15 Chapter 5.1: Part 1

And the time shifts to day 13 of the special exam, at 6:51 in the morning, now in progress.

Utomiya finds Tsubaki looking up at the sky near the store. "What are you thinking? Tsubaki"

"'I was doing a final review in my head. What do you want?"

" No, I just wanted to talk to you before the operation took place. It may be the last conversation with Tsubaki so far. "

This could be the last conversation they have between them, so they relay their thoughts. "Why didn't you use a walkie-talkie to communicate with me?"

"You can't know what they really think if you don't talk to them face to face. You already heard my exchange with Housen so you know exactly what I mean. "

"I guess so. I didn't even know what he was thinking, but I don't trust him at all. " "You can't trust him because he's Housen-kun, right?"

Utomiya turned his face away, looking unhappy at the fact that she had been pointed out that way.

"Utomiya-kun is the only one I can trust among the first-year students. I wanted to ask you directly about the plan and for you to say what you thought "

After smiling a bit teasingly, Tsubaki became expressionless again. She told Utomiya that it was trustworthy, but remembered that there was something she had to check.

"How's the preparation going?"

"Do you want to see the screenshot I took of one when I ran the GPS search earlier?"

Tsubaki then turns on his tablet and displays the image searched by the GPS. Ayanokouji's camp is on E5; the first years are camped in D4 and E6.

"The arrangement is perfect, just as Tsubaki planned."

"Well, we have carefully prepared up to this point. The land is on our side. "

Tsubaki slowly looked at Utomiya, who was watching the screen intently. A person approaches those two people.

"Tsubaki-san, can we talk?"

It is Yagami, the leader of freshman class B from the same group as Utomiya.

"Everything is ready, so at least we have time to talk "

Yagami who has a suspicious look, addresses Tsubaki "I have something I need you to hear."

"Sorry, but wait, there is something I have to talk to Yagami first."

Utomiya stops Yagami, who was about to speak to Tsubaki, with a strong tone. "What happens?."

"Yesterday you suddenly disappeared, and where were you?" "Sorry, my watch broke and I had to run back to the starting point" Then he shows him the watch on his left hand.

"A malfunction? It is the second time."

As if suspecting something, Utomiya raises his guard. " What do you think you're doing?"

"It is outrageous to be suspected of conspiring just because your watch malfunctions. Utomiya-kun also had a clock failure a few days ago, right? Doesn't that mean that you're also a suspect? "

"In my case it was just a mistake." " The same happens to me."

Utomiya stares at Yagami, who smiles from start to finish.

"Hey you two, could you please not get in trouble at a time like this? After all, we are friends, right? "

"I'm sorry Maybe I was too nervous before the mission"

"I too have stepped out of line and I apologize."

"Have you spent the day changing the clock? Or if there is another reason, can I hear it? "I had prepared a gift for Tsubaki-san regarding today's operation."

" A gift?"

"The strategy to hunt down Ayanokouji-senpai hasn't always worked, right?"

Before the execution of the important mission, Yagami says something disturbing. It wasn't Tsubaki who showed a sensitive reaction to it, but Utomiya who was by his side.

"What are you talking about, Yagami? You think this operation will fail "

"I am not going to run an operation with the intention of failing."

As if to cover Utomiya's denial, Tsubaki also responded with a slightly stronger tone.

"Of course, Tsubaki's strategy is perfect. It's an alignment that leaves no room for ants to crawl out of bounds. We are challenging with the greatest strength that we can prepare freshmen. So I don't doubt our success. But don't you think it's better to take the preventive measures you can? "

"As for me, I don't want to do anything irregular, but let me tell you something."

Tsubaki muttered in her mind that she could make a decision after hearing whether or not she really accepted Yagami's proposal.

"'From now on, Tsubaki-san is going to corner Ayanokouji-senpai while repeatedly using GPS search to find out his position, but it is inevitable that she will consume a lot of points to do so, right? "

"That's why we have a group of reserve tablets." Utomiya added, Yagami said calmly that he understood.

"But it is not very favorable that it is efficient. You know why?"

"We do not know where the designated area of Ayanokouji-senpai is, so we cannot predict his movements."

Yagami nodded once, as if satisfied with Tsubaki's answer.

