During the lunch break, I took Horikita to where I was supposed to meet Ishizaki.
"Hey, Ayanokouji! Over here!"
Ishizaki was practically hopping as he arrived, and when he saw me from afar he waved his hand.
Next to him was Ibuki, who was staring at me with her arm folded in displeasure.
"Did she agree to this?"
"From the look on her face, I'm not sure."
Looks like she was in a bad mood after hearing the plans of forming a group.
I guess Ishizaki brought her here without explaining the situation in much detail.
"Hurry up and come over!"
Ishizaki exuded the enthusiasm of a bunny.
"You seem to be close friends."
Horikita was slightly creeped out by Ishizaki's attitude.
"He's a nice guy."
"Even so, I wouldn't get too close to him."
He was similar to Sudou in terms of enthusiasm, but Ishizaki was different in his own way.
"What's going on? Why are Ayanokouji and Horikita here?"
Ah, so she wasn't told beforehand.
Horikita and I looked at each other. It wasn't smart to let Ishizaki do the talking here.
"Actually, there's something we wanted to discuss, so I asked Ishizaki to call you, Ibuki."
I had no choice, so I started to explain on the spot.
"And?"
"I heard that in the next special exam, you're going to go compete by yourself?"
"That's my choice."
She replied curtly, as if there was no room for discussion.
"I've told you a few times, that it's better to group up."
"I don't need it."
"Well, you say that but the fact is there's no one who wants to team up with you."
Ishizaki just had to say something. Was he trying to help her or get in her way?
I turned to him, and remained silent.
"Huh? What's wrong, Ayanokouji?"
But... Ishizaki didn't understand my intentions, and questioned me instead.
"It's nothing. By the way, Horikita here is the same as Ibuki, she hasn't teamed up with anyone yet."
"So?"
"Next exam, if you don't form a group, you'll be at a disadvantage. Even if it's not three people, if at least the two of you form a group, then even in the worst case scenario, if one of you gets eliminated, you'll be able to continue."
She should now understand what I meant.
"And there's not much time left before the deadline."
"Don't tell me you want me to group up with Horikita?"
"Well, that's about right."
"Ha? Who died and made you boss?"
"Apart from your physical ability... You're not much good at anything else."
"Hey, you too, don't say whatever you want"
Ibuki impetuously drew close.
Then she stared at Ishizaki, who was standing behind her with an absent-minded look on his face.
"You too, you want me to group up with Horikita to help them out, don't you?"
"I didn't know it would be Horikita, but wouldn't it be great if you formed a group?"
"I already hate this guy a lot, but my hatred for Horikita is even higher than that."
'This guy', I think she was referring to me. That was polite. Using her finger to directly point at the person in front of her.
"Ayanokouji, she doesn't seem to like you very much."
"I didn't even realize it. Although, she seems to hate you even more than me."
"I'm honored."
Ibuki seemed stung by Horikita and I whispering to each other, and didn't bother hiding her displeasure.
"I don't know if Horikita asked you or whatever the reason, but there's no way I'm going to team up with that girl."
It seemed like she really had a grudge against Horikita.
She stubbornly refused to listen to what I had to say.
"Ah, but I don't remember saying I wanted to be in a group with you."
Observing Ibuki's attitude, Horikita attempted to provoke her.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Looks like you've got things mixed up. You've been left behind because nobody wanted to be with you, and I didn't group up with anyone because I wanted to fight alone. Although we're both lone wolves, our situations are not the same.
Horikita replied, almost astonished. However, it lit a fire in Ibuki, and she said:
"I'm also on my own because I want to be. Anyway, you say you want to go it alone, that's perfect. It's a challenge, Horikita!"
She shifted her gaze from me to Horikita.
"Can I ask you something? Why do you want to fight me? It's true that we competed at the uninhabited island exam and during the sports festival, but that wasn't anything special right?"
"You're the only one who thinks that."
As far as I know, Ibuki beat Horikita in their fight on the uninhabited island, but Horikita won in the 100 meter race at the sports festival.
One win, one loss. Though it's hard to say that they were at their best. Horikita had a high fever during the uninhabited island exam, so that was a big disadvantage for her while during the sports festival Ibuki was so fixated on Horikita that she lost her pace in the sports festival. In other words, there was no way to determine who was better.
Even on the rooftop, after I beat both Ryuuen and Ibuki, she still challenged me again later on.
In short, she's the kind of person who can't accept anything until she knows for sure who was the stronger one.
This time, she wanted to compete against Horikita in the uninhabited island exam through survival.
If you think about it that way, there was no way that Ibuki and Horikita would be able to work together.
"It seems like this was a waste of time."
"Wait. Do you accept? Or no?"
"I am going in alone, but I'm not choosing to work alone throughout. When the special exams start, I'll merge with another group if necessary."
If it had been a one-on-one match it would be possible to decide the winner, but now it wouldn't be a fair fight.
"Lame!"
"Lameness Isn't a reason to change the way I take the test."
Letting Ibuki know that she was wasting her energy, Horikita rebuffed her.
"If you insist on fighting alone, then even if I form a group, try not to lose. If you win, then I'll recognise you a bit."
"...Not better."
Looks like negotiations seem to have broken down as it was impossible for Horikita and Ibuki to team up.
However, provoking her until the end would definitely have strengthened Ibuki's resolve to fight on her own. I softly apologized to Ishizaki, and then went back to the classroom with Horikita.
"You knew from the start that Ibuki wouldn't be able to accept it, right? You're too kind."
"I wanted to provoke her into doing something reckless in order to disqualify her."
Horikita wasn't being honest with herself, but this kind of answer felt very much like her.