Yuki was about to go help Elara out directly but suddenly… She did not want to anymore for no apparent reason. She gets very moody when not with Yamato, it seems. Instead she turned around and got back into her tent, wanting to just lay around and let the others do all the work for a while, just to sneek in later and say she finished her part when in fact there was no part she finished or even started. Her plans to laze around were cut short however, when Arina was waiting for her inside the tent.
"Did he like the drawing?"
"…Loved it! Said it was the best he ever saw. We are basically engaged now!"
"Ah… I'm glad to here that. It must have really moved him then."
"…Moved… Yeah… I'm sure he was…"
"…Anyway, I've been thinking. That fire early was obviously an attack to test us! We need to move now. I talked with Elara but she said to bring that to you, since she made you head of that."
"She did? News to me… Or maybe I wasn't paying attention. Anyway, funny thing. I started that fire."
"…What?"
"Yup. You're welcome."
"I'm not grateful! Someone could've gotten hurt! Badly! Why even?!"
"But someone didn't get hurt. Badly. Or at all. Actually, someone started to work together like they were supposed to from the start. Poor discipline is expected when teenagers are just left on their own like this. But it is no excuse for lacking progress and results. I saw the problem. I solved it in the shortest possible time without forcing anyone to do anything they didn't want to. I did that. Me, out of pure kindness and grace. Thus, you are welcome."
"I… Okay, I mean… Thank you, I suppose… And sorry for lashing out…"
"Hmm… You are forgiven!"
"…"
"Now, I'm hearing you kind of needed that fire as reason for hurry."
"Maybe…"
"Definitely-be!"
"Okay, yes…"
"Aw, don't pout. We can do it your way. Let's work together."
"Really…? Why would you do that?"
"Because! We are friends, aren't we? If you say you want to attack first, while they are still in the midst of preparations and vulnerable, let's attack first!"
"…Maybe we should just try to locate them first after all…"
"If you say so! Let's start right at sunrise tomorrow!"
"Sure…"
It was already getting late anyway, so everyone just went to their tent and called it a day. Nothing else happened during the night.
Yamato was the first to wake up, going up to his hill when it was still dark with some food, books and tea. He decided to stay up here all day long, until he found somewhere better. As the sun started to rise, Arina made herself ready to go wake up Yuki, as she was still quite impatient about going. But Yuki was already up, walking away with a wooden box.
"Yuki? What are you doing?"
"Oh. Aren't you early?"
"You are earlier than me!"
"Ah. Yes I am. But I still need about an hour. Sorry. Just wait for me until then, okay?"
"Okay, I guess I'll eat something then… But what are you doing?"
"That's private. See ya!"
"Oh… Okay then…"
Yuki went off. Arina thought about following her, but chose not to since she was already taking her time to do this with her as a friend, and she would feel bad spying on her just because she couldn't wait another hour. Meanwhile Yuki went up to Yamato's hill, this time using the normal path which only took her a minute longer than yesterdays climbing.
She sat down next to Yamato and put the wooden box on the table. It was a chess board. Occasionally they would play, though Yamato has yet to lose a single time.
"Good morning, Master."
"Good morning, Yuki. Didn't you say you wouldn't come by?"
"I made time… If it's for you, I don't mind letting everything else wait, y'know?"
"Yeah, I know…"
As they played, Yamato seemed a little off to Yuki. There were usually no emotions in his face when it was just the two of them, because he wasn't pretending with her. She liked that. But this time it was a little less nothing. Only Yuki would get that. He also played a little less flawless. Still winning. But slightly less.
"Is something wrong, Master?"
"What makes you think so?"
"Call it intuition."
"…Don't you feel like this is a silly game?"
"Hm… I'd say chess is rather complex, but I could see why it is seen as silly too."
"Not that. This exam thing. What does it matter? It seems so meaningless… So… Boring. It's our chance to rank up yet… Class 1 doesn't attract me as much as it should. "
"Rightfully so! Only I should be attractive to you~"
"…"
"…If you feel that we should drop out and just take over the world, just say so. I'll kill everyone that opposes you."
