After more than ten minutes of conversation, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Horikita Suzune finally left Saiki Kusuo's room. For Saiki Kusuo, those ten minutes felt like the longest ten minutes of his life.
"Yare yare, it's finally over..."
Saiki Kusuo sighed and was about to leave the room when he suddenly caught Shiina Hiyori's thoughts, realizing that she had come specifically to visit him.
[I wonder if Saiki is feeling better. I should go check on him.]
'Shiina's here too? Although Shiina is different from the others, now's the time to head to the dining hall for some special cream puffs. Plus, I don't like being the center of attention, so I'll just pretend I'm not in the room.'
[I even brought some desserts that Saiki likes.]
In the next moment, Saiki Kusuo was already sitting in his seat, as if the idea of pretending to be absent had never crossed his mind.
Soon, the expected knock on the door came, and Saiki Kusuo immediately opened it to let Shiina Hiyori in.
"Saiki-kun!"
The moment she saw Saiki Kusuo, Shiina Hiyori's face lit up with a bright smile. She handed him a bag of sweets.
"I heard you were sick, so I came to check on you. I thought you might like these!"
"Thank you very much."
Saiki Kusuo forced his gaze away from the sweets and looked at Shiina Hiyori in front of him.
Meanwhile, Shiina Hiyori quickly scanned the room.
[Saiki-kun must be faking his illness, right?]
[There's no cold medicine in the room, and there's no tissue paper in the trash. If he were really sick, the room wouldn't look like this.]
[It seems the results of this exam are indeed related to Saiki-kun.]
'Yare yare... I slipped up.'
Saiki Kusuo realized something was wrong and thought about how to explain.
Earlier, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka had almost exposed him in front of Horikita Suzune, and now Shiina Hiyori had also noticed something from the subtle clues.
The students at this school are no ordinary bunch.
"Saiki-kun, can I ask you a question?"
Shiina Hiyori fell silent for a moment, deep in thought, before continuing.
"In this exam, you were the class leader, right? You faked being sick to change the leader and tricked Ibuki, didn't you?"
[I feel like this must be the correct answer.]
[If I say it directly... will it create distance between me and Saiki-kun?]
[But if I want to make progress, I need to know the truth.]
"I won't tell anyone else. If it's inconvenient to say, that's fine..."
"You're right."
Saiki Kusuo confirmed Shiina Hiyori's guess.
'Yare yare, even if I deny it now, someone as sharp as Shiina will probably figure it out eventually. To avoid future trouble, it's better to admit it now. Besides, with Shiina's personality, she won't tell anyone.'
After all, Shiina Hiyori had only guessed the process of the exam and hadn't figured out anything about Saiki Kusuo's supernatural abilities. After some thought, Saiki Kusuo decided not to deny her guess.
Moreover, an idea had formed in Saiki Kusuo's mind.
[Saiki-kun actually admitted it directly in front of me... Does that mean he trusts me?]
Hearing Saiki Kusuo's words, Shiina Hiyori was slightly surprised, but soon she felt a sense of happiness.
[Saiki-kun really is an amazing person... Although I don't want the class atmosphere to be ruined, one day, Saiki-kun and I might become enemies... Is there any way to change this... Wait... What if Saiki-kun transferred to our class? Wouldn't that solve everything?]
Shiina Hiyori began to form a plan.
"But this wasn't my idea."
At this moment, Saiki Kusuo continued.
"It was Horikita and Ayanokoji who came up with the plan."
"It was them?"
Shiina Hiyori's eyes widened slightly, a hint of surprise in her gaze, but she quickly shook her head.
"But the exam is over now, and what's done is done—Saiki, have you finished the books I lent you? I brought you a few more interesting ones!"
...
"Damn it, damn it!"
In another room, Kushida Kikyo was pounding the wall while cursing under her breath.
Nothing in this exam had gone according to her plans.
Originally, she had planned to make Horikita Suzune the leader and use the opportunity to make the exam fail, pinning the blame on Horikita Suzune.
But Kushida Kikyo never expected that Saiki Kusuo would become the leader instead.
In the end, not only did Horikita Suzune become the leader again, but she also gained immense popularity in the class due to the class's first-place finish, even gaining a large number of supporters!
For Kushida Kikyo, this was absolutely unacceptable.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! I'll definitely, definitely make you drop out!"
Kushida Kikyo's expression twisted with anger as she picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Hey, Ryuen..."
...
After the deserted island special exam, everyone had three days of rest.
During these three days, it seemed like everyone had forgotten the exhaustion from the special exam and enjoyed their vacation on the ship.
The ship was massive, with all kinds of facilities, and three days weren't enough to experience everything.
For Saiki Kusuo, these three days were quite fulfilling.
He sampled various types of desserts, and not only that, Saiki Kusuo had also brought his germanium ring, allowing him to enjoy movies in the ship's cinema. For Saiki Kusuo, this was almost like a dream come true.
