COTE: Popularity System

Just as Honami was consulting others at the base.

Himeno Yuki thought for a moment, then came to the side of a certain boy in the class.

"Yuki, is something the matter?"

Noticing someone approaching, Takada Hikaru, who was leaning against a tree resting, asked with a chuckle.

"It's just... I want to go check on the situation of the other classes, and I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to accompany me." Himeno Yuki asked, feeling a bit nervous.

"Sure." Takada Hikaru said with a smile. "Should we go now?"

"Uh... I might need to tell the people in the class first, so everyone doesn't worry." Himeno Yuki hadn't expected him to agree so readily and was slightly stunned.

"Then I'll wait for you here."

"Okay."

Before leaving, Himeno Yuki furrowed her eyebrows. "Takada-san, you seem to be in a good mood?"

Takada Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, I remembered something worth reminiscing about."

"An experience from camping in the past?"

"No, an experience from when I was in school." Takada Hikaru said with a smile.

To facilitate movement, the school required all students to change into sportswear. The girls were afraid of their skin getting tanned, so even with sunscreen, they were still wearing their red sportswear jackets. Even Himeno Yuki was the same.

Looking at the students in the class wearing their athletic school uniforms, Takada Hikaru had the feeling of returning to his previous life studying in school, so he was in a pretty good mood.

...

To scout for information on the leaders of the other classes, Class A formed several investigation teams, basically composed of two people each.

Now that the base camp had been settled, it made no sense to keep most of the students here. Sending them out to investigate the other classes was the appropriate arrangement.

Even if they didn't end up obtaining useful information, at least they had made an effort, which was better than staying at the base camp with nothing to do.

"Takada-san..."

Hamaguchi Tetsuya had originally wanted to ask Takada Hikaru to be his partner. But after seeing Himeno Yuki by his side, he fell silent and turned to team up with someone else in the class. In the end, the person he found was Kanzaki Ryūji.

After the groups were divided, to improve efficiency, everyone decided to start investigating from different directions.

"Then shall we... go east?" Himeno Yuki raised a finger, looking at the boy beside her with hesitation.

"Sure." Takada Hikaru smiled lightly, his tone relaxed. "Yuki, don't be too nervous. Just treat it like an outing."

Hearing what he said, Himeno Yuki rolled her eyes.

If they were really just spending seven days on a deserted island, she would certainly be able to enjoy it properly. But they were currently in a special exam, and the slightest carelessness could lead to a drop in the class's ranking.

She didn't want her class to drop from Class A to Class B by the time the next semester arrived.

Leaving their base camp, they traveled some distance to the east. After walking for nearly thirty minutes and confirming that there were no other classmates around, Himeno Yuki finally relaxed, and her demeanor gradually became lazy.

Anyway, the boy beside her knew her true colors, so it didn't matter if she dropped her facade a little.

Subsequently, Himeno Yuki remembered something and asked, "Takada-san, the atmosphere between you and Kanzaki-san has been a bit strange lately. Did something happen between you two yesterday?"

It wasn't just Himeno Yuki, everyone in the class could feel that there seemed to be a conflict between the class's second-in-command and the class's big shot, making the atmosphere quite awkward when they were together.

If both parties were ordinary people, then even if there was a conflict, it wouldn't matter, and Himeno Yuki couldn't be bothered to care. But Takada Hikaru and Kanzaki Ryūji were both people with high status in Class A, so if a conflict arose between the two, it would be quite troublesome.

It wasn't convenient to discuss these matters back at the base camp, but now that there was no one else around, it was the perfect time to bring it up.

"It's not really a big deal."

Takada Hikaru briefly mentioned his interaction with Kanzaki Ryūji yesterday.

After listening to his plan, Himeno Yuki sighed faintly, "It would have been good if Kanzaki-san had listened to you at that time."

When choosing the class leader yesterday, initially, no one in the class was willing to take on the role of leader. This was a position that could lead to the class's check-in points being wasted, and potentially even a deduction of 50 points. Considering the responsibility that came with being a leader, people in the class didn't really dare to step forward.

Of course, the main reason was that the people in Class A were already used to following Honami's arrangements, believing that she would choose a suitable leader.

However, in the end, Chihiro volunteered, hoping to become the leader and use her own strength to help the class.

Although her courage was commendable, in Himeno Yuki's view, Chihiro was not very suitable to serve as the leader. Not to mention her timid personality, she also easily wore her emotions on her face.

Her athletic ability wasn't great either. She was basically at the bottom every time in PE class, so she wouldn't be able to check in at multiple locations.

"It doesn't matter if we fail occasionally." Takada Hikaru said with a smile.

Himeno Yuki was slightly stunned. "Takada-san, have you already assumed that our class leader will be exposed?"

The others in the class at most only felt that Chihiro wasn't suitable. Takada Hikaru, on the other hand, actually just assumed the other side would guess it correctly.

Fortunately, there were no other students from their class around. Otherwise, words like that would really be hurtful.

Takada Hikaru said slowly, "Setting Class D aside for now, the leaders of the other two classes are not simple guys. Participating in the exam with this half-hearted attitude won't yield good results."

"Half-hearted..."

Hearing his words, Himeno Yuki felt a bit displeased.

Although the decision was wrong and they chose an unsuitable leader, they had also worked very hard. No matter what, it shouldn't count as half-hearted, right?