Vol 2 Chapter 3 (2/2)

He was the official representative of young Nutellan investigators chosen by the UNPIEP’s j.a.pan branch, and the current Exploration Club president at Osaka Prefectural School Nagumo High.

On top of his a.s.signed position, that boy, Tenryuu Kazuma, also had many opportunities to engage in international activities and was frequently exposed to the media unlike other investigators, who were protected from aggressive journalists.

Homura had seen his face just last month in the news.

Tenryuu had been doing an interview while surrounded by many reporters. His humorous image as he spoke calmly and crisply with an adult air, exciting the reporters several times in the course of his speech, had left quite an impression on her.

Even inside the plane, several pa.s.sengers here and there seemed to have recognized his appearance and voice. Fujimori’s decision to cut the conversation short was quite justified.

However, Homura was honestly disappointed that her observation of such a famous person ended so soon. With nothing else to do, she held out the sweets in her hands to Misasagi, who was acting composed as if nothing had happened.

“Umm, senpai, what should I do with this? I ended up taking them…”

“They’re, tasty, right?”

As if to say that the desserts had committed no sin, Misasagi took all but one of the sweets from Homura’s hand and pushed them onto the chest of Touya across the aisle. Ameno’s eyes quietly lit up in antic.i.p.ation next to him.

“C-Can I have these?”

“Yeah. I’m going, to rest, for a bit.”

Declaring that, Misasagi then reclined her chair after giving polite warning to the pa.s.senger behind her, and closed her eyes.

“…She really is angry…”

Misasagi-senpai’s sleeping face was slightly sullen, and Homura couldn’t helped but smile at how cute she looked like that.

After a two and a half hour flight, the plane touched down at Naha Airport.

The flight had practically gone by in the blink of an eye, but the journey ahead was going to be much longer.

Their group switched airplanes and went from the main island of Okinawa to Is.h.i.+gaki Island.

From the airport on Is.h.i.+gaki Island, they then headed by fast tram to Is.h.i.+gaki harbor.

Then, from the harbor, they boarded a fixed-course high-speed boat which would take them to their final destination, Iriomote Island.

The high-speed boat sailed swiftly across white-crested waves.

Standing on the top open deck, Homura was deeply moved by the pale-colored sea that made her truly feel that she had come to a southern country. But, in truth, physically she was—

“Hot… It’s… hoooooot!”

Homura stepped out from the shade of the deck’s eaves directly into the sunlight s.h.i.+ning down from above. She held out her arms wide as she closed her eyes and let out a happy shout.

Having traveled through only air-conditioned places in their journey until now, she felt as if the sunlight was pressing down on her skin.

And that made the sea breeze feel all the nicer, so much so that she felt gooseb.u.mps even in this oppressive heat.

As she adjusted her wildly flying hair, she turned to the boy crouching down beside her.

“Are you all right, Akiho-kun?”

“…………”

There was no reply.

Ever since they had gotten off their first plane at Naha Airport, Saho Akiho’s face had been extremely pale and he hadn’t said more than two words. Right now, he was leaning against the s.h.i.+p’s railing and crouching on the deck, completely at the mercy of the s.h.i.+p’s shaking and obviously in need of aid.

“I’m weak… to moving vehicles.”

“……”

Seeing Saho nod weakly, Homura couldn’t help but sympathize with him.

Well, it was a relief that it hadn’t resulted in any big ruckus while they traveled like Fujimori-sensei had worried about, at least.

“Umm, how about some anti-travel sickness medicine… You already drank some? But you threw it up? Ah, I see… sounds tough.”

“………(nod).”

Regular pa.s.sengers were quite few on the s.h.i.+p, with most of the available s.p.a.ce onboard having been reserved by the Exploration Club. According to Ameno’s explanation, this boat had been specially half-chartered for this trip to transport the Exploration Club members.

The most memorable event while they’d been boarding was seeing a mature-looking, male official at Is.h.i.+gaki harbor catch sight of Misasagi-senpai and greet her familiarly, to which senpai had smiled and deeply bowed back in return.

Meanwhile, the prominent male Exploration Club member who was a greater source of concern than young Akiho to Homura and the others right now, Tenryuu Kazuma, had said he would wait for his school’s club members, who would be arriving late. He told them that he’d take a later flight, before going off on his own to the Naha Airport’s food court to pa.s.s the time until then.

Tenryuu had been accompanied by Nagumo High’s teaching advisor. He was someone that Homura recognized from the news just like Tenryuu.