"That's right. If you are able to read through Ayanokouji-senpai's movements if he went to a designated area, if he pursues a task or just escapes, what is the priority and what needs to be blocked, your efficiency will increase drastically. . "

"If it were easy to understand, it wouldn't be difficult. So you have multiple tablets so you can do GPS searches over and over again. "

"In my own way, I spent a lot of time researching to see if there was anything I could do to help. So, among the 12 squares, which squares does Ayanokouji-senpai belong to? "

The hand that played with Tsubaki's hair, which seemed uninteresting, stopped. At the same time, Utomiya's rebuttals stopped.

"You mean you know?"

"Yes, well, technically, it's not me, it's just this 'tablet' that tells me." Saying this, Yagami extends one of the tablets.

"What is this?"

"I borrowed it from a group of my friends from class B, first year. Because the owner of

this table is in the same square as Ayanokouji-senpai. "

"In other words, if you have this, you can find out Ayanokouji-senpai's movements today without any delay."

Yagami nodded slowly. If Ayanokouji's designated zone turns out to be at the same time, it will be easier to get ahead of him.

"How can you be sure that this tablet really is from the same box as Ayanokouji?" Yagami continued his conversation with Tsubaki, and Utomiya calls him unexpectedly "I mean, how did you find out ..."

"You say they used repeated GPS searches to identify the box" Without even thinking about it, Tsubaki found a way to find out. "... Indeed, was it an unnecessary action"

Yagami, who thought he might surprise Tsubaki a bit, ends up surprising her in the opposite direction

"I would appreciate it if you could lend me that tablet. Considering the points that I am going to consume, I would like to refrain from wasting as much as possible. Do you think it's OK?"

"We are all in this together. Tsubaki's success will lead to my success as well. Also, Utomiya and I have been fighting on behalf of the freshmen, but it has been difficult for us to get into the top three positions. In this situation, we have no choice but to work hard elsewhere. "

The reason he was here today is because it doesn't make much sense of the scores you earn anymore. If you are in a position to contest first place, you cannot afford to meet quietly.

After that, Yagami continues.

"Also if you do not accept this proposal, we will not be able to provide you with insurance."

"Sure? What the hell are you talking about?"

"'Our first priority is to use Tsubaki's strategy to pursue Ayanokouji-senpai and force him to retreat. However, that can end in failure for some reason. For example, if Ayanokouji-senpai works with a third party for the entire day. Because you can't attack someone where there are other people's eyes. "

"We don't have to worry about that; he's been basically on his own since

the eighth day. "

Utomiya argues that she has done her research, but Yagami shakes his head. "But that doesn't mean that he is alone on 13th either."

"Yes it's correct. And that?"

"If something unexpected goes wrong, we switch to the method of letting them pass through the entire designated area to score points. And tomorrow, the last day, the 14th, we have three more movements, and we seal it. "

"In other words, do you mean stepping on the penalty 5 times?"

"No, you can make them step on it up to 7 times. Ayanokouji-senpai's box passed a total of two times yesterday on the day 12, the third area being randomly designated D4 that went far, and then the fourth area designated D2, which they also did not step on. We have already confirmed that we have changed our focus to accept the challenge. "

"Let's say seven times, that's less than 28 points, an exaggerated score."

There are only two days of season left. Losing 28 points in that time is quite a blow. Utomiya realizes the magnitude of the insurance strategy Yagami had in mind.

"Ayanokouji-senpai is still alone right now. We do not know how many points he has, but since he is alone, it will not be many. Also, you can use GPS search on our forays. If we get ahead of that and seal their assignments as well, there is more than enough chance that he will sink into the bottom five groups. "

"Well, it certainly is."

"If I manage to get Ayanokouji-senpai out with this insurance, what if I get 5 million points and Tsubaki-san and the others get 10 million points as their share? I'm sure you will agree to share the remaining 5 million points with the group that failed. "

"Not a bad idea, don't you think, Tsubaki?"

In contrast to Utomiya, who was really surprised by Yagami's proposal, Tsubaki only gave a silent reply.

"Tsubaki, I think you should have insurance."

He advises Tsubaki again to take Yagami's proposal.

"'Well, if you even have a tablet in the same box, there's no way he won't."

Nevertheless. Choking on his words for the second time, Tsubaki pulls out another tablet.Tsubaki shows her tablet, a spare tablet, and a third.

"What is that tablet?"

"The tablet from Ayanokouji-senpai's box." " What? When did you "

Before Yagami could identify the box Tsubaki already had everything she needed.

Tsubaki-san you are beyond my imagination. You even came up with this insurance strategy "

"Then why didn't you say it?"

