"Ah, I'm so glad this is finally over..."

With a relieved smile, Tamaki stretched her back and arms while absorbing the sunlight that peeked through the window of our group's room.

It was 9am, and we were all preparing to vacate the outdoors school and take the coach back to Tokyo. Me and Tamaki had more or less finished packing all of our stuff, but...

There was still one sleepyhead that hadn't even gotten out of bed yet.

"Yumi-san. Oi, Yumi-san."

I poked Yumi on the cheek multiple times, but she still refused to get up. She grumbled, rolling on her side while drool dribbled down her chin.

"Come on, wake up. There's still time for us to have breakfast before the coach arrives. Don't make us late."

She opened one eye, looking back at me.

"I dun wanna..."

She curled up, hugging her blanket even tighter. Sometimes, I wonder how she and Yamamoto were twins... they were completely different in terms of personality.

"I guess we'll go back to Tokyo without you then."

"It's fine... I'll just go with my brother... you two can go ahead..."

"Yamamoto-san's already left though."

Yumi shot up in her bed, staring at me with wide eyes.

"I-I'm awake! I-I'm awake, I'm awake, see?! See?!"

And just as fast as she got up, she collapsed back down on the bed again.

"I can't believe my own brother would abandon me like this..."

Yumi sniffled. Tamaki laughed awkwardly and turned to me.

"Nee, has Yami-kun already really gone?"

I shrugged while Yumi wasn't looking. Tamaki laughed again, gently this time.

"Come on Yumi-chan, Mizuki-san has a point. If you don't hurry and wake up, we're gonna be late and have to wait for the next coach."

Tamaki grabbed Yumi's blanket and tore it away from her, sending the two into an unexpected tug of war. Thankfully, Tamaki managed to win, causing Yumi to roll out of bed.

"Oof..."

Yumi grumbled as she picked herself up, rubbing her bleary eyes.

"Tama-chan, that's so meannnnnnnn..."

Yumi sniffled, wiping away her faux tears. Tamaki laughed.

"It's fine, you can sleep more on the coach. Come on, I'll help you get ready for the day. Mizuki-chan, can you pack up her stuff?"

"Roger."

And that's how I ended up spending my morning helping pack up Yumi's bags. What an irresponsible sleepyhead...

The three of us then went to eat at the cafeteria before going outside and waiting for the coach to arrive. It seems there were quite a lot of students here, probably because 10am was the perfect cross section between waking up early and waking up late.

While Tamaki and Yumi went to talk to the others, I stood by myself away from everyone else, sucking on a lollipop while scrolling through my phone. As I did, I felt someone poke at my back.

I looked behind me, fully expecting that pest of a man trying to talk to me again...

But instead, I found myself face to face with a cute pink haired girl— Shimizu Hoshimi, an E Class student.

Right. During this exam, I somehow found myself unexpectedly working with Shimizu in the hide and seek challenge after helping both her and that weirdo Takanori escape the rainstorm.

Fortunately, he was pulled away by one of his classmates, Rinbayashi, leaving me and Shimizu alone together. Despite coming from different groups, I actually quite enjoyed the time we spent searching for hiders together.

One thing that surprised me was how athletic Shimizu was. When she scaled that mountain wall so effortlessly, I was so shocked I could barely speak. I guess that's one of the perks of having a slim body. Mine never seems to be getting thinner...

"H-hi there, Megami-san..."

Shimizu waved, greeting me with a small smile. Even though we got to know each other through the challenge, the gulf between our class's standings was painfully visible.

I was an A Class student and she was an E Class student. The largest gap possible. We weren't supposed to be mix, and yet here she was, trying to strike up a conversation with me. Poor thing, it's no wonder she couldn't even look at me properly.

"I-I hope I wasn't disturbing you..."

I shook my head and put away my phone.

"Not at all. I was just waiting for the coach with Yumi-san and Tamaki-san."

I pointed over to the two girls who were chatting with Ryouta and the others.

"O-oh I see."

"Are you waiting for the coaches too, Shimizu-san?"

