IT WAS 9:30 ON a Thursday morning. A flock of buses were parked.
While faintly slling the exhaust gas from the engine's idling, the students boarded with light steps.
For many second-year students, except those who went on expeditions for club activities and competitions, this was the third outing of the year following the deserted island exam and the school trip; a training camp for all years.
However, it was announced in advance that this year's mixed training camp was very different, and its nature had completely changed, even though it was included in the 'camps' category in terms of format.
Therefore, the term 'special exam' wasn't used.
Before the trip started, what was concerning was the number of buses prepared for the students.
Usually, it was one bus per class. In other words, if all three years participated, it would be 12 buses.
However, there were only nine buses gathered this ti.
But the mystery was imdiately solved by looking at the boarding students.
There was only one bus prepared for the third-year students.
Apparently, the number of students gathered was very small, only about 20.
I couldn't say for sure because I didn't see everyone's faces, but as far as I could see, it seed that five students from each of the four classes, A to D, were called from the third-year.
When instructed to board the bus, there was no specific seating assignnt, and we were told we could sit wherever we wanted.
Upon hearing this, Kei imdiately clung to my arm.
"I'll sit with Kiyotaka."
Despite receiving so cold stares from so of the boys, I agreed and boarded the bus, taking a seat by the window on the right side, three rows from the back. Kei sat next to .
"Wouldn't it have been better to stick with the girls?"
"I'll do that on the way back. It's fine to be together on the way there, right?"
We spent most of our private ti together, but she still wanted to be together on the bus.
I didn't know what was different, but she seed happier than usual.
Once everyone had boarded, and the other buses were ready, Chabashira-sensei boarded.
"This reminds of last year's training camp. We had a lot of exchanges with each other at that ti too."
"That's right."
A year had passed since then.
At that ti, neither of us thought our relationship would deepen this much.
Not only Kei, but the relationships with the people around us had also changed significantly.
"Oh, that's right. I found out yesterday that my favorite movie's going to be screened soon. Let's go see it together when it starts."
Kei showed an image that looked like a movie poster, her eyes narrowing in delight.
To Kei, it was just one of the casual conversations she naturally brought up.
But there was one thing that bothered .
"When is the movie scheduled to be released?"
"Um, when was it? The last ti I saw the trailer, it seed like it was going to be released in the spring."
"I want to know the exact date."
"Huh? Is there sothing wrong? Let's see... Oh, it's listed here."
The hopage that Kei showed stated that the movie would start screening on March 26.
Fortunately, it was before the start of the new school term, during spring break.
"I see. Let's go see it."
"Yay! It's super interesting. I think you'll enjoy it too," Kei said with a smile, but her smile froze as she looked at my face.
"What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing."
Kei, who answered and took her eyes off , started to prepare for the movie by looking at a page that seed to be a character relationship chart while humming a song.
After that, the students each enjoyed the outside scenery while chatting casually.
About 20 minutes after the bus left the city, Chabashira-sensei held a microphone and looked at the students throughout the bus.
"I think it's about ti to explain the details of the training camp. As I ntioned briefly at school, it has been decided to hold a three-night, four-day experiential learning exchange eting for all years."
Normally, this would be a tense mont, but there was no sign of tension among the students on the bus.
While listening to Chabashira-sensei's words, they were enjoying the outside scenery or resting their bodies, creating a different mood than usual.
As I ntioned earlier, this is not a special exam, but a simple exchange eting.
"Let remind you not to take the exchange eting as a special exam. There will be no change in class points this ti. Unless you engage in behavior that deviates from student life, there's probably no risk of expulsion. You can get private points for participating in so gas, but it's more of a voluntary participation than a mandatory one."
It was only natural that Chabashira-sensei was explaining this to emphasize it.
The students had beco more cautious in their long life at ANHS.
They had a habit of suspecting that there might've been sothing behind the exchange eting.
That was why she was announcing that it wasn't a special exam, that class points wouldn't change, and that there were no penalties like expulsion waiting for them.
This was what gave the students peace of mind.
