita inside a nearby bush, concealing her body.

I peered out from behind the tree. After waiting five minutes and checking to see if Hiden-sensei would leave or switch out with someone else, I came to the unfortunate conclusion that he wouldn't budge.

While it wasn't ideal, I had no choice but to approach him if I wanted to talk to Chabashira-sensei. There was also no chance I was going to let him see the injured Oshita by my side, so I decided to take a risk and leave her while I go talk to him.

As I came closer to approach him, Hiden-sensei tipped his fedora and smiled at me.

"Good morning, Mister Yuu. Here to pick up some supplies, eh?"

Like usual, he started speaking to me in English. I replied back in Japanese as per usual.

"Not exactly... I'm here to talk to a teacher."

"Oh. Is there anything I could help you with, then?"

"A... certain teacher."

The smile on Hiden-sensei's face widened.

"Miss Chacha. Amirite?"

"Who else could it be."

I learnt from yesterday's interrogation that Hiden-sensei already knew this, so why did he act like he didn't?

"I was keeping my hopes up and secretly hoping that you would say me, but alas, I guess it wasn't meant to be..."

I ignored his teasing and cut straight to the point. I couldn't afford to waste time when Oshita's on her last legs.

"Can I speak to her?"

"What for?"

"I need to tell her something."

"Can't you tell me? I'm also a trusted member of staff here. I can even pass the message along to her if you want."

"No need. I want to tell her in person."

"That's a troublesome request you've got there... she's not here at the moment, you know?"

I clenched my fists.

"She's not...?"

"Mhm-mhm. Miss Chacha is out and about in the field, helping students whose emergency alarms have turned on. Did you know she has a medical license? I didn't!"

"...I see. Do you know where she is?"

"No clue either. Sorry."

Despite delivering me some bad news, a thin smile adorned Hiden-sensei's face. Was he deriving pleasure from telling me this or something?

"...who else is here currently?"

"Well, let's see... there's of course me, Mr Mordecai, Miss Dachou, and—"

Just before Hiden-sensei could say the last name, someone stepped out of the outdoors school and joined us in the rain.

"And me."

He lifted his bucket hat up slightly, letting me see his gleaming red eyes and mischievous smile.

"Yo, Takanori-san. It's been awhile."

"...Mikazuchi-sensei."

So he was here, huh? While it wasn't what I originally had in mind, seeing him here was actually pretty lucky for me... if I can't get in contact with Chabashira-sensei, then Mikazuchi-sensei would've been my second best option for something like this.

"And of course, yes, Yarichin-chan. How nice of you to join us."

Seeing there was a third party, Hiden-sensei switched back to Japanese.

"Ha ha ha, I hope I'm not crashing your party or anything. I noticed Takanori-san was here and had to come out to see him. It's been way too long since I've talked to one of my favourite students!"

"No, no, of course it's fine! The more the merrier, as they say. Unfortunately, Yuu-kun doesn't look so pleased to see you here."

"Oh, is that so?"

Mikazuchi-sensei glanced at me and his smile became cheekier.

"To be honest, I think that displeased face is because of you, Hiden-sensei."

"Ah? Me?"

The smile on Hiden-sensei's face slithered like a snake.

"Now what could make you ever think that, Yarichin-chan?"

"For starters, you might want to start showing me some respect as a colleague. My name is Mikazuchi Ryuzaki, the most richest man in Japan— no, the world! And you better not forget it!"

"Ha ha ha... my apologies, Yarichi— Mikazuchi-chan. Is that better?"

"Sure. Now that's out of the way, I'll cut straight to the point. Don't think you're pushing your luck with Takanori-san?"

"My luck? Whatever do you mean?"

Hiden-sensei pulled his hat down. Mikazuchi-sensei pulled his hat up.

"Isn't it obvious? You and I both know what you're trying to do with him."

Hiden-sensei snickered.

