"You didn't have lunch, did you? Want something to tide you over?"
Kitagawa Ryo pulled a neatly packaged dessert from the bag he brought. He had returned to the dorm earlier just to grab these, remembering how Shiina Hiyori often lost track of time while reading, preferring solitude over noisy cafeterias. Her lunches were usually quite lacking.
"Blueberry pie?"
Upon seeing the treat, Hiyori's eyes lit up. She eagerly set her book aside, took the spoon from Ryo's hand, and scooped up a bite, savoring the sweetness on her tongue.
"Well, July is blueberry season after all. A little pricey, though."
Ryo took a piece for himself as well. With enough points, the Keyaki Mall even offered delivery services.
As they chatted and snacked, the smell must have spread, or maybe their voices got too loud. From the front row, Ibuki Mio stirred, rubbed her eyes, and looked back, surprised to see Ryo and Hiyori enjoying themselves.
"...Huh?"
"Did we wake you, Ibuki? Sorry."
Hiyori, clearly familiar with her, smiled and apologized with her hands pressed together.
"Not really. I was about to get up anyway."
Ibuki stretched and glanced at Ryo before gesturing to Hiyori.
"Who's he?"
"I'm Kitagawa Ryo from Class 1-D. Nice to meet you, Ibuki-san."
Ryo stood and introduced himself.
"Oh, so you're that Kitagawa."
Ibuki walked over, didn't bother grabbing a chair, and sat casually on a nearby desk, giving Ryo a once-over.
She had always been curious about the boy Hiyori often thought about. As one of the few in Class 1-C who didn't respect Ryuuen, Ibuki vividly remembered how Hiyori stood up to him on the first day, demanding to leave the class.
That was probably why she treated Hiyori more gently than others, and the two had become relatively close.
"I'll probably be teamed up with Ibuki this time. Her family runs a dojo, and she's one of the top athletes in our class."
While explaining, Hiyori sliced a piece of her blueberry pie and offered it.
"Want a bite?"
"Thanks, but I'm not really into sweets."
Ibuki replied coolly, resting her chin on her hand. Then she added:
"If Hiyori really wanted to team up with someone, the whole class would line up for the chance."
Class 1-C was a typical strength-over-smarts class. Aside from Kaneda Satoru, there wasn't anyone who could match Hiyori academically.
"I just prefer teaming up with people I'm familiar with," Hiyori said innocently, her voice soft like cotton candy. "And it's fine as long as we don't end up in last place."
"You should be careful saying things like that around others."
Ibuki sighed and shifted her gaze to Ryo.
"We're in different classes, but if we run into each other during the exam, I might help you out for Hiyori's sake."
"..."
"..."
Both Ryo and Hiyori fell silent. Finally, Hiyori gave a stiff smile.
"W-Well, that's nice of you."
As lunch break neared its end, Ryo cleaned up the table after Hiyori finished eating and took his leave.
He didn't mind Hiyori teaming with Ibuki. He understood Ibuki's personality well enough. Aside from her overly competitive streak, she was a strong individual, and her skills complemented Hiyori's.
Though just a two-person team, they could score decently if they worked well together.
-------------------------------------
"Yeah, I plan to team up with Sakura-san. Just us two."
As if expecting Ryo to approach her, Amasawa Ichika replied without hesitation.
"This island exam will have tasks weighted in academics, athletics, and miscellaneous skills, right? I'm strong in the first two, so I just need someone who excels at the last."
"Miscellaneous... you mean things like arts, singing, dancing maybe?"
Ryo nodded and asked:
"What about Airi? Did she agree?"
"She got a lot of invites, but she didn't want to team with boys. She chose from among the girls. I have the best stamina, so she said yes."
"That was all during lunch break. I wonder where our class's resident busybody, Kitagawa Ryo, wandered off to."
Ichika shot Ryo a side glance as she teased him.
"Well, your team is already full anyway. You don't need more members."
"Hmph. Just wait. When our team ranks higher than yours, you'll be so annoyed."
She made a not-so-scary but kind of adorable scary face at him.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Ryo didn't take it as boasting. No one in Class D knew better than he did what Amasawa Ichika, a White Room student, was capable of. In terms of physical ability alone, she might even surpass Horikita Suzune.
In fact, she was more than capable of going solo.
But she still chose to team up with Sakura Airi. In a way, that was her helping Ryo with one of his problems.
Realizing this, Ryo reached out and patted her head.
It was a habit he picked up in the White Room. Though patting a little child was quite different from patting a teenage girl, Ichika didn't seem to mind.
"I'll make sure you see it."
Her voice and gaze filtered through his fingers. Her twin tails swayed like flames in the wind.
The hot breeze of the deserted island had begun to blow.
If Yuki ("snow") meant pure white and untouched, then Ichika ("summer") was the kind of midsummer memory that one would remember clearly, even decades later.
A blazing summer.
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