However, unexpectedly, in contrast to the image of a “bright and cheerful older man” that he’d given off on the news, he had quite a stern air about him in person. Fujimori-sensei had courteously greeted him as a fellow teacher, but the two of them hadn’t talked much and seemed to have a strange atmosphere between them, making Homura c.o.c.k her head in puzzlement.

Homura’s gossip antenna had reacted sharply as she wondered whether there was some unknown discord between them, but when they boarded the boat, it turned out be a baseless fear as nothing happened (…though, that was mostly because the teacher in question wasn’t on board).

In the pa.s.sengers’ cabin, Exploration Club members from every school were meeting each other again for the first time in a long while and excitedly chatting. The teachers in charge of them had also temporarily forgotten their positions and were conversing together like old reunited war buddies.

That was quite a relieving sight to see in its own way, but it left the younger new members bored with nothing to do—

So, Homura had left the pa.s.sengers’ cabin using the excuse to go check on Saho out on deck.

At that moment, a girl behind Homura peered over her shoulder at the poor boy.

“Is he okay?”

It was a girl with wavy hair in a loose bob-cut that reached down to her chin.

While turning her attention to the new girl, Homura checked Saho’s near-death state once more.

“Ah, yeah, he’s okay, technically. It doesn’t seem like… he’ll get any worse, I guess?”

“So he’s already at his worst right now? I see. Yeah, his expression right now is like that of Wasasuke when he was submerged in the bath—Here, have some water if you like.”

The female student crouched down and held out a bottle of mineral water to him, and Saho managed to limply nod and accept it.

“Earth is so inconvenient, not being able to use a musical phrase4 to strengthen our automatic nervous system.”

The girl turned back to Homura and greeted her in a monotonous voice.

“Nice to meet you. You’re a first-year too, right? I’m Himekawa from Tomakomai Denpa in Hokkaido.”

“I’m Hinooka Homura from Seiran High. Nice to meet you, Himekawa-san. I look forward to being acquainted with you—Eh, did you say Tomakomai… Denpa?”

“That’s right. ‘Denpa’ as in radio waves. Its full official name Tomakomai Denpa Technical High School is quite a mouthful. We usually call it either ‘Tomaden’ or ‘Tomako Tech’.”

Himekawa waved her hands above her head with a strange gesture to mime emitting radio signal as she finished her self-introduction.

“Yeah, we do the same thing at our school, we often call it ‘Blue High’5—Ah, but I’ve never seen Misasagi-senpai call it that.”

“How nice.”

“What is? And how so?”

Homura was bewildered by Himekawa’s unexpected response.

“I mean, it’s nice how there are other club members besides yourself at Seiran High, Hinooka-san. I’m the only female member in our club. The other six club members are all boys. Even our teaching advisor is a man.”

“Eh, you’re the only girl!? I’m envious of how many members you have, but a single girl among six boys? That’s quite the difficult hurdle… I’m impressed that you can stay in the club. Do they treat you courteously?”

“No, not at all. Every day is a whirlwind of blunders, thick-headedness and s.e.xual hara.s.sment for me. But they’re all spineless good-for-nothings at their core, so—well, I’m pretty used to it by now.”

Himekawa calmly spoke of the troubles she went through.

“That’s why I want to make some female friends here at SA at least.”

“I feel the same way,” said Homura in agreement, holding out her hand.

The two girls firmly shook heads.

“So now that we’ve deepened our female friends.h.i.+p—how about you come over too, Otomaru-kun?”

Himekawa called out to a short-statured boy who appeared to be a first-year like them.

The boy, who had been taking pictures of the coral reefs beneath the water below while letting out cries of awe, put away his terminal in his pocket and walked over to Homura and the others.

“You said your name was Hinooka? Then you’re Hinooka-san from Seiran High? I’m Otomaru from Kanazawa Asano High. Nice to meet you.”

“Ah, you’re from a different school than Himekawa-san. Yeah, nice to meet you too.”

When Homura finished introducing herself, Otomaru looked at her with s.h.i.+ning eyes of excitement.

As Homura was startled by his reaction, Otomaru began to speak in a heated tone.

“You’re THAT Hinooka Homura, the one who partic.i.p.ated on a rescue mission with senior members despite being a first year and brought back two stranded club members, right? It’s an honor to meet you!”

“T-Thanks… But I mostly just acted according to the directions Koma-senpai and the others gave me, and I don’t really feel that I managed to be a good a.s.sistant.”