"Eh? Oh, umm... n-no, not yet at least... Zyriot-san wanted to hold a class meeting, but not everyone's awake yet, so we're just waiting on the rest. Afterwards, we're all going home together."

Even though they're a bunch of fools and delinquents, if I had to give E Class credit for at least one thing, it would be for how close-knit they are a class. Zyriot's certainly one hell of a guy for being able to pull off that of unity, that's for sure.

"Oh, I see. I'm guessing you guys are going to get to know your new classmates before going off to vacation?"

"Yeah, something like that... he he."

Shimizu beamed. Despite being a wallflower, she seemed excited to have more people in the class. Though, I can't say the same feeling is shared by those who are going to E Class...

In the distance, I spotted Masamoto watching the A Class students from afar, like he wanted to join in. However, after the trick that Shigeru pulled off, he felt as if he lost his right to participate in our conversations.

Even though his face was as serious as always, it was obvious that his confidence had been shaken up by this sudden turn of events. I mean, I'd be pissed too if I was sent down to E Class just because someone made me the target of their petty revenge ploy.

"Best of luck then. It must be a pain to manage a class that huge..."

Not only did they have Albert and Ritaka from B Class due to earlier transfers, but now they were gaining six new students in the form of Masamoto, Yoneda, Houki, Kamuro, Handa, and Yamaguchi, bringing their total to 33 students.

"Ah, thank you... but knowing Zyriot-san, he'll manage it just fine."

I nodded, sensing our conversation ending here.

However...

Shimizu was still standing in front of me, fidgeting with her hands and looking around me.

...did she still have something she wanted to talk about?

"Is something else on your mind?"

"E-eh?"

"You look restless. Is there something you still wanted to say, or...?"

"U-umm..."

Shimizu looked down, squeaking as her face turned beet red from embarrassment. She nodded lightly.

"Well, what is it?"

"Uh... I-I just wanted to... um..."

Shimizu tried lifting her head to look at me, but the second our eyes met, she immediately looked away. I couldn't tell if she was about to say a good or bad thing, so I braced myself for the worst.

She shook off her nervousness and squeezed her eyes shut, putting her hands to her chest.

"M-Megami-san... t-t-t-t-thank you for being so kind to me in this special exam...!"

"...eh?"

I tilted my head, the candy in my mouth nearly slipping out.

Seriously? This was what Shimizu was so scared of saying? A compliment?

It was so unbelievable, I was left a little shocked.

"T-that's all!"

Shimizu buried her face into her hands and turned away. Somehow, it was kind of endearing seeing her get this flustered over such a small thing.

"That's... what you wanted to say?"

Usually I'd tease someone over this, but she sounded so sincere about it, I didn't want to spit in the face of her honesty.

It looked like it took a lot of courage for her to even say it in the first place, so I'd just feel like an ass if I was mean.

Despite knowing all that, a laugh found itself escaping my lips anyways.

"It's no big deal, honestly. I know some of the other people in our class are real stringent it..."

I rolled my eyes over to Yahagi and his lot, who took this school hierarchy a bit too seriously.

"...but I can assure you, not everyone is out to hurt you just because you're in a low class."

The only exception to this rule is Takanori, but that's because he's Takanori. And frankly, he deserves it for being such a pervert.

"M-Megami-san... you really are too kind..."

Shimizu looked at me over her shoulder, eyes watering.

Seriously, it's not that big of a deal, don't make me go back on my own words here... I can't stand it when people start crying over small things.

"Nn, I'm not really. I'm just going along with what Tamaki-san says. If you want to thank someone, thank her. None of this matters to me really."

It's not like I'm leaving A Class any time soon. Especially after the result Ryouta and Yahagi pulled from winning on the boy's side, our class was in the comfiest position it's ever been so far.

"Umm... b-but, even so..."

Shimizu mumbled something, her words trailing off. I couldn't hear the rest of it, but it didn't seem that important, so I nodded like I understood.

"By the way... h-have you seen Takanori-san at all this morning?"