"Oh... you think I have ulterior motives, do you? As a colleague, my heart is broken that you think I'd be so sly, Yari— sorry, Mikazuchi-chan."

"Ha ha, I'm not accusing you of anything of the sort. I'm just saying that what you're doing is obviously not working. If Takanori-san wants to rely on you, then he'll come to you. There's no need for you to force him into telling you what's on his mind when he doesn't want to."

Hiden-sensei sighed, lifting his hat again and nodding.

"You're right... yes, yes, you're absolutely right. I've been trying to pry a bit too forcefully into Yuu-kun's life, yes..."

"A bit forcefully? I'm pretty sure you've been trying your damned hardest to get him to open up to you. Say, don't tell me you have a school girl's crush on him do you, Hiden-sensei? Eh, eh?"

Mikazuchi-sensei began poking the bee's nest, but Hiden-sensei was unaffected by the slight. Instead, he laughed along with the joke, enjoying the provocation that Mikazuchi-sensei had sent his way.

"Oh my... that's a bold claim of you to make, Ya— Mikazuchi-chan. Gosh, you're such a rascal. But no, I don't harbour any sort of feeling towards Yuu-kun..."

"Huh, is that so? You've been keeping an eye on him for awhile though."

"And so have you, no? In fact, before he was even enrolled here, you kept making all sorts of shady backdoor deals with the principal to ensure you'd be the one running his entrance exam. Isn't it only natural that I'd take interest in a student who gets such special treatment?"

"That is true, but... unlike you, I knew about Takanori-san before he was even a candidate for GEN Academy."

Hiden-sensei's smile broke into full blown laughter.

"A ha ha ha... ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha, that's the funniest thing you've said all day, Yarichin-chan! Ku ha ha ha, ha ha ha!"

For once, I saw Mikazuchi-sensei's eyes narrow towards Hiden-sensei.

"I don't see what's so funny about it..."

"Ha ha ha... how ironic. This is so, so ironic... this must be some sort of fate, or some sort of destiny... ha ha ha..."

Hiden-sensei shot his gaze deep into my eyes.

In that moment, it felt like my heart stopped.

...just what the hell does he want from me?

"Don't tell me..."

Hiden-sensei didn't answer Mikazuchi-sensei's trailing question. Instead, he smirked while pulling his hat down.

"No... don't worry about that. Of course I don't know him from the past. That's absurd."

For a moment, I thought he was going to mention <that>.

If Hiden-sensei did...

"To tell you the truth, I only started keeping a close eye on Yuu-kun because of a request from one of my students."

"One of your students...?"

"Indeed... if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have any interest in Yuu-kun. Of course, I can't reveal their identity to you for their own sake, but I will say that they paid me to do it. Since you can buy anything you want in this school with private points, I couldn't turn down their demand. That's why I've been trying to get closer to Yuu-kun this entire time."

...my thought about what I'd do to Hiden-sensei dissipated immediately as he stated this fact.

It became obvious to me now who set him up to do this, especially with the knowledge from our conversation last night.

"Apparently, he wanted to monitor you closely and gauge your true abilities for himself."

Once again... everything traced back to one man.

Ryouta Hane.

He's the only one with the motivation and payroll to set Hiden-sensei up to do all this.

But wait... does that mean he's been monitoring me even before I unveiled my plan in the Test Shuffle...?

After all, during A Class's war against 3rd Year E Class, when I visited the war room with Momiji-sensei to scan the cards...

Hiden-sensei acted the same way towards me then too.

And even before that... during our first month here, Hiden-sensei said something to me that hinted of Ryouta's existence.

"Takanori-kun, you should be careful from now on. Did you know that you've gained their attention?"

...did he seriously suspect there was more to me, even all the way back then?

No, that doesn't make sense...

"One of my classmates told me you would be a threat in the future. I decided to trust their word on it and observed you for the past two months. In the end, that was the conclusion I came to. That was my honest first impression of you, Takanori-san."