“That’s not true at all. I was really impressed when I heard the story. Could you tell me about it later?”

“I’m also interested in hearing about it,” said Himekawa.

“Uwah, s-sure,” replied Homura while holding her cheeks bashfully.

When she asked Himekawa and Otomaru whether they were previous acquaintances, they replied that they’d only met in person for the first time today.

“He was in the seat next to me on the plane from Naha, and we kinda hit it off, especially after I found out he was in the opposite situation of me.”

“Hmm? Opposite situation?”

Homura tilted her head in puzzlement. Otomaru crossed his arms and nodded as he explained.

“That’s right. My school’s Exploration Club is filled with nothing but girls besides me.”

“Oh my.”

Saho’s eyes lit up in interest even in his dying state beside Homura.

“From what I heard, his case is even more serious, which actually made me feel better about my own situation, if you pardon my rudeness,” said Himekawa. “My school is a technical school, so the percentage of female students has always been low. But I still have some female friends in my cla.s.s.”

“Hmm, I see. Then by the opposite situation, you mean?”

Homura looked from Himekawa to Otomaru.

“My school was originally a girl’s school, and on paper, it’s been a co-ed school for several years now. But the male student population is overwhelmingly low. So naturally, the Exploration Club is also—”

“A garden of women, right?”

That was how Homura phrased it, but Otomaru just nodded with a slightly tired smile.

“Why would they make an Exploration Club at that kind of school…?” wondered Homura as she returned a similar bitter smile.

“That’s what I want to ask, truly. But, in any case, Kanazawa Asano High was the only choice of school that fit my needs where I live.”

“I see…”

Homura turned meek as she felt the weight of determination in Otomaru’s words.

“…Is that because you wanted to join the Exploration Club?”

“Of course.”

“Was it the same reason for you, Himekawa-san?”

“Well, pretty much. I was interested in the Exploration Club. Though that wasn’t the entire reason that I applied to my school.”

“What does that…” began Homura as she tried to find out the meaning behind that last sentence, but then…

“I heard that Touya-kun also entered your school primarily for the Exploration Club, right?”

Himekawa changed the topic as she turned to look at the corpse lying at Homura’s feet.

Releasing the misunderstanding, Homura quickly corrected her.

“Eh? No, no, that’s not Touya-kun. He’s Akiho-kun. Err—”

“Ah, sorry. I thought for sure it was him since he was with you, Hinooka-san. Then, this person is—”

“Saho, a first year like us, right? He really is no good riding vehicles, huh?” finished Otomaru.

Though she’d been beaten to the punch, Homura still caught up and introduced him.

“—This is Saho Akiho, from Hiyos.h.i.+zaka High.”

Meanwhile, Saho weakly beckoned at Himekawa and Homura with his hand.

In the end, they all crouched down to peer at Saho.

“As long… As long as there are girls beside me… I’m fine…”

Saho managed to wring out those words in a groan.

“Hey, don’t push yourself. You’ll die,” said Otomaru consolingly. “And speaking of Touya, he was busy talking in the pa.s.sengers’ cabin.”

“Otomaru-kun, do you already know Touya-kun?”

Otomaru nodded. Himekawa also nodded and elaborated further.

“We’re all online chat friends. That’s how we heard about you, Hinooka-san.”

“Wait, Touya-kun did!?” Homura frantically shot to her feet and shrunk away.

“Is there a problem with that?” asked Himekawa. “I personally don’t like doing face-to-face video chats, so I don’t know what he looks like, though.”

“H…Heeh, is that so? I see. S-So, how much did he tell you about me?”

Himekawa and Otomaru looked up in puzzlement as Homura acted agitated and suspicious.

At that moment, the very subject of their conversation, Touya, came up the steps to the s.h.i.+p’s deck together with Ameno.

“Hinooka, there you are. We’re going to be arriving soon,” said Touya.

“How’s Akiho-san’s condition?” asked Ameno.

When they arrived on deck, Touya immediately noticed the two other first years with Homura.

“Yo, Touya,” greeted Otomaru with a raised hand.

“Otomaru, huh—then you must be Himekawa-san from Tomakomai Denpa, right?”

“Yes, you’re spot on. h.e.l.lo, Touya-kun.”

Even while she greeted Touya, Himekawa’s gaze seemed to be fixed on Ameno.