"Nope."

"O-oh... maybe he left earlier than everyone else then..."

"That could be possible."

Though, I'd put my money on that guy still sleeping. He seems exactly like the type to stay up all night playing an eroge before going to sleep at an ungodly hour.

"T-thanks anyways."

Shimizu smiled before waving goodbye, rejoining her friends in E Class.

I wonder why she wanted to see Takanori of all people... though, supposing how pure she is, I guess she wanted to thank him too for his help.

Now then.

I swivelled my head, looking at Masamoto who continued to watch A Class from afar like some kind of voyeur.

...I hate going out of my way to do things, but I hate seeing people mope around like they're unable to do anything even more.

I approached Masamoto, causing him to look up at me.

"...Megami-san. Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, you can. Get up and go talk to Tamaki-san."

"For what reason?"

"Any, really? You do know you look really creepy just sitting here and staring at our class, right? I'm doing you a favour and saving you from social embarrassment."

"It's unlike you to worry about others."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not. But if you're going to fall from grace, then do it a bit more elegantly."

"You make a fair point. However, considering the weight of my foolishness in that special exam, I think this is just punishment for my failures. If I wanted to continue standing alongside everyone else, then I should've done more to protect myself from becoming E Class."

Even though I was cringing at the entire thing, I did feel guilty afterwards since he sounded so earnest in his morals.

"I know you were a student council judge and all, so this is probably secondhand nature to you... but like, this self-imposed punishment crap just makes you sound like an edgelord."

Masamoto's face dropped. For a moment, I thought I could hear his glasses crack too.

Oops. Did I lay it on too heavy handedly on him?

"I promise you, that wasn't my intention..."

Even he's coming to the realisation of how lame he sounds. Well, at least we're getting somewhere now.

"If that's the case, then get off your ass and talk to us."

"But I can't..."

"You can."

"I can't face everyone now that I've dropped so low. If I was being sent to B Class, things might be different, but..."

"It doesn't have to be this way, though. What do you think Tamaki-san's been advocating during the past three months here?"

Masamoto raised his head, looking at me wide-eyed. I smiled lightly.

"And not just her. Yumi-san, Senzaki-san, and even Ryouta-san too. There's tons of us who want to abolish these class divisions so everyone can get along together, regardless of their standing."

"...so that's why you want me to talk to her, huh? I understand."

Masamoto pushed up his glasses and slowly rose to his feet.

"Well, I'm sure Tamaki-san would also appreciate if you looked after her little brother Akihiro while you're down there as well."

"Of course, I'd be more than happy to."

"Great, so don't tell me that. Tell her."

I pushed Masamoto forward, sending him towards the crowd of A Class students.

At first, he was surprised, before flashing a smile back at me.

"Thanks, Megami-san. You're surprisingly kind."

Again with this comment... first Shimizu, and now him too?

I sighed.

"I'm not kind. I just hate eyesores."

Masamoto chuckled before approaching Tamaki and starting a conversation with her. Looks like all's well that ends well.

A few minutes later, we could see the next coach back to Tokyo just beyond the horizon. It would be arriving any minute now.

As I had split off from them, Tamaki and Yumi were looking around, trying to find me in the crowd. Eventually, Yumi spotted me, and she shouted my way while waving her hand. Tamaki joined in as well.

"Mizuki-chan, let's go!"

"Mizuki-san, over here!"

I looked at both girls and shook my head.

"Sorry, guys. I'm going to stay behind."

"Eh? Stay behind? What for?" Tamaki said.

I smiled, clutching my phone tightly.

"Don't worry. I'll come visit when it's all over. Just go on without me!"

"A... alright then. Stay safe, Mizuki-san!"

"And have a good summer vacation, Mizuki-chan! See you soon!"

Both Tamaki and Yumi waved goodbye to me before boarding with everyone else. I waved goodbye to them too, watching as the coach departed.

I looked down, staring at the message that had just come through on my phone.

"Hiden Mumei will be staying on the island."

It was from an anonymous sender calling themselves "X".