...because Ryouta told me that.

His first impression of me was someone unimportant and unnecessary to worry about.

Then... was it Yogen?

She was the one who spurned him on to look out for me.

But that doesn't make sense either... why would she need a third party to look out for me when she's fine with approaching me outright? She seems to even find joy in doing it sometimes too...

And in the first place, I've never seen these two have a friendly relationship. Sure, he might be her homeroom teacher, but Yogen prefers making deals with her classmates, like with Yamamoto.

If it's not her, if it's not Ryouta, then who could it be...?

For a moment, I considered Shimada, but he was unaware of my existence until recently. That doesn't fit the timeline. And even if he did, he'd have no reason to scout my abilities when he already knows about them from <that>.

I also thought about Nakajima, but quickly erased the thought. His first attempt of assassinating me was to feel out my abilities, so it wouldn't be necessary to do if he really had Hiden-sensei working for him.

Plus, why would he get an authority figure to do this for him? It just sounds like a recipe for trouble if they found out his true intentions. If he really wanted to surveil me, he could just dispatch one of the insiders working for him in the island, such as Nanjo.

By eliminating these potential candidates, it left me with only one other person on this island who kept an eye on me from the very beginning.

X.

...could it be them?

It was the only person I had left in my head, yet... it didn't make sense either. They've been contacting me through Kuwahara. Why would they suddenly switch over to using Hiden-sensei, a teacher from a class that's a completely different standing from mine?

So was it someone unrelated altogether that got Hiden-sensei to investigate me...?

If it was, who could this person be? And how would they have this level of foresight?

Then, for a moment, I considered something else altogether.

My heart dropped as this possibility echoed in my head.

Could it be...

...him?

"So it wasn't of your own will, huh?"

"Nope. I was forced into it."

"I see. In that case, it might be worth calling it off. We do have the power to refuse unreasonable requests like that after all. If it's something you can't fulfil, then it's a waste of their private points. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I do... even so, they're persistent. I keep telling them I've been unsuccessful at their request, yet they keep buying it from me. I don't understand this obsession, but oh well."

"Tell me this student's name. I can give them a good talking to on your behalf."

"No, no, it's alright. There's no need for such vague sounding threats, Mikazuchi-chan. If things keep escalating, then of course I'll refuse it. But as things are now... I don't have any reason to."

"If letting Takanori-san hear it is your concern, you can always whisper it to me. Otherwise... if you keep refusing to reveal their name, I'll just have to assume it's a half-baked lie to try and get closer to my student."

Hiden-sensei raised an eyebrow.

"Your student? Excuse me, but aren't you the homeroom teacher of E Class?"

"Sure am, and I'm damn proud of it. But you know what else I am?"

"What?"

"I'm also the mentor of Takanori-san. It's not a stretch to say I'm the reason why he's so strong!"

I wish I could rebuke this claim, but honestly, as long as it gets Hiden-sensei off my back, I don't mind.

"Oh... well, isn't that interesting to know. Mikazuchi-chan and Yuu-kun... you two are certainly a combo I wasn't expecting. How do you even put up with him, Yuu-kun?"

"...I ask myself that question everyday."

"Aw, thanks! Love you too, Takanori-san!"

Hiden-sensei slumped his shoulders forward, smiling.

"Ha ha ha... I understand. In that case, I won't interfere further. As long as you have Mikazuchi-chan and Chacha-chan, I won't be needed. That's what you two are basically telling me."

"Pretty much. If you don't leave him alone, then you'll have to face either one of us. While Shizuka-chan might let you off the hook, I certainly won't. It's been a long time since I've sued someone, so I've been itching to wreck someone's life in court recently."

Hiden-sensei tipped his hat down, hiding his eyes.

"What a bullish way of fighting. Though, I don't hate that way of doing things either."

He walked past Mikazuchi-sensei, before whispering something in his ear and reentering the outdoors school. Whatever he said, it was enough to piss Mikazuchi-sensei off.