At this moment, Saiki Kusuo was in the ship's café, sipping coffee and reading a novel. He was wearing his germanium ring, enjoying a rare moment of peace—
But then, his phone vibrated. Before he could even take it out, the ship's intercom sounded:
"Attention all students. The school has just sent out an email with important instructions. Please check your phones and follow the instructions. If you did not receive the email, please contact a nearby staff member. The content is very important, so please make sure to check carefully. Repeating—"
"More trouble, huh?"
Saiki Kusuo sighed, reluctantly taking off his ring and picking up his phone to read the message on the screen.
"The special exam is about to begin. Please gather in your assigned rooms at the designated time. Those who are more than ten minutes late will be penalized. Please gather in Room 204 on the second floor by 6 PM tonight. The entire process will take approximately twenty minutes. Please use the restroom and switch your phone to vibrate or turn it off before coming to the meeting place."
"Yare yare, looks like there's another exam."
Saiki Kusuo looked at the message on his phone, already guessing that the school was up to no good.
After taking off his ring, Saiki Kusuo could clearly hear the thoughts of the nearby students.
[Huh? What's the school up to now?]
[Starting at 8:40 PM? What are they planning?]
[8 PM... Could it be another exam?]
'The meeting times aren't the same for everyone. Looks like we're being divided into groups again.'
Saiki Kusuo glanced at the time. It was almost time, so he left the café and headed to the room mentioned in the email.
Standing at the door, Saiki Kusuo used his X-ray vision to see inside.
Mashima Tomonari, Class A's homeroom teacher, was sitting inside with a serious expression. In front of him were two students from Class D.
One of them wore glasses, was slightly overweight, and had unkempt hair that reflected a faint oily sheen.
Sotomura Hideo, known as "The Professor" in class.
'Yare yare, the Professor's here?'
Saiki Kusuo narrowed his eyes slightly. To any ordinary person, Sotomura Hideo fit the stereotype of an otaku.
He was deeply involved in everything from dating sims to anime, often saying things like he wanted to go to the 2D world or that his ideal wife had to be from an anime. He was well-versed in history and mechanics, as well as some obscure trivia.
Although he had a lot of knowledge in certain niche areas, it also meant that Sotomura Hideo had effectively given up on dating during his three years of high school. His popularity in class wasn't great—especially among the girls—but he got along well with the "Idiot Trio," often discussing strange topics with them.
The other person was Yukimura Teruhiko, though his student ID seemed to have a different name. He preferred to be called Teruhiko.
Yukimura Teruhiko's grades were among the top in the class, but his relationship with the girls wasn't great. He hadn't interacted much with Saiki Kusuo before.
Saiki Kusuo knocked on the door and, after hearing Mashima Tomonari's response, entered the room and greeted the other two.
Just then, another knock came at the door. Before the knock even sounded, Saiki Kusuo already knew who it was.
'Yare yare, here come two more troublesome people.'
The door opened again, and one of the people was Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.
[Saiki's here too?]
In Saiki Kusuo's mind, another person's thoughts almost drowned out Ayanokoji's.
[Ugh, why are these guys here?!]
The newcomer was Karuizawa Kei.
Her honey-colored hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her delicate face was adorned with gem-like eyes that sparkled with a playful light.
However, in Saiki Kusuo's mind, Karuizawa Kei's thoughts didn't stop.
[That Sotomura guy looks like a total otaku. So gross.]
[Yukimura, his grades are good, but he always has that grumpy look on his face. What's he trying to prove?]
[Ayanokoji... well, he's decent-looking, but his personality is too gloomy. He's practically invisible in class.]
The moment she saw them, Karuizawa Kei had already rated these boys in her mind.
[Ugh, it's Karuizawa.]
[Being grouped with Karuizawa? What a pain.]
Both Sotomura Hideo and Yukimura Teruhiko seemed to have some issues with Karuizawa Kei.
Saiki Kusuo wasn't very involved in class affairs and didn't know what conflicts they had. It seemed like they just didn't get along.
Saiki Kusuo remembered that Karuizawa Kei had previously set her sights on Hirata Yosuke, but due to a series of events at school, her plans had been delayed.
[Ugh, compared to Hirata, these guys are nothing.]
[Oh, Saiki's here too?]
[He...]
Saiki Kusuo was curious about how Karuizawa Kei viewed him.
Whatever it was, as long as it was better than Sotomura, it was fine.
[He looks really cold, but he did pretty well in the last exam. He even got sick for the sake of the class. He's also pretty good-looking, much better than those three. His popularity among the girls seems to have gone up a bit. Maybe he can be a backup plan for this summer.]
'Yare yare, her evaluation isn't too bad.'
Saiki Kusuo hadn't expected to have a decent rating in Karuizawa Kei's mind, but this wasn't good news for him. She was the type to attract a lot of attention, which didn't suit him at all. Plus, Saiki Kusuo had no interest in her so-called "summer backup plan."
Out of politeness, Saiki Kusuo nodded at Karuizawa Kei as a greeting, while also focusing his X-ray vision on her—
Saiki Kusuo narrowed his eyes slightly. He saw that her body was covered in scars.