“Ah… It’s the real Ameno-chan… Amazing… Your movements are so natural… Umm, Saho-san has recovered to the point where he can crack jokes, so it’s fine to just ignore him now.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Ameno put a hand to her chest in relief, which made Himekawa coo in awe again.

“Stop it with the neglect play…” Saho quietly groaned.

As Ameno introduced herself to Otomaru and Himekawa, Homura questioned Touya with a sour expression.

“Touya-kun, you’re already acquainted with Himekawa-san and Otomaru-kun, aren’t you?”

“Hmm? Yeah. This is my first time meeting them in person, though.”

“Since when… and how?”

“How? Through this, obviously.”

Touya reached into his pocket, and following his example, Himekawa and Otomaru did so as well, all of them taking out their portable terminals, which were distributed to all investigators.

“And we also used the Collab on the Exploration Club’s website,” added Himekawa.

“Collab?”

“It’s short for Collaboration Tool. It’s like a sophisticated online bulletin board. You only have your name registered so far, Hinooka-san, so your personal profile is completely blank…”

“There’s something like that?”

Touya looked at her in disbelief.

“…I believe I told you about it once before, though.”

“Sorry. I forgot. I completely forgot about everything I was taught before final exams.”

“I see… Then it can’t be helped.”

Touya grudgingly conceded the plausibility of that, and for some reason, Homura proudly had her hands on her hips.

“—I can see it!”

While leaning her body forward over the deck railing, Ameno turned back to the rest of them with an excited shout.

The sea was so clear that you could see the coral reefs below, and in the distance ahead of the s.h.i.+p, a thick forest was slowly getting closer. It was Iriomote Island’s natural sightseeing landmark, the mangrove forest.

Otomaru drew near the railing and shouted in excitement at the prospect of landing there.

“That’s right! We should take a picture. A commemorative photo.” As she spoke, Otomaru switched his terminal to camera mode. “This may not be Nutella, but as people who’ve never been to Okinawa before, it’s untrodden land for us, right? We should add it to our exploration records.”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. Let’s do it,” said Homura as she fixed up her messy hair from the sea breeze.

“Then please line up together, everyone. I’ll take the picture,” said Ameno

“Eh… Ameno-chan, won’t you join us in the photo?” asked Himekawa disappointedly

“We can take turns taking pictures, can’t we? Though we might not have time, since we’re almost at the harbor,” pointed out Otomaru.

“Wait five seconds.”

Saying that, Touya took a strip of something and used it to quickly fasten Otomaru’s terminal to a deck pillar, and then he hurried back to the railing.

“Ameno, please activate the camera shutter by wireless remote control at the proper time.”

Now able to join Homura and the others in the picture thanks to Touya’s cleverness, Ameno nodded.

“Roger! …You know, it seems like you’re brazenly taking advantage of me as a robot more and more, Tak.u.mi-san… Anyway, everybody ready? Cheeze~☆”

Click.

—With Iriomote Island growing bigger and taking up the view starboard side of the s.h.i.+p…

“………Blergh.”

It ended up being a modest photo of them all gathered around Saho, who was still limply collapsed on the deck floor and hanging onto the railing.

Soon after, the s.h.i.+p arrived at Nakama Port, one of Iriomote Island’s chief entrance harbors.

There, a certain group of several first year Exploration Club members excitedly got off at the pier, following the regular pa.s.sengers…

Then, the s.h.i.+p’s engine roared back to life as it suddenly left port, leaving them behind on the pier. And with the other Exploration Club members...o...b..ard, including their teachers and uppercla.s.smen.

The disembarked group frantically shouted “Why!?” and desperately tried screaming at the s.h.i.+p to make it do a U-turn back to the pier. However, there was no sign of anyone on deck or at the s.h.i.+p windows to hear them… Truly a despairing situation.

…Of course, it was just a customary prank done by the uppercla.s.smen and the s.h.i.+p’s captain, who was friends with them.

After going back to pick up the careless first-years (incidentally, Otomaru-kun had jumped into the sea to chase after the s.h.i.+p) and leaving the harbor, the s.h.i.+p left its usual route and headed around Iriomote Island to reach the western side on the opposite end.

After their long trip through land, sky and sea, they finally arrived at a small bay with a rough rocky beach, definitely not a place aimed at tourists. This was the training field run by the state and shared with the Self-Defence force. The pier that extended out from the embankment was its harbor.

An UNPIEP flag hung from the pier in welcome to the young investigators.

Chapter 3 END

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