Vol 1 Chapter 12 (2/2)

“I hate heat even more. It makes my eyes feel like their burning.”

“How do you get by if both cold and hot are no good for you?”

“Normal people are all like that, you know.”

While light-heartedly arguing together, Homura and Touya fully enjoyed the night sky.

Falling stars cut across the sky repeatedly, and, occasionally, they saw light run across the rings like a small wave.

Misasagi-senpai, who had been mostly staying out of the conversation between the two of them, suddenly spoke up.

“Hinooka-san… Please don’t, begrudge Fujimori-sensei, okay?”

Senpai’s formal tone made even Homura inclined to listen attentively and raised her body a bit.

“…Are you referring to how I was kidnapped—suddenly brought along here like this?”

“Yes.”

Misasagi-senpai hung her head apologetically.

“You still don’t, approve of it, right?”

“……”

Homura suddenly hurled hot water into Touya’s face, and stood up in a half-risen posture and moved next to senpai.

“Hey, I wasn’t even looking!”

“It was a fish, a fish jumped up and splashed you.”

While saying that lie as an excuse, Homura sat down on the submerged rocks with her shoulder side by side with senpai.

As water dripped down from her forelocks, senpai’s eyes faintly reflected the purplish-red color of glowing embers that still remained on the river bed.

“I’m already over that, senpai.”

“…Hinooka-san.”

“We… Well, it’s true that I would have hesitated a lot if I were warned about today’s route with an explanation video beforehand, though.”

Misasagi-senpai smiled.

“…The Transport Ring requires, a period of charging, in proportion to, the number of people, being transported. The preparations were, already finished, a while ago, but then the possibility, of Hinooka-san joining, came up, and it was, delayed… I also wanted, us to come together, if possible.”

“Does that mean… you and I alone might have gone ahead first, senpai?” Touya asked.

“Hinooka-san would have, experienced transporting, a bit later on. Until then, she was supposed to, receive standard training…”

Senpai looked up at the sky with far-gazing eyes.

“It’s a, matter of course, on Nutella, but even in training, there’s no guarantee, you won’t get hurt. In the training program, directed at middle-schoolers, 60% of applicants, give up at, the first stage. They get hurt, and develop fear, and the stance of, their formerly cooperative guardians, can suddenly change… there are even cases, where the person, in question didn’t, have the will, to partic.i.p.ate from, the beginning…”

Touya nodded and interjected into the conversation.

“Those statistics are a result of the club’s accident ratio being no different from that of martial arts sports clubs.”

“Mori-chan also emphasized that to my parents.”

“I’m not surprised. There are a lot of people who say that j.a.pan is overprotective compared to other countries. Even though the invested budget is quite substantial, the scale and results of our country’s program are far too small by comparison, they say.”

“Is that also posted on the internet?”

“No. This is from the online community established among Exploration Clubs, separate from the public internet. I’ll teach you how to use your terminal for it once we get back.”

“Yes, please do. Other Exploration Clubs… huh. Yeah, we aren’t the only ones, are we?”

“It’s better, that way. Everyone is, one of our, precious comrades.”

The hot water was starting to feel lukewarm at that point.

Homura’s body had been completely warmed up and the stiffness in her overused muscles had also pretty much come undone by now as well. It seemed to be about time for her prolonged bath time, excluding the mixed-bathing part, to end.

However—

“How about, I tell a, ghost story?”

“Eh? All of a sudden?”

“What? T-That’s out of nowhere.”

Misasagi-senpai suddenly brought it up.

The ends of her stretched legs splashed against the water.

“It’s a ghost story, pa.s.sed down in, our Exploration Club. There was once, a valley of fog, where once you entered, you would never, come back—”

“Wah, wah, I love scary stories. Can’t we listen to it in the tent, senpai?”

“We can’t,” Touya interjected. “According to the schedule, we have to get up pretty early in the morning. We have to go to bed soon.”

“……”

“…Senpai?”

After being rebuked by Touya, Misasagi-senpai sank down to her mouth in the hot water with a displeased face.

“Nyet5.”

“Umm… even if you say that…”

Senpai protested while making bubbles on the water surface.

“…But, in our tent, Touya-kun won’t, be there, you know?”

More bubbles.

“You should just forget about him. After all, he’s going to be busy tonight. He’ll be sorting, labeling and going through his treasure mental video Blu-Rays from today.”

