That evening, I called Horikita to the cafeteria.
Since the cafe was a busy place, even if there were students around us trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, they would have a hard time trying to make out what was being said.
I expressed my concerns to Horikita about the current situation between Ike, Shinohara, and Komiya and that it might affect this upcoming uninhabited island exam. Ike liked Shinohara but still hasn't made a move. Komiya, however, was planning to confess soon.
Horikita's reaction upon hearing my concerns was...
"Isn't it fine to just leave them alone?"
As I had partly expected, her reaction to this was indifference.
"I thought we had a serious problem on our hands, since you're the one coming to consult me... but this isn't our problem to fix. Besides, I've evaluated Ike-kun's ability as a boy scout to be high, so we should group him with regards to his ability, not his feelings."
"I don't know about that. Ike seems to be overly concerned about Shinohara's affairs. Depending on the situation, he might not be as effective as last year. That alone would have been acceptable, but now there's a possibility that he could become a liability to his group due to his concern over Shinohara's affairs."
"So he could be expelled due to his feelings for Shinohara leading him by the nose?"
"I can't say that he definitely won't be."
"... That would be problematic. This is so stupid."
Annoyed, Horikita let out a heavy sigh.
"It seems like Komiya and Shinohara have already agreed to form a group, but because of your orders, they haven't confirmed yet. However, if you give them permission, 9 times out of 10, they'll form a group. You're the leader of Class D now, so if you tell Shinohara that grouping up with Komiya is strategically disadvantageous, she can't forcefully disobey."
"So you're saying it's necessary to prevent that? But if we stop them from forming a group, won't Komiya-kun just change the timing of his confession? Depending on the situation, he might just confess on that same day."
"We can't discount that possibility."
"This is a lot more complicated than it sounds. We can't take care of them until they start dating."
"Then what should we do?"
"Why don't we just make Ike-kun confess? If Shinohara-san accepts, Ike-kun will fight hard to stay at the school no matter what group he's in, right? On the other hand, if he gets rejected, he can forget about this whole matter and focus on the exam."
While I think the former is true, it was hard to say what would happen if he gets rejected.
There's a risk that he would just give up and stop trying in this exam.
However, this isn't something we can settle through talking alone.
Maybe getting Ike to confess soon was the fastest way out.
"Although you're good at many things, you don't seem to be good at romance at all."
"I'm studying hard right now."
"For real?... Well, let me see what I can do. For now, I'll start with asking Ike-kun and Shinohara-san to form a group together, alright?"
Even though we hadn't finished our meals, Horikita took out her phone and launched the OAA app.
Only to discover something completely unexpected.
"Unfortunately, it seems like we're too late."
Horikita put her phone on the table and slided it toward me so that I could see the screen. On the OAA, you could see the groups that have been formed, and it showed that Shinohara and Komiya had already formed a group. The third person in their group was Kinoshita Minori of Class B.
"Since we've already reached this point, we must take measures to prevent Ike-kun's loss of motivation."
"Let's discuss this with Yosuke as well. He's thinking about the best group for Ike right now."
The prospect of forming groups for the uninhabited island exam would be difficult.