"It's unfortunate that Ichihashi had to stay ho due to illness, but it was a blessing in disguise."[1]
[TL/N: Chabashira is thankful that it is only a small illness. This also allows for less students to work with which is the "blessing" she is referring to]
There was a surprising amount of students with poor health due to the prevalence of colds at this ti of year.
"I think so of you may have already noticed, but even though it's for all years, this ti, only five representatives from each class of the third-years are participating. This is taking into account various circumstances."
Chabashira-sensei briefly touched on it, but she didn't go into detail.
"Your main objective will be to interact with the first-year students, but it's not like you can get along with everyone just from our vague instructions. As soon as you arrive at the camp, all years will be divided into 20 groups. The 20 third-year students who will serve as representatives in each group have already finished organizing the mbers based on the full list of first and second-year students."
This ant that the groups were already decided, and we just weren't inford about which group we would be in.
"I will distribute the organization chart now, so rember which group you belong to. There may be so differences in the number of people and the gender ratio, but the balance of grades and classes has been adjusted as much as possible. The gas will be conducted between groups to determine the winner."
Chabashira-sensei handed out printouts to the students sitting in front of her on both sides.
The students took the necessary printouts and passed them on to the students sitting behind them.
"This printout also includes so rewards you can get from the gas and the conditions for obtaining them. You should read it carefully."
"It's not an exam, so I feel more comfortable, but I still want private points. The win rate seems to change a lot depending on whether you get into a good group or not, right?"
"Yeah."
It was natural to hope that you'd have as many excellent students in your group as possible.
Of course, it was unknown what skills would be required to determine the winner.
Hondō, who was sitting in front of us, stood up and handed us the remaining printouts. Kei took them and passed them further back.
"I hope I'm with you, Kiyotaka."
The printouts were clipped together in groups of five, with information about the group activities, rewards for the exchange eting, and a list of students' nas from the third page onwards.
I noticed that there was also a folded card in the size of a regular business card inserted.
Fortunately, the printouts were made just for us, so there were marks on the nas of the students in this class. This made it easy to find my na.
The nas of those who were absent were also listed. There were two second-year students, Ichihashi and Ichinose, but there were four first-year students, which seed to be quite a lot. Among them was Ishigami's na.
It was probably a coincidence that they were in poor health. Because of that, I wouldn't get the opportunity to get involved with them.
"I'm in group seven with Tanaka-senpai. You're not there... but..."
Kei, who quickly found her na in the middle of the first page, looked disappointed but sowhat relieved. I wonder why.
"But what?"
"It seems that at the training camp, I'll be sharing a room with the girls in the sa group, and there's soone I don't want to be with... I'm glad they aren't there," she said. At the beginning of the printout, it was written that in addition to the gas, we would be living together in a room separated by gender. That must have been her reaction to noticing that.
She didn't specify who, but there was no doubt that she was referring to Ichinose.
In the last special exam, she was surprised to be consecutively nominated, even if it was part of their strategy.
"It's not that I hate Ichinose-san or anything, but, I don't know. I'm a little scared."
She muttered this and then glared at .
"You're close with Ichinose-san, Kiyotaka. Sotis, I have doubts about various things."
Kei whispered this to in a voice that no one else could hear.
"So that's why you were feeling conflicted."
"There's a chance that you could end up with Ichinose, right?"
Surprisingly, Ichinose's presence seed to have grown negatively in Kei's mind.
"I seem to be in group 20 with Kiryūin-senpai, at the end of the fifth page."
I quickly looked through the list of all 20 groups, and as Chabashira-sensei had previously announced, the gender ratio balance was as fair as possible, and the distribution of students by class was either a minimum of one or a maximum of three—basically, two each. It seed to be as equal as possible.
However, I felt an eerie bias and inequality in so parts of each group.
Since the other students were still looking for their nas, there were probably few who had noticed, but it was only a matter of ti before questions would arise.
Kei, who hadn't noticed anything, was still looking at the list with a disappointed look on her face due to our separation.
I turned my attention back to the reward section at the top of the first page.