“Hinooka, you really do run your mouth… Hmm?”

Ignoring their banter, Misasagi-senpai put something in her mouth. Following Touya’s gaze, Homura also looked at her.

Misasagi-senpai was holding a canteen made of bamboo.

“Senpai, what are you drinking? Is it shampoo or something…?”

“Of course, not. It’s juice, you know?”

Speaking of which, Homura had noticed her extending her hand outside the stone bath sometimes. Misasagi-senpai had apparently been secretly quenching her thirst with it.

“Juice? Can I also have some?”

“No. It’s still, too soon, for you.”

“What do you mean, too soon? Can’t you give me just a little bit?”

“No. This is, the special privilege, of an uppercla.s.sman.”

Smiling mischievously, Misasagi-senpai lifted up her canteen and kept it away from Homura.

This time, the instant Homura indignantly reached her hand out to it, senpai hugged Homura. Without minding the fact that their towels were coming off.

“Got, you.”

Homura was taken aback.

After grabbing her with a loud splash, Misasagi-senpai rubbed her cheeks against Homura’s chest while giggling.

This was the second time today Homura had been embraced by senpai, but this was a completely different situation from before.

A sweet scent mixed in with the steam gently tickled Homura’s nose.

“The blood is rus.h.i.+ng to senpai’s head—no—she’s drunk!?”

Touya picked up the bamboo canteen that had been left to float in the water and gave it a quick sniff and taste.

“This is fruit wine. Probably from hardy kiwi or some similar fruit.”

“Oh no… The discovery of a scandal!? Rather, is senpai in a drunken frenzy!?”

“It might have just fermented naturally, but I don’t think senpai would fail to notice that…”

While murmuring with a dumbfounded tone, Touya turned around and began walking to the sh.o.r.e.

“Well, I leave the rest to you…”

“Wait a minute! What am I supposed to do about this!?”

“You’ll have to look after her, Hinooka.”

“Don’t run away! I can’t do it alone! It’s impossible for me!”

Suddenly turning her head around as she leaned against Homura’s chest, Misasagi-senpai then jumped on Touya as he was trying to get out of the stone bath.

“Owah.”

“Got you, too, Touya-kun.”

“Wait, stop, senpai, you’re putting in too much strength. Hinooka, do something!”

“I-I-It’s fine, it’s fine already, so just bring her back to sh.o.r.e like that! I’ll permit it!”

“Ah—right!”

“Senpai!? We’re getting out of the bath now! I’ll wash your body, so don’t move!”

After that, they brought senpai, who could no longer stand at that point, back to sh.o.r.e, and Homura quickly dried senpai’s hair and body before getting Touya to reluctantly carry her. Senpai, who was basically naked with only a towel around her chest, had lost all strength and hung loosely in Touya’s arms.

“Please bring her up to the tent! I’ll go get our clothes!”

“All right.”

“Keep both your eyes firmly closed! Watch the path since it’s dark! And don’t turn to look at me!”

“Don’t ask so many unreasonable things at once. You hurry up too.”

Homura was trying to shrewdly change into her clothes by herself.

“W-Wait, don’t leave me alone in a place like this!”

“No, I’m not waiting. I’m going.”

Giving up, Homura ran after Touya in only a towel while carrying their clothes.

After having changed into a s.h.i.+rt in place of sleepwear, Misasagi-senpai fell into a complete drunken unconsciousness on top of the sleeping bag laid out within the tent.

After having changed as well, Homura stepped out of the tent, just as Touya had come back from going to the river and cleaning up the fire.

“How is she?”

“She’s asleep. Her condition doesn’t seem that bad, so I think she’ll be fine once she wakes up…”

The two of them peeked through the entrance to the tent.

Within the dim tent, senpai was quietly breathing in her sleep. It seemed they really did have nothing to worry about.

“But that was a shock. For that level-headed senpai to end up so…”

“It was a big help having you here to take care of her, Hinooka.”

Touya bowed his head in thanks, and Homura puffed out her chest proudly.

“Yeah, you got that right. As expected, this isn’t the kind of thing that you could have taken care of.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen senpai like this—she was probably happy. That you entered the Exploration Club, that is.”

“……I see. But you’re also an important club member, Touya-kun.”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Touya made a new fire next to the tents.