"...whatever you're up to, I recommend you don't fly so close to the sun. It might burn you one day if you do."

"Ha ha ha... who knows. I have a feeling you'll be the one burnt one day though, Yarichin-chan."

Mikazuchi-sensei's smile faded as Hiden-sensei jabbed him with that parting remark.

"...what was all that about?"

As I asked that question, Mikazuchi-sensei shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. That guy's a nuisance anyways, don't waste your precious time worrying about him. I certainly won't."

He grinned, winking at me. I couldn't help but agree, so I nodded.

"I overheard a bit of your conversation earlier. You wanted to talk to Shizuka-chan, right?"

"...yeah."

"I'll call her on my phone. That way, you can—"

"Sorry, but... it has to be in person."

"Eh? How come?"

"Because... well..."

I went back to the bushes and picked up Oshita's body. When Mikazuchi-sensei saw it, his eyes widened.

"...I found Oshita-san like this."

"What the... what happened? Why didn't her emergency alarm go off? Is she okay?"

"To make a long story short... someone tried to kill Oshita-san. Obviously, since it's related to <that>, I couldn't show Hiden-sensei her body. Otherwise, I wouldn't have a good explanation for what's happening. That's why I wanted to talk to Chabashira-sensei... since she's the only person I can talk to about this."

"I didn't even cross your mind? Seriously?"

"You found out about my past by pestering... never mind. It's not worth wasting my breath on something as trivial as this. In any case, you get the gist of what's going on, right?"

Mikazuchi-sensei nodded, taking Oshita's body off my hands.

"So the person who attacked you last month is now going after everyone else in this special exam?"

"More or less. Unfortunately, Oshita-san was the first to fall victim."

"...as much as I'd like to call off this challenge for everyone's safety, I assume that doing so would actually make the situation worse?"

"Yeah. If the teachers close this challenge and use Oshita-san's injuries as the reason for it, it'll tip off the assailant that the faculty is now involved and are actively participating in foiling their plans. Who knows who they might target next if that's the case. It's better for us if we're fully aware of who's being hunted, since that'll make protecting them and tracking the killer down much easier."

But above all else, things from the underworld should be dealt by those from the underworld. I had to uphold that dogma so that no one from the outside world would find out about all of this.

"Not to mention... it'd probably paint a huge target on my back. I'm the only one who regularly contacts the teachers. Everyone else keeps to themselves. It'd be obvious I'm the one who stopped them."

The last thing I need is Nakajima to attack me in a wild fit of rage for stopping his about to be murder streak.

"I understand. Well, from the sounds of things, it looks like you'll be perfectly fine. There's no point worrying about you like Shizuka-chan does if you're confident in handling this matter, so I'm happy to just leave things up to you and support you from the sidelines when you need it. Besides, I know you wouldn't let yourself die before beating Kaido. Ain't that right?"

"...you're right. I wouldn't. Not when I've still got a score to settle with him."

"That's the spirit. Don't worry about Oshita-san either, I've got just the perfect story to explain this!"

"Just say she went cliff diving. Shigeru-san looked just as bad when he fell."

"Heh, looks like we had the same idea. Great minds think alike!"

I don't know why, but that scared me a little.

"...well, I'm off then."

"Have a safe journey. If you manage to come back in one piece, I'll give you something real special!"

"That so?"

"I'm a man of my word. You'll like what I got in store, ha ha ha."

Mikazuchi-sensei winked at me before carrying Oshita inside the outdoors school with him.

"...that takes care of that."

Just as I was about to leave, a familiar voice shouted at me.

"Oi, Takanori."

While I didn't want to waste my time talking to them, I knew I couldn't ignore them because I recognised from their voice that they were an important person.

I stopped, turned around, and looked up at the man who called out to me.

It was Machida, who just exited the outdoors school using a different entrance Mikazuchi-sensei used.