[Group Ranking Rewards]
● 1st place: 30,000 private points for each student
● 2nd place: 20,000 private points for each student
● 3rd place: 10,000 private points for each student
● 4th to 10th place: 5,000 private points for each student
● 11th to 15th place: 3,000 private points for each student
● 16th to 20th place: 1,000 private points for each student
*The private points obtained in this exchange eting cannot be transferred
*Use is limited to shopping within Keyaki Mall
*To receive the reward, you must et the conditions of the point card
Because this wasn't a special exam, we couldn't get as big of a reward. It also wasn't a system where only certain classes benefit.
Even for high school students, an extra 1000 or 2000 yen was not sothing we could ignore, so naturally, we would want to aim for the top.
Although there were disadvantages such as the inability to transfer or the limited places where they could use it, it also ant that it was virtually impossible to use it strategically. The ability to use it freely without hesitation was an advantage.
The students stared at the list for a while.
"Um... Chabashira-sensei. May I ask a question?"
Sonoda raised her hand after getting a rough idea of the groups.
"You have sothing on your mind, don't you?"
"Yes. If we're going to play gas in separate groups, is this... fair? I an, even if it's impossible to be perfectly fair, it seems a bit unbalanced... I feel that way about Nagumo-senpai's group, for example."
"OAA standards of balance are not taken into account at all. It wouldn't be strange if there was a drastic bias."
In response to the question, Chabashira-sensei gave a curt answer.
"Wow, it's true. Isn't Nagumo-senpai's group quite dangerous?"
While listening to the question and checking the list, Ike, who saw the group led by Nagumo, spoke.
Nagumo was a well-known forr student council president and a student who maintained all A's or above in the OAA.
But what was astonishing was that the group had faces with outstanding ability.
[First-year Students]
● Class A Takahashi Osamu, Toudou Rin, Amasawa Ichika
● Class B Hagiwara Chihaya, Fukuchi Hinano
● Class C Nakawa Azuki, Iguchi Yuri
● Class D Tatewaki Aoi, Osaki Noa
[Second-year Students]
● Class A Sanada Kousei, Sawada Yasumi
● Class B Horikita Suzune, Hirata Yosuke
● Class C Kaneda Satoru, Katsuragi Kouhei
● Class D Kanzaki Ryuji
All of them were excellent in their studies, and they were either good at sports or able to follow instructions accurately. They didn't hesitate in selecting students who could bring the group together.
If we talked about individual abilities, there were students with outstanding abilities such as Sakayanagi, Ryuuen, and Koenji, but it was unknown what kind of chemistry would occur when they were thrown in the mix together.
Isn't this a well-rounded group ford to avoid that?
After seeing this, many other groups would inevitably fade away.
If you were in a group that had Sakayanagi or Ryuuen, students ntioned earlier as examples, they might be able to make a breakthrough and win against the strongest group, but for most other groups, defeat is inevitable. If there was a ga that specialized only in academic ability, it would be almost impossible to win in terms of overall ability.
"So of you may think the group assignnts are a bit unfair, but there's nothing we can do about it. It's only natural that excellent students are attracted to stable groups."
Chabashira-sensei, holding a printout in one hand, answered with a stern look.
Sonoda, who asked, shrank back at her expression.
It was a reasonable argunt that couldn't be refuted once said.
Perhaps thinking that the warning had gone too far, the teacher softened her expression and showed a slight smile.
"But just because they're excellent doesn't an they'll always win. Especially in this case."
She told Sonoda that there was hope and continued her explanation.
"This exchange eting will be a round-robin ga spanning three days. The groups will compete against each other, but it will be one group against another, and the order of the matches will not be disclosed. Also, the content of the gas will be randomly selected from a list each ti."
Chabashira-sensei continued to verbally convey the detailed rules, but the rules of the exchange eting can be summarized as follows.
[Exchange eting Experiential Learning Ga Overview]
● Period: Conducted over three days
● Day 1: 5 matches; Day 2: 7 matches; Day 3: 7 matches
※30-minute interval between each ga
● Match thod: Conducted as a round-robin match among all 20 groups.
● The order of the matches is not disclosed.
