Perhaps Kushida Kikyo's twisted logic had some effect—afterwards, the girls didn't end up fighting at all.
In fact, their relationship seemed to improve, and even Horikita didn't reject the idea of group activities.
This surprised Kaoru.
Was it because they were now accomplices?
Of course, he didn't forget about the others either.
Taking advantage of the New Year, he secretly went out with Karuizawa for a while and also took Ichinose off-campus so she could spend half a day with her younger sister.
Once the New Year ended, before everyone could fully enjoy the rare break, the school suddenly announced that all students would be leaving campus.
They were instructed to bring spare gym clothes and underwear, though personal belongings weren't prohibited.
Not only that, but the students also realized that the third semester was about to begin—coinciding with the date of their departure.
In an instant, even the first-years guessed that the school was preparing another special exam, likely similar to the uninhabited island test.
While the first-years groaned in despair, the upperclassmen remained calm—they were included in the notice as well.
Thus, at the tail end of winter break and the start of the new semester, all students of Advanced Nurturing High School boarded buses arranged by the school in the early morning, heading toward an unknown destination.
Since this was their second time leaving campus, Class A's first-years found everything fascinating, with many staring out the windows at the outside world.
"Wait, isn't this just like when we first came to school?"
Totsuka Yahiko blinked in confusion at the city outside.
"I thought we'd see giant robots or spaceships or something, but nothing's changed at all!"
"It's only been a year. How could there possibly be spaceships?"
Hashimoto Masayoshi sighed in exasperation.
"But it feels like so much longer."
Totsuka muttered under his breath.
His words resonated with the others.
Trapped in an isolated school, seeing the same scenery every day with only the Keyaki Mall and campus grounds to explore—no matter how well-equipped the facilities were, it was still a little lonely.
Even though the school didn't prohibit internet access, some students still missed their past lives, old friends, and families.
For a moment, the bus grew noisier as people exclaimed in surprise upon recognizing familiar places outside the windows.
Kaoru wasn't looking at the scenery.
The person seated beside him was Naoki Shimizu—the school had arranged seating based on alphabetical order of names.
Because of this, the seats in front of him were occupied by Sakayanagi Arisu and Miki Yamamura, with Kamuro Masumi sitting a little further ahead.
"Sakayanagi-san, what's this?"
A girl seemed to have noticed something unusual.
"Hehehe, this is an engagement ring from my fiancé," Sakayanagi replied with a smile.
Kaoru Mitoma, sitting behind her, froze for a second.
She was wearing a Wedding Ring on her finger and openly showing it to their classmates?
"Huh?! No way, Sakayanagi-san has a fiancé?!"
"Seriously?!"
"Wow, that's such a beautiful ring!"
"What's your fiancé's name, Sakayanagi-san?!"
Before the boys could even process the situation, the girls were already staring at Sakayanagi with sparkling eyes, practically ready to crowd around her.
Kaoru couldn't see her expression, but he was certain she was smirking by now.
"I'm sorry, I'd love to tell you his name, but he's quite shy. If I reveal it, he might even divorce me."
For just a fleeting moment, Kaoru thought he saw a fox's tail flicker from her seat.
"Ugh, what a terrible guy!"
"Yeah, if he proposed, he should at least have the courage to stand by it!"
"How awful!"
While Kaoru remained silent, the girls of Class A mercilessly tore into his image.
"I never expected Sakayanagi-san to have a fiancé," Naoki Shimizu beside him remarked with a sigh.
Kaoru didn't mind the sigh—but did he have to look at him while saying it?
"Hehehe, please don't say such things. After all, he's also a student at this school. He might hear you."
Sakayanagi's voice carried over to them.
For some reason, the girls' gazes lingered on Kaoru for a second before unanimously looking away.
Everyone knew which boy was usually the closest to Sakayanagi.
…
After the bus entered a tunnel, Mashima stood near the driver's cabin, facing the entire first-year Class A with a microphone in hand.
He looked like a tour guide, except his expression was far too stern.
"Apologies for interrupting, but please listen carefully to my explanation."
Though the bus had already fallen silent the moment he spoke, every student was now watching him intently.
"Some of you may have already guessed the nature of this trip. The school doesn't do things without reason, so what awaits you is a special exam—a Mixed Training Camp."
As Mashima's voice echoed through the bus, the students exchanged glances.
A training camp as a special exam?
"In about an hour, you'll arrive at a forest school. Just like during the sports festival, you'll cross the barrier of grade levels and engage in eight days and seven nights of group activities."
Mashima distributed materials to the students in front while explaining.
"Although the details are outlined in the documents, I can briefly summarize them for you."
Under Mashima's explanation, Kaoru grasped the general concept.
This special exam—or rather, the mixed training camp—was designed by the school to evaluate students' mental growth, particularly their interpersonal skills and ability to work in groups.
As such, the exam would be conducted in small-group units.
Both male and female students would be divided into six groups each, with each group having a minimum and maximum number of participants—no fewer than eight and no more than fifteen.
The exact size would depend on the total number of students in each grade.
For example, since there were eighty first-year male students, each group would consist of around ten to fifteen members.
This structure accounted for potential dropouts, as student numbers varied significantly across grades—especially in the second year, where Nagumo Miyabi was enrolled.
Additionally, each group had to include students from at least two different classes; otherwise, the group would not be valid.
This condition was similar to the rules of the Privileged Test and the sports festival.
The school discouraged students from always operating strictly within their own classes and encouraged cross-class collaboration.
Beyond the small groups, Kaoru and the others would also be assigned to larger mixed-grade groups, combining first, second, and third-year students. In other words, the six small groups would merge into six large groups.
The school would evaluate each large group's performance based on average scores.
The top three groups would receive Personal Points and Class Points as rewards, while those ranked fourth to last would face corresponding deductions as penalties.
Rewards & Penalties:
1st Place: +10,000 Personal Points per student, +3 Class Points
2nd Place: +5,000 Personal Points per student, +1 Class Point
3rd Place: +3,000 Personal Points per student
4th Place: -5,000 Personal Points per student
5th Place: -10,000 Personal Points per student, -3 Class Points
6th Place: -20,000 Personal Points per student, -5 Class Points
…
Rewards and penalties would be distributed or deducted based on the group's size.
For instance, if a ten-member group secured first place, they would collectively receive 100,000 Personal Points and 30 Class Points.
Moreover, as Mashima explained, the top three groups would receive additional multipliers based on the number of different classes represented within them:
If a group consisted of students from two classes, the rewards remained unchanged.
If from three classes, both Personal and Class Points would double. If from four classes, the rewards would triple.
On top of this, an additional size-based multiplier would apply:
10-member group: ×1 15-member group: ×1.5 (maximum) 9-member group: ×0.9
Furthermore, each group had to appoint a leader.
The leader's class would receive an additional doubling of rewards.
Therefore, in this mixed training camp, Class A students could maximize their gains by forming a fifteen-member group primarily composed of their own classmates, with one student each from Classes B, C, and D.
At the same time, if they secure first place in the upcoming exam and the leader is a student from their own class, Class A could theoretically obtain 1.08 million Personal Points and 336 Class Points.
Combined with the girls' group victory, Class A could easily win nearly 700 Class Points in one go.
However, this is purely theoretical.
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