"I don't like him for a moment. Yagami-kun had also devised the strategy of letting us pass through the designated area. I was going to pretend I didn't know what was going on, but it was so obvious. "

It was a somewhat childish story, Yagami and Utomiya looked at each other once

"If so, I cannot accept the reward, I reject the 5 million points. Then I'll be watching

from a distance. "

"'Thanks, it's honestly hard to do it when you're around people you don't trust, so I guess that helps."

Yagami accepted without question the direct statement that he didn't even try to hide. After Yagami kept his distance, Utomiya spoke to him.

"Tsubaki. If we could defeat Ayanokouji by physical means, would they really expel us?"

"It is a method of force, so it cannot be without problems. Assuming the worst, there is also the possibility that only freshmen who have set you up will be expelled. "

"If the group I helped joined, many people would leave."

Utomiya's expression hardens as he imagines expulsion from only the freshman part.

"But the chances of that happening are almost nil. The only person who would have to bear the greatest punishment would be me, the ringleader. The school cannot expel ten or twenty freshmen. "

"That's the problem. Are you really going to take the blame yourself? "

"Originally, when the special test was disclosed. I was the one who suggested that

Ayanokouji-senpai be kicked out. You just went along with me, didn't you, Utomiyakun?

"It's true, but "

Utomiya remembers the special exam for which he was paired with a sophomore earlier in the school year.That special exam was designed to earn 20 million points if Ayanokouji Kiyotaka was expelled from school. At first, Utomiya showed his dislike for this special exam and proposed to sit on the sidelines of the 1st year class C.. However, Tsubaki repeatedly convinced Utomiya and recruited him to the team. She said that the 20 million points would be a huge advantage if the C-class was to aim for a higher class for next year.

When Utomiya asked her what kind of trick she would use to get him expelled, Tsubaki responded immediately. She said that she would pair up with Ayanokouji for the test and that she would deliberately let the test pass and sacrifice herself and the reward of 20 million points would be given to his collaborator Utomiya. She told him that she wanted him to use those points for the future of C-class first-class.

"When you first raised this plan to me, you said you didn't want to dwelve too deeply into it."

"Are you curious? Why do you think he should be expelled. "

"I would be lying if I said I don't care. It's not natural to want to drop out of school as

soon as you enter school. "

"I admit that the first year of class C is more comfortable than I thought. So I decided

that if I am going to drop out anyway, I will do my best for the class and quit. "

That was all Tsubaki said, but she still didn't want to talk about the situation. Utomiya also changed his attitude, saying that it was against the rules to ask more questions, and turned his gaze towards the forest beyond. "

"Shouldn't he be there after all? I'm sure I can go one-on-one with Ayanokouji and win."

"That's not good. Utomiya-kun is an indispensable member of the first-year C-Class. Also, there is the possibility that I will be judged in the same way when taking responsibility. Leave Ayanokouji-senpai for the other children."

" That is enough for a normal opponent. But Ayanokouji is a 20 million point opponent, so he is not an ordinary player. As long as Housen made the first move, he could not gain an advantage, he must make the moves he can. "

" That's right. It's better to assume it's Housen-kun's class. "

Even so, Tsubaki did not give Utomiya the go-ahead, but instructed him to stay here. " Very good. I'll stay close and see how you fight. "

"Hey Utomiya-kun"

Tsubaki calls out to Utomiya, who tries to keep her distance so as not to interfere. "What happens?"

"You seem very strong, where did you learn to fight? You are not a criminal, are you "

"It is not a big thing. You don't need to meddle unnecessarily either. "

"Yes. But let me ask you something. You're not hiding anything from me, are you? " "What am I hiding? Nothing. I'm just a guy whose only job is to fight. "

"Nothing happens."

And then at 7:00 in the morning, the test begins. Holding the walkie-talkie in one hand and the tablet in the other, Tsubaki opens her mouth. Ayanokouji's destination that appears on the tablet is the C3.

"Attention all groups, the designated area where the enemy is heading is C3, the group in D4 will stay where it is, and the group in E6 will start heading north and immobilize them. If they find it, no contact until I give the go-ahead ".

Tsubaki gives instructions and calmly finishes transmitting the walkie-talkie.

"Once Ayanokouji-senpai's elimination is over, Before the school finds out I'm here, I'll defeat some independent 2nd and 3rd grade groups and let's go who I can target."

Tsubaki was in the process of sorting out her final thoughts on who to target.