As Touya watched the fire while hanging the wet towels and washed socks out to dry, Homura sat down next to him.

“You can go to sleep already, Hinooka. I’m going to stand watch here for a little while longer.”

“Are you planning to stay up all night?”

“…No. The truth is, there’s no need to stand on watch. The place we’ve come to isn’t that dangerous.”

Touya smiled wryly and scratched his head.

“When I come to Nutella, I get excited and can’t sleep that much. Like, it’s a waste to spend time sleeping…”

Touya looked up at the night rainbow in the sky as he spoke.

Homura nodded and looked up at the night sky as well.

“Ah~, I stayed out overnight without getting my parents’ permission. My dad is probably furious right about now.”

“Mori-chan will have taken care of contacting our homes at least.”

“I wonder about that.”

The sound of kindling splitting and popping in the fire. The slight murmuring of the river.

Homura and Touya’s silhouettes swayed side by side and cast shadows on the wide open ground amidst the forest.

That comfortable silence was broken by Homura finally opening her mouth after hesitating a little.

“The third club member… is that Inari-senpai?”

‘The Exploration club has three members’—those words which she had heard from Rokujizou-senpai before she joined the club had always been bothering Homura.

“Yeah.” Touya nodded after a brief pause of silence.

Rather than Touya having hidden that truth, his sad expression made Homura think that he just didn’t want to talk about it as much as possible.

“…I see, so it wasn’t referring to that Ameno girl. Misasagi-senpai said she was a former member, though. Did that person quit the club?”

“Inari-senpai is a second-year student. The Exploration Club is treating her as skipping club activities, but she doesn’t even come to school either. She hasn’t been attending cla.s.ses for several months now.”

“She’s skipping school?”

That goldfish and cat stamp.

Senpai’s smiling face as she boasted of it happily earlier.

The bond between the two of them was so clear, and yet—

“Was the Exploration Club the cause? Did something happen on an expedition or something…?”

“I went to Inari-senpai’s house before, after hearing about it from Mori-chan.”

“Uwah,” Homura exclaimed with a bitter smile. “Your dynamism really is amazing, Touya-kun. I can’t tell whether you’re bold or can’t read the atmosphere. Then, you met Inari-senpai… or not, by the sound of it…”

Touya shook his head, as if to say, ‘She was unapproachable.’

“I only talked with her over the interphone—‘Don’t get deeply involved with the Exploration Club,’ she said, in a nasty voice.”

“…And then?”

“I shouted back, ‘I don’t need your advice.’”

“You said that to someone who was not only an uppercla.s.sman, but a truant too—!?”

“……” Touya pressed a finger to his lips.

Homura had forgotten.

Recalling senpai’s presence in the tent, Homura lowered her voice.

“You didn’t have to go that far…”

“As if I care. She abandoned senpai and ran away.”

“Hah… Based on your words, you didn’t even ask her whether something happened, huh?”

“…Mori-chan said it was a personal problem and wouldn’t tell me the specifics.”

Touya hung his head with a brooding expression.

Homura was impressed by the seriousness in his face and words.

“…I could tell right away that there was another club member when I saw the list of names and personal lockers in the club building. But when I asked senpai about it, she just said that ‘Inari is a member that has already quit’ and that ‘she’s a former club member’. There’s no way it’s as simple as that, right?”

Hesitantly, Touya spoke in a painful tone.

“There’s no way that senpai abandoned her. She’s the one that abandoned senpai.”

After letting out a huge sigh, Homura stretched herself.

“Your senpai-fixation is quite strong, Touya-kun.”

“What was that?”

“Touya-kun, you like senpai. You’re serious about Misasagi Mayo.”

Staring silently at the flames without answering, Touya blushed red up to his ears.

Shrugging, Homura spoke up.

“You don’t get it, do you?”

Homura stared hard at Touya while also giving a slightly teasing smile.

“In that case, you shouldn’t have invited me to the Exploration Club. That way, you and senpai would have been alone with just the two of you. All smiling and excited.”

“Huh?”

“Well, you’re already plenty like that even now, though.”

Homura slapped Touya’s shoulder.

“I’m saying that you should support Misasagi-senpai, Touya-kun.”

“…It’s no good like that.”

The side profile of Touya’s face as he hid half of it by sinking down into his arms wrapped around his knees was very serious, yet also lonely, looking like that of a child who’d been left behind.