"Thanks, but I wanna enjoy school a little longer…"
"You don't sound like you enjoy school, Master."
"…What do you think of this?"
"I think it's a childish game beneath you and a waste of time to even partake in this exam. It's like everyone is fighting for second place in a handicapped contest while we aren't handicapped. Comparable to a bunch of ants forming together to make a tower just to reach the doorknob, only to find that they can't open the door regardless since it's locked."
"Interesting analogy… So it's up to me if we stay…"
"It was always up to you. I will fight so as many things as possible are up to you. In a perfect world, everything is up to you."
"That's… Cute. I'll think about it. Don't you have somewhere to be?"
Yes, in fact I do…"
Checkmate, Yamato wins. Yuki isn't upset. She just smiles and leaves. Taking the box with her again and going down the hill where Arina waits.
Once down, Arina doesn't ask where she was as she could deduce it herself from the direction Yuki came from. She had figured Yamato wasn't in the camp as she hadn't seen him since they arrived.
"Alright, wanna go right away? You've waited long enough, I think."
"Yes, please. Let's go."
While it was still somewhat dark, they headed into the direction where Yuki and Yamato met Satoshi. Even if the camp of class 1 isn't near by, the direction should be about right. Yuki figured since the camp positions where predetermined by the teachers, they would be shaped like a triangle, since there were three in total and out of fairness they needed to have about the same distance between each other. Thus triangle. And once they knew the position of two corners of the triangle, they could easily make out the last base. With that in mind, it still didn't help them make out the first camp.
All of the sudden, a voice echoed through the forest.
"Class 2. Disqualified."
Yuki and Arina stopped in their tracks. Arina thought out loud.
"What?! How could they already… I don't understand…"
"Multiple things could have happened… They most likely did what we are doing right now. Found the base of class 2. Identified it as the bigger threat, because obviously 2 scales higher than we do as 3, and chose to strike as quickly as possible. Maybe that had an informant that told them about who was carrying the objective… Maybe they just overwhelmed them and searched everyone… No way to tell from here, we need to get there to assess the situation. They might already know about the location of our base. Quick, time is of the essence!"
"Okay! But shouldn't we get back if you say they might know our location? I mean you said it's not difficult to calculate it when you already have two locations, and they have two!"
"True… We could split but…"
"Satoshi was strong… If all the class 1 students are on that level they won't have trouble doing what they did to class 2 to us next without me there… But I also can't send Arina on her own… Argh, what the fuck is this exam anyway?! It's like a gladiator battle to the death or something. But when someone does die it's all trouble. I hate this school so much! Whatever… Elara is fairly strong, and the others are alright too I guess… But someone needs to protect Yamato… Although he's on his hill, probably away from any form of action that might occur… Unless they come from that direction… Fuck, if I could just fly around at full speed, I could locate the position of every single student in these woods in less than a second! But it's also exhausting and I need my strength later…Whatever, just improvising now, I guess."
After analyzing the situation in less than a second, Yuki located the presence of three people coming into their direction. Even though mana location is difficult to spot and she usually doesn't use it frequently due to how exhausting it is, she had it active ever since Satoshi attack.
"Arina… I want you to go back as fast as you can to Yamato. He's in danger. Don't make a fuss. We are being watched. On my signal."
"Okay…"
Arina made herself ready to run off. They had been walking for quite a while now. It was almost noon now, and even if she ran as fast as she could, it would probably take her two hours. But that was exactly what she trained for.
"Now!"
She jumped off forward, so fast it left a made a loud boom. She was gone immediately. The three people near by reacted and quickly closed in on Yuki who didn't move at all.
One of the three guys started talking.
"And here I was thinking we concealed our presence. Damn she is fast. Should've kept her around. With her you might've stood a chance. Unless of course… Shs is carrying the objective, and your intent was to bring her as far away from us as possible. If so, well done!"
"Great observation. I wonder if it's right! What do you guys think?"
The other two did not respond.