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Chapter 488: 5.4

"Man, that was fun! But why do girls\' rooms smell so good?"

"Right, right... And wasn\'t Tsubaki-san cute?"

"Really? Are you a fan of Tsubaki?"

The first-year students couldn\'t hide (or didn\'t want to hide) their excitement about their first visit to a girl\'s room.

"It looks like they had fun."

Seeing the excited kōhais, Hashimoto seemed satisfied that it was worth bringing them along.

But the next moment, the smile disappeared from Hashimoto\'s face, replaced by a stern expression.

"Sorry, but could you guys go back first? Ayanokōji, could you stay with me a little longer?"

When he instructed everyone but me, they all obediently agreed and went back to their shared room.

"What\'s wrong?"

"You\'ll just go to sleep when you return to your room, right? I haven\'t heard anything about Sakayanagi."

"If you were expecting to learn something, I\'m sorry to disappoint you, but there\'s nothing."

"But you did meet Sakayanagi today, didn\'t you?"

Indeed, I had encountered Sakayanagi in the morning.

Whether he had obtained information from somewhere or was simply trying to fish for it with a lie, I didn\'t need to probe.

Either way, my answer was already decided.

"I did put some pressure on her, but it\'s Sakayanagi. Honestly, I couldn\'t get much out of her. You know she\'s a tough opponent, right?"

Regardless of what I said, Hashimoto would likely be suspicious, so I continued speaking calmly.

"Besides, I didn\'t have time to have a leisurely conversation."

I incorporated a subtle excuse into my words to avoid delving too deeply into the matter.

"...Well, it\'s fine. Either way, the outcome won\'t change in the future."

That outcome, needless to say, was something Hashimoto would communicate, not me.

"Sakayanagi and Ryūen dropped out of the winning lineup on the second day. It\'s like a very anticlimactic end to a very anticlimactic tournament.."

Sakayanagi\'s group had five wins and seven losses in twelve matches. Ryūen\'s group had three wins and nine losses in twelve matches.

Unless there was a major shakeup in the following day\'s seven matches, their chances of ranking high were hopeless.

"Well, I guess they gave up on the exchange meeting. Those two didn\'t show up at any of the experiential learning sessions. They probably didn\'t intend to receive any rewards from the start, right?"

"That seems to be the case, but you don\'t look too happy about it."

"Well, of course. It\'s unsettling. It\'s weird that those two dropped out so abruptly."

Hashimoto was naturally suspicious.

Both groups disappeared from the top ranks without ever making a comeback.

I could understand why Hashimoto would be cautious just based on the results.

But that was probably an unnecessary worry.

Ryūen valued private points, but as announced beforehand, the private points available at this camp were special. They were limited to shopping.

Of course, it was good to have them, but it wasn\'t unreasonable for Ryūen not to prioritize them.

Rather, being able to move freely for three days might\'ve been more advantageous from an information standpoint.

It would be better to keep an eye on Sakayanagi\'s situation for now.

On the other hand, Sakayanagi, who lost in the survival and elimination special exam, should use this exchange meeting to cool down for the future.

Spending a leisurely time in nature and letting her wounds heal was one of the best courses of action.

That was why Hashimoto should be composed, but in reality, he wasn\'t.

He was trying to keep calm, but he couldn\'t hide his impatience.

"I thought Sakayanagi, being smart, would have me investigated every now and then..."

Even in the relaxed exchange meeting, she might\'ve been aiming to expel him—Hashimoto must have had such a sense of danger.

"It\'s not like Toyohashi and the other first-years have already been won over by Sakayanagi, right?"

He didn\'t verbally confirm it, but the first thing Hashimoto did was to get along with the kōhais, presumably to prevent that from happening.

"Could it be that Sakayanagi had set up a spy even before we formed the group?"

"Don\'t you have a better understanding of the relationships within the first-years, Hashimoto?"

Long before the exchange meeting, kōhais had been working as Sakayanagi\'s legs since shortly after entering school. That was still true.

"Yeah... probably not... Basically, Sakayanagi didn\'t make direct negotiations. I was basically the one who interacted with the promising first-years. But indirectly—"

He was desperately trying to maintain his smile, but he was pushing himself too hard.

"It isn\'t easy to expel someone specific except in special exams."

I tried to calm him down a bit, but while my words reached him, he couldn\'t fully digest them.

"I know, I know, but... it\'s Sakayanagi. I can\'t deny the possibility that she might do something I can\'t imagine."

After saying that, he stopped, perhaps realizing that he was stuck in a difficult predicament.

"Let\'s stop. I should forget about Sakayanagi for now."

"That\'s better."

Hashimoto took a deep breath, filling his cheeks with air, and forcefully exhaled to regulate his breathing.

"Alright, I\'ll stop by the lobby toilet before I go back. You can go back and sleep first."

"It\'s almost lights out, don\'t be too late."

"Yeah."

Did he find it difficult to use the bathroom in the shared room, or did he have another purpose in mind?

Either way, Hashimoto went into the lobby toilet, which was devoid of people.