“……”

While Homura searched for words to say, Touya suddenly stood up.

“I’m going to sleep now. Make sure to get up on time tomorrow.”

“No way. I don’t even have an alarm clock here.”

Touya tossed a small-sized spring watch.

It was currently at a standstill and didn’t display the current time, but it could apparently be made to count time within twelve hours with the dial. In other words, it was a kind of timer.

“Senpai has a watch, so sync that to it.”

After saying that, Touya disappeared into his own small tent.

Homura was left alone in front of the open fire.

Still not feeling very sleepy, she continued staring at the flames.

“…What’s no good, geez…”

Before she realized it, she had completely fallen asleep.

When she woke up, the fire was already embers, emitting merely a slight warmth.

The t-spot was dark and wrapped in silence.

When she looked up at the sky, the night rainbow had finally become bright and vivid, just like senpai had said.

“…The Bagel, huh?”

Letting out a sign of admiration, Homura laced her hands behind her while gazing at the sky.

Several shooting stars shot across the sky in just a short instant.

They were much faster and emitted a much more striking brilliance than the shooting stars that Homura knew of through video footage only.

Here on Nutella, there were no shopping malls, lined-up brand stores, or 3D movie theaters. However, just happening upon this breath-taking sight made Homura feel that coming here was plenty worth it.

“A tomato… Cheese… That’s sesame… Honey… Pumpkin… Blueberry…”

As her eyes chased over the rainbow, a star drifted past the edge of her vision.

Suddenly, she turned her head in that direction, puzzled.

Within the darkness of the trees, she saw another one—no, two.

Small, blue stars drifted quietly over the ground while flickering. No matter how many times Homura rubbed her eyes, they didn’t disappear.

The blue stars silently increased in number and began to glitter as if to surround the t-spot.

“Senpai… Touya-kun…”

Homura tried to back away from the fire and call out to the two sleeping within the tents.

Immediately after—she heart a short breath.

“………”

Unable to speak out, Homura cringed in fear.

The sound of something trampling over fallen leaves and pebbles came from behind her.

The strange stench that faintly tickled her nose was the smell of a beast. The unpleasant, b.l.o.o.d.y smell that you would find in a zoo cage.

Remaining sitting in front of the fire, Homura was unable to even stir an inch as her body stiffened in order to desperately pretend to be asleep.

“……”

She heard the sound of a backpack falling down. She could clearly sense a presence searched through the baggage containing ingredients while sniffing.

That sound made Homura finally recall her own bag right behind her, as well as her only weapon in it, her knife.

She sensed something cautiously approaching.

“……Kuh…!”

Turning around while staying focused, Homura grabbed the knife from her backpack and prepared herself.

While trembling at the sensation of someone pulling her bag, Homura swung down her knife.

“——!”

A small silhouette silently leapt back.

It did a sudden somersault, landed far away and then crouched down.

What fell onto the ground around Homura was the taffy she had put into her baggage.

Her knife, which had cut through empty air without hitting anything, trembled minutely as the blade remained only halfway extended.

“…Hii… uuh…”

Somehow managing to cheer up her flabbergasted knees, Homura faced the small silhouette.

“W-What… Who…?”

It was all she could do just to say that much.

Several low growls resounded and grew closer from the surroundings.

Several seconds of fear pa.s.sed while she remained facing the silhouette.

At last, the sound of a clicking tongue rang out, and the growls stopped.

“………”

The small silhouette turned on its heels and ran swiftly into the forest. Large beasts also ran after the shadow, quickly fading away into the distance.

In less than a few seconds, the visitors had completely disappeared from the t-spot, leaving only a faint smell behind.

“………Uuh…”

Homura sank to the ground.

She tore off the fingers that held the knife as if it were someone else’s hand and threw it to the ground.

Without paying any mind to taking care of the scattered baggage or extinguis.h.i.+ng the fire, Homura ran into the tent.

“…This is a dream… This is a dream…”

Murmuring that to herself as she s.h.i.+vered, she slid into the sleeping bag and clung to the asleep senpai’s back within it. While sinking down to her head in the sleeping bag, she managed to fall asleep while paying attention to only senpai’s quiet breathing and slight warmth.

“………”

The small silhouette that she had faced over her backpack—

It had definitely been human.

Chapter 12 END

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