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Chapter 3: Cotton candy concerns.

The entire class sat around in the dining hall, each with a steaming plate of curry rice in front of them. Usami appeared in front of the screen. ''And now, I'm going to announce the winner!'' She exclaimed. Hajime felt himself getting a little tense. Even if this whole competition was stupid, he still felt like he wanted to win. ''In place four, with zero points... Team 1!''

Byakuya, Gundham and Sonia all sighed collectively. ''I didn't expect anything else,'' Gundham muttered. Peko, however, looked strangely pleased with herself.

''It's okay, all of you,'' Usami reassured, ''You were just having a bad day! I can see you all tried, and that's what matters most to me! In second place... Team 4, with ten points!''

Hajime sighed. That was a bit of a disappointment, but he didn't expect much more with his two beetles. Ibuki, however, cheered and handed out high-fives to everyone in her team, including Fuyuhiko, who refused impolitely.

''It may not be much, but I know all of you have had a lot of fun during your bug hunt,'' Usami resumed, ''That's important, too, in competitions. What point is there in even having a competition if you're not having fun? In third place, with fifty points... Team 3!''

Mikan and Teruteru cheered. Hiyoko pouted. Akane also seemed to be a bit grumpy, but she stuffed some curry into her mouth, which quickly changed her expression to contentment.

''Being in second place may be frustrating,'' Usami explained, ''But you should think about it like this: you were good enough to almost be first! Besides, you can't always be the best at everything. But, finally, our winner... with one hundred points... Team 2!''

Kazuichi and Nekomaru cheered and toasted their glasses of orange juice together. Nagito sat back in his chair, and Chiaki looked over at Hajime, smiling contentedly.

''What're the prizes?'' Kazuichi asked as he hopped on both feet.

''It's not about the prizes,'' Usami defended, ''It's about the game and the lessons you learned along the way. That's the true prize.''

Kazuichi had stopped hopping. ''What, so you tricked us? There aren't any prizes?'' His shoulders drooped.

''Of course there are prizes,'' Usami argued, a little offended-looking, ''I'm a bunny of my word! For the children in fourth place, I have a bag of gummies for every one of you!'' Quick as a rabbit, she handed out a small packet of gummy bears to Byakuya, Gundham, Sonia and Peko.

Hiyoko glanced at them with a frown on her face. ''Lucky little shits,'' she whispered.

''For third place, Ibuki, Fuyuhiko, Marihu and Hajime, I have some English licorice!'' Hajime looked at the bag of English licorice in his hands. He'd never had this kind of licorice before, but it smelled like cinnamon and sugar, so he was excited to try it in his room later. ''For the children in second place, I have cotton candy!'' She handed plastic containers with pink cotton candy to Akane, Teruteru, Hiyoko and Mikan. Hiyoko smiled, seemingly satisfied. Teruteru opened the container, tasted a bit of the cotton candy, and shuddered. He then gave the container to Mikan, who received it with a beet red face. Mikan then pushed the container over to Hiyoko, who grabbed it with both hands and protectively held it against her chest. She looked like she'd hiss if anyone even so much as entertained the thought of coming near her. ''And for the children in first place,'' Usami chimed, ''I have a few bars of delicious chocolate!'' She handed Nekomaru, Nagito, Kazuichi and Chiaki three bars of chocolate each, one seemed to be dark, one milk and the other white chocolate. Usami watched as the children continued their dinner, oftentimes chuckling into her hands. Hajime would look up as she did. It was really suspicious behaviour, although Usami often acted this way.Now that he thought about it, this whole bug hunt was actually really suspicious. It was strange that bugs only appeared when the students had told Usami about the concerning lack of them. It made this place even more of an enigma than it already was. The island felt almost like a dream, Hajime caught himself thinking, it felt like an extremely vivid, long, detailed dream. He was wondering when it might turn into a nightmare.