● Rules: For every ga, each group selects five players from the third-year's group.
● Only first and second-year students can be selected as participants in the ga.
● The fundantal idea is one-on-one matches, with victory awarded to the first group achieving three wins.
● Gas will continue for all five players even if defeat is assured.
● Unlimited participation, with no restrictions on the number of tis one can participate.
● Ga content: The school will randomly choose from a predetermined list, with ga details announced periodically.
● Victory conditions: Rewards are distributed based on the highest number of victories.
※ In the case of a tie for third place or above, additional gas will be conducted.
As expected from sothing labeled as a ga, the content seed to be really light. It was clear at a glance from the list prepared by the school, with unique activities like 'flower pressing' and 'pottery wheel making,'[2]
which seed unique to a training camp.
[TL/N: "Pottery wheel making" is the act of shaping pottery while it spins on a wheel]
There were also ga-based activities like 'playing cards' and 'UNO,' as well as sports-based ones like 'table tennis.' Of course, there were also so that required a bit of brainpower and involved academic skills, but they didn't seem to be the main focus.
There were also activities like flower arrangent and bonsai, and looking at them, it was a truly interesting lineup.
And all these listed gas seed to be available for experience at any ti, not just during the matches.
It also seed possible that the sa ga could be selected two or three tis.
With the detailed explanation, it beca clear. For the three nights and four days, the idea was to interact with the kōhais, make things, play gas, compete for rankings, and deepen friendships.
It might be boring for students who weren't interested, but I was honestly looking forward to being able to experience creating things.
"Attached to the printouts distributed on the bus is a point card. You can collect stamps when you participate in various experiential learning activities at the camp. Filling this out is a condition for receiving rewards, so be mindful."
The point card seed to be a thod to encourage voluntary participation in experiential learning.
There were a few rules, like a limit on the number of stamps you can collect in a day and not being able to receive multiple stamps for the sa ga, but it didn't seem to be sothing to worry about.
Anyway, I wanted to try various things that I couldn't usually do at school.
With the content understood, it seed that even groups with low overall OAA abilities could see plenty of opportunities.
With these rules, it seed safe to say that there was a chance of winning against any group.
"I hope it's clear that there's no need to be too concerned about winning or losing this ti. Of course, it's fine to aim for first place and work together for the sake of rewards, but as you can see from the list of various gas, the main focus is on the interactions using experiential learning. It's perfectly fine to actively interact with other groups and focus on deepening friendships."
So far, we'd been given various tasks and their rules from the school, much like special exams.
For the first ti, they acknowledged that we didn't have to win, and losing was okay as well.
"This trip really feels relaxed. Even if we're in last place, we'll still get 1,000 yen."
For now, many students, starting with Kei, were relieved by the contents of the trip.
"That's right. The fact that there's nothing wrong with losing this ti is a big deal."
The classmates who received the explanation began to loosen up and spent their ti relaxed.
So even started singing in high spirits.
"Don't forget to follow the school's schedule, even though you're free to a certain extent."
That was a bit of a downer.
Kei and I checked the schedule written on the printout.
Wake up Lights out Lunch break
7 a.m. 10 p.m. 1 p.m.~2 p.m.
Breakfast Lunch Dinner
8 a.m.~9 a.m. 12 p.m.~1 p.m. 7 p.m.~8 p.m.
Large bath
6 a.m.~8 a.m. & 8 p.m.~10 p.m.
Exchange eting
Morning session 9 a.m.~12 p.m. Afternoon session 2 p.m.~6 p.m.
Other than the ti spent on the gas, we were basically free the whole ti.
In extre cases, whether to take a nap without having lunch, or to imrse oneself in making things, was left to the individual's discretion.
If the group leader ordered participation in the ga, that wouldn't be the case, but it seed that there were no penalties for refusing.
On the first day, it was announced that we'd arrive around noon, and from there, we would gather by group, have lunch, and then only the afternoon exchange eting was scheduled.
"I hope you'll behave in a way that is not embarrassing to a senpai at the training camp."
With that, the explanation seed to be over, and Chabashira-sensei turned off the microphone and sat down.
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