Clink... clink...
A silver coin danced between two hands, flicking back and forth in rhythm with the wind. Each spin caught the rays of the morning sun, sending sharp flashes of light through the air like signals meant only for those who could read them. The coin twisted once more before being snatched mid-air — just as the cruise ship's elevator gave a ding and slid open with a mechanical hum.
As students began descending toward the docked boats, the coin arched once more in the air, then slipped with silent precision into the front pocket of a jacket — red-spotted, creased like it had lived through too many careless adventures. It belonged, unmistakably, to the one who had always seemed the least likely to stand out: Haruto.
But today, that red-spotted fool walked with a strange rhythm — one that made people pause mid-conversation and blink. Class D students stood at the small ship's edge, ready to board, but their eyes weren't on the sea. They were fixed on him.
Some laughed awkwardly, others whispered in hushed disbelief.
"Is that really Haruto?"
"Wait, is he… cool now?"
"Did he steal Koenji's conditioner or something?"
The fool of their class — the comic relief, the background blur, the one who was often either sleeping or saying something totally ridiculous — was now flicking a coin like a mob boss on a high-stakes mission.
Among the crowd, Ayanokōji narrowed his eyes, his inner voice cool and emotionless:
"So… you've finally decided to show your true self, Haruto?"
Just a few steps away, Horikita felt her brows twitch. Her logical mind scrambled for answers.
"What… what is this change? His posture… his presence. He's not the same. He's not the same fool who tripped over his own shoelace yesterday, is he?"
Haruto turned, just for a moment, and locked eyes with Ayanokōji. In that single glance, he seemed to say without words:
"I never planned to hide myself. Not like you."
A smirk teased the edge of his lips. Then he tilted his head toward the students crowding into the smaller ship — his voice calm, but laced with something electric:
"I've got a surprise for you all. Hope you like plot twists."
At that moment, Sudō, who had once thought of Haruto as nothing more than comic relief, scratched his head.
"The hell's up with this guy? First he gives me those exam papers outta nowhere… now this?"
Koenji, ever enigmatic, let out a quiet laugh as his golden hair shimmered in the light:
"Fufu… things are about to get very interesting."
The boat began to move, its engines humming as the island drew closer. But for everyone in Class D, the real storm wasn't on the island.
The ship's metallic groan came to a halt, and the students of Class D poured out onto the beach of the uninhabited island. The sun was high above, blazing down on white sand, as a figure in a strict suit and sharp eyes waited at the center of the gathering point.
Sae Chabashira, their homeroom teacher, stood tall — clipboard in hand, voice cutting through the island breeze like a sword.
"This is your special exam. A test of wit, survival, and cooperation. You will choose a leader, claim your base, and survive for the next seven days. Points will be earned through strategy, not brute strength."
But even her clear-cut instructions were momentarily drowned out by a wave of whispers and gasps from Class D.
Their gazes had turned — not to the teacher, nor to the exotic island — but to Haruto.
He wasn't with the main group. Instead, he had silently walked over to a tree near the edge of the crowd, where the black-eyed girl stood, casually observing the rules like nothing bothered her.
Haruto leaned against a branch, acting far too relaxed. His voice, almost too quiet to hear, slid out like smoke:
"I had a dream about this place… and you were there."
The black-eyed girl blinked. For someone so hard to shake, her cheeks colored ever so slightly.
But behind them…
A silence cracked.
Then—
"…TRAITOR!"
Several of the Class D boys pointed with exaggerated gestures, faces contorted in disbelief and anguish.
"That guy?! The class clown??"
"No way, he was supposed to end up alone forever!"
"He beat us in romance? This world is broken!"
The intensity of their envy hit like a psychic shockwave — strong enough that Haruto, in his dramatic flair, immediately lost balance and fell face-first into the black-eyed girl's chest.
SLAP!
It echoed louder than Sae's rules.
Even Class C's leader, who had just been sizing up Class D with a deadpan stare, paused to glance at Haruto as if wondering, "Should I eliminate this idiot first?"
Haruto, red-cheeked and wobbling, stumbled back toward his group with a dramatically exaggerated look of betrayal.
"You people…" he sniffled. "You're not classmates… you're just jealous gremlins in school uniforms."
A hand landed on his shoulder — Kushida, smiling sweetly, though her eyes were flashing with curiosity.
"Haruto-kun… weren't you the one who couldn't even make eye contact with girls before? What happened to that fear of yours?"
Haruto blinked. His face blanked out for a second before he calmly reached into his jacket and pulled out a simple white card, flicking it neatly to the back of his ear like a magic trick.
His tone was eerily calm:
"Yup."
Ayanokōji, who had been silent until now, narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So it was you… watching during that moment."
Kushida's expression twitched — subtly, but it did.
"Aha… maybe your fear of girls really has been cured?" she said with a laugh, stepping closer.
She reached toward the card—
Haruto took one step back and smiled, though his eyes were dull, like two old coins long forgotten in a box.
"Yeah… it's healed. Let's just say…"
He tapped the card once.
"When two souls merge, fear becomes irrelevant."
The wind blew, and for a moment — just a moment — everyone felt something shift.
A joke? A bluff?
Or the beginning of something none of them were ready for?
Either way, Haruto just flicked his coin again.