Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

1st Island Exam - End

"This is serious! It's a fire! Fire!"

As a commotion was started, Horikita approached me.

"I can't see Ibuki. The fire might have been her work. Where is she?" She asked. With her keycard stolen and a fire suddenly starting, it was obvious that Horikita would suspect Ibuki.

"As soon as the fire started, I saw Ibuki walk towards there. Let's go." Both of us rushed towards the back of the temporary toilet, where most of the class stood. Ibuki was indeed among them. Just as Horikita was about to call out towards her... she hesitated. Because Ibuki's expression was so genuinely clueless.

"Does that mean...she didn't do this?" Horikita began to doubt herself. Near the fire, a burnt page could be seen.

"Did the manual get burnt?" Horikita asked as Hirata came running towards us.

"Yes...I'm responsible for this. The manual was kept in my bag. We kept them all piled up in front of the tent, and I didn't expect it to be stolen. For now, we need to take care of the fire." Hirata headed towards the river with an empty bottle. As he scooped water into the bottle, a gloomy expression can be seen on his face.

"Why...Who would do something like this... Why can't we all just..." I could hear him muttering. Then suddenly, he squashed the plastic bottle with all his might. It seems he has fallen to the heavy burden of constantly working as a leader.

"I don't think you have to burden yourself." I said words that can't be considered comforting, however Hirata stood up and mumbled a thank you anyway.

"This incident... We need to discuss this properly with the class." With that said, Hirata returned to the sight of the fire with a depressed expression.

"Hey, who did this!? Who's the traitor in our class!?" When we went back, we found Karuizawa at the head of another confrontation between the boys and the girls.

"Hey! Why are you suspecting us? This is a totally different matter from the underwear incident!"

"You think we don't get it? You burnt the manual to mislead us from finding the culprit, didn't you?"

"Don't speak nonsense! As if we would do something like this!"

"Wait, everyone! Let's calm down and discuss this together!" Hirata came in to diffuse the situation. He handed me the water bottle so I could extinguish the fire as he mediated.

Due to the fire added with yesterday's underwear theft incident, both the boys and girls showed no signs of settling down. They've started a witch hunt for the culprit responsible. Ignoring them, I ran over to the remnants of the fire and emptied the water bottle on it. It didn't seem to be enough, but then I could feel droplets of water raining down.

It was raining. I looked up to see the clouds were getting darker, a sign that heavy rain would come soon. Originally, our plan ws to unite in order to overcome the last hurdle. But now, the boys and girls strongly opposed each other in a cold war.

"I can't do this anymore! This is the worst! Having arsonists and underwear thieves in the class, this is the lowest of the low!"

"We've been telling you this whole time it wasn't us! How long are you going to keep suspecting us!?"

This quarrel won't end anytime soon. Usually, Hirata would stop this. However, he was just standing still lookind dumbfounded. Was he thinking about who the culprit was?

"Hey, does anyone see Ibuki?" I heard a voice call out. It seems that Ibuki has already left along with her bag. Noticing this, everyone's doubts slowly turned towards Ibuki. However, the rain began to fall much stronger than before.

"Do this later! We need to get out of the rain first!" Mori called out. With that, a few others quickly began to gather the important supplies to put in the tent.

"Hirata! We need some help with these clothes!" Ike called out. But Hirata still stood motionless. He stared at the empty space in front of him as the storm gradually got stronger. I slowly approached him, but he showed no signs of noticing.

"Why...Why is this happening... it's the same as that time..." He mumbled over and over. I couldn't understand what he meant, but I knew it wasn't a trivial matter. The usual calm and composed Hirata was nowhere to be found.

"Hey Hirata! You need to get out of the rain!" Ike yelled again. Still, Hirata didn't move. I gently placed my hand on his shoulder, and he slowly turned to look at me.

"Ike is calling." I told him.

"...Eh..." Hirata's expression was completely lifeless. The second time Ike called him, he regained back his sanity and finally noticed that it was raining. "Rain..."

"You should help Ike and the others. We need to keep all the clothes dry."

"...R-right. I'll settle everything quickly." And with that, he ran back towards the tents. Everything should be fine now, Hirata will take care of the class. Now...

"Ayanokouji!" Mori ran towards me with a towel over her head to protect her from the rain. It obviously didn't do a very good job, but it was better than nothing.

"What are you doing? You should get back in the tent." I say to her.

"Have you seen Horikita? I can't find her anywhere!" Ah, so Horikita did go to chase after Ibuki. That makes things a little easier for me.

"I see. I'll go look for her, just stay here." I turn away to walk towards the forest, but Mori grabs my wrist before I could leave.

"No! You're going to get lost if you do that!"

"I have an idea of where she went. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"It's too dangerous! I can't let you do that!" Mori vehemently refused while shaking her head. Lack of visibility, unstable ground, cold temperatures, powerful winds...it certainly was dangerous out there. However...

"Do you trust me?" I ask.

"...Huh?" I grabbed Mori's hand and looked directly into her eyes.

"Trust me."

"..."

Clearly she was still very hesitant. She bit her lip, and looked back between me and the tent. Then, she made her decision.

She grabbed the towel over her head, and draped it over me instead.

She flinched as the cold rain hit her skin and drenched her clothes. However, it seems that she decided to place her faith in me.

"...Come back quickly..." She mumbles towards me, before reluctantly turning around and running back towards the girls' tent. I stared at the girl's retreating form for a few seconds, before turning back towards the forest.

Gripping the towel Mori gave me so it wouldn't fall off, I began running.

—————

"...and in 1st place with 225 points, is Class D. That's all." Mashima-sensei announced. With that, the dreaded island exam has finally come to an end.