The Quintessential quintuplets in ANHS

8.5 The devil's Soliloquy

Ayanokouji POV

"Ayanokouji-kun, can I talk to you?" Horikita came near me and asked to have a conversation which I inclined

We went outside of our camp. Horikita was checking for any spies from other classes, but what she found was a meat devil disguised as an angel from our class.

"Alright, Itsuki-san. What do you want?" Horikita asked Itsuki sternly.

"Nothing much. I wanted to ask you if I could join in this conversation."

"Why?"

"I know you want to talk about who stole Miku's underwear. She is my sister, and I have some clues who might've stolen it." Itsuki said rather playfully.

'When did these 2 get close?'

"You suspect it was Ibuki-san isn't it?" Horikita asked Itsuki

"You think she's not?" Itsuki asked.

"I'm 90% sure of it."

"Well then. Horikita-san where's your card?"

"It's with me. Why?" Horikita showed her card.

"I want to make sure."

As I ordered Itsuki led Ibuki here without Ibuki's knowledge

"Horikita-san, there you are." Ichika rushed over to Horikita.

"What's wrong, err—"

"It's Ichika, Horikita-san."

Ichika never talked to Horkita until now. So it's no wonder why she didn't know Ichika

"Well, you see it's your time for a bath, you know." Ichika nonchalantly responded.

"It's already evening, huh?" Horikita seems to be in a daze. Her skin was also pale. I leaned towards her and touched her head.

"A-Ayanokouji-kun? What in the world are you doing?" Horikita was frightened and confused.

It was pretty clear that she had a fever, close to 38°C. Still, she was hiding it for a pretty simple reason. If you reported illness, the class would be hit with a bigger penalty. The test's timing was rotten luck on her part.

"Your fever has progressed. You should take some rest." I said.

"When...did you notice?" 

"On the deck of the ship, when I asked you what you'd been doing." 

"Yeah, and I told you I'd been reading in my room."

 "You were really sick then, so you were actually sleeping, right?" "And on what evidence do you base that conclusion?" 

"When you joined us on deck, your bangs were all disheveled. Proof you'd been lying on your side. Also, it was incredibly hot on the boat, but you seemed like you were cold. Even now, you're wearing long sleeves, and you're zipped all the way up. Even an elementary school student could figure it out" 

Horikita, who usually would have responded with strong words, instead fell silent. 

"If you could apply that sharp wit toward reaching Class A, you'd get a little more recognition." (A/N: Really, Horibitch?)

"I definitely don't plan to do that. Anyway, do you intend to hide your condition?" 

"I just need to hang in there for another few days. If I give up now, it'll all be for nothing. Goodnight."