[A/M: Please understand that Heylel does not have future info.
Also, I am going to college soon, so I'm gonna be busier and I am planning out a novel. Expect a chapter a week. Thanks for reading.]
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"I think this one is all on Horikita."
A step back was all that was needed to put her in the spotlight. Her side glance chased me down before she fully turned to the mob. "Can I have the manual?"
She was handed it as Sudou was chased off into the distance with the cardboard toilet and our Homeroom teacher decided she had better things to do.
Looking through the thing she quickly arrived at the list, then as if giving a decree, "We will get a temporary toilet—it will be installed. Twenty points for all necessary functions."
Quickly the girls gathered around her, it was a rush.
"Oh come on! We could just save those points!" Ike looked agitated by the very idea, having spent months being destitute it was obvious why.
"We need it! I mean, I don't like that we have to spend points… But if we don't, it's just impossible!"
The girls were of one sentiment, and it was put under the 'no compromise' tab for them. They would not budge on it.
Ike then pointed to the Sudou stall, "Look guys that one is good right!? We can just use it right!? Twenty points this early—"
"You don't get to decide that, Horikita and Hirata will decide that," Shinohara ignored Ike and pleaded with Hirata to buy the temporary toilet.
"Why Hirata! He probably—"
Horikita ignored both of them and turned to me, "Anything you think is important?"
I shrugged, declining the invitation to partake.
"Then our first objective is to secure a campsite with a water source?" Horikita continued to ignore everyone as she talked straight to me.
"That would be for the best," I agreed with her.
"Why are you just asking him!? Ask everyone, us too! And don't just decide on the toilet like that!" Ike started to bark like a wild dog.
"Ah, shut up already!" Shinohara screeched at Ike before turning to Horikita, "He is a moron but he is right about one thing, we need to discuss the plan before moving forward with it."
"Alright," Horikita said with no actual will behind it and tilted her head back, her eyes catching Hirata, "Any issue?" Her words carried the tone of formality like his agreement was predetermined.
He shook his head, "At the very least, having a toilet for the girls would be—"
Ike once again interrupted, "You're free to consider opinions, but that doesn't mean you get to make decisions."
"Karuizawa, say something, will you?! That idiot needs to shut up!" Shinohara begged Karuizawa, the girls' representative.
"Really? Well, I suppose it'll be tough, but I want class points. I guess I'll just grin and bear it." An unexpected response from Karuizawa—I had thought she would be the first to complain but it seemed I had misjudged the queen bee. "The school has already prepared for our needs. I can endure it. If we take baths in the river and use what we have here, don't you think everything will be fine?"
"But…Karuizawa!" If Karuizawa said as much, then even the strong-willed Shinohara couldn't oppose her openly. Many of the girls followed Karuizawa, after all. However, Yukimura suddenly joined the fight.
"It's not as though I don't understand the girls' desire to have a temporary toilet. However, I'm not convinced that we ought to arbitrarily spend our points, whether it's for boys or girls. I suppose if you want the toilet, then I'd like to at least decide after collecting a majority vote."
He slid his glasses up his nose, voicing his disagreement in a rather aggressive tone.
"I'm just making a natural request for a girl, that's all. It doesn't involve boys at all." Shinohara disagreed.
"A natural request? Doesn't involve boys? I can't understand that. Isn't that simply a form of discrimination?"
"Discrimination? Ah, this is giving me a headache. Hirata, please make them leave me alone." Shinohara, unable to give up on the toilet matter, frantically pleaded for help. Pathetic.
Horikita decided to fully join the argument with all her logic in tow, "Okay, all of you," She pulled the entire class' attention, "While I too would like to get by without using any unnecessary points, the simple truth of it is, this is an unfamiliar environment to me and most of us here. And again, while I would like to challenge myself this is simply not about me or anyone alone." She paused to let her words settle in, "Think of it this way, if a girl drops out we lose thirty points, and it will happen without a toilet due to simple abstinence. Spending twenty points for the toilet will not only prevent unnecessary losses but will also give us girls peace of mind."
"I get that Horikita but—" Ike tried to but in.
"Yes, yes, points. But you are simply putting the cart before the horse Ike, it is not a luxury we are asking for but rather a sanitary necessity."
"Ugh!" Ike groaned, "Can't you girls toughen it out?"
"What do you know about us girls Ike? You have probably never even held hands with one!" Shinohara attacked him.
"Hey! Hey! Calm down!"
Yukimura sighed, ignoring the circus too, "But no more unnecessary purchases."
Horikita nodded, "We can decide what is unnecessary after we take a base. Besides we need to get a move on," She pointed to class B. Class A had already left and B was also on the move now.
"Ah, damn it! This isn't the time for a long, leisurely chat about toilets! I intend to do anything to protect our points. I'll go look for camp areas and spots. Till then, don't you dare buy anything!" Ike almost tried to run past us, but I grabbed him by the shoulder.
"What's the big idea!?" He shouted next to me, trying to throw my hand off.
"You won't be useful running randomly into the forest and getting lost," I said as plainly as I could.
"I have been camping before, I won't get lost here," He boasted. Hopeless idiot.
I removed my hand, letting the monkey be on his way. Except he wasn't, Sudou who had arrived back was pacing to Ike and so was Yamauchi. Ike looked like he had decided to give them time to catch up.
Hirata, seeing the most retarted group of our class eager to lead the charge, tried to stop them, "Wait a minute, Ike. It's dangerous to go into the forest without a plan."
"Will staying here and worrying solve anything? It won't."
It didn't seem like he cared enough to listen to anyone, "I'll come back once I find a spot we can use. Then, after everyone moves there, we can talk. A simple plan, right?"
"Coming Ayanokouji?" Sudou called out to the boy who had muddled himself into the group, but the boy just shook his head. "Sorry."
With that, the trio were off.
"For the time being, how about we find a place in the shade? We can talk while we move." Hirata took the initiative and started carrying the tent. The other guys followed suit.
"By the way. Did Sudou-kun tidy up the toilet properly?"
One of the girls looked anxious as she pointed to the toilet. It was true that Sudou had been empty-handed when he exited after going in to do his business. The bull didn't clean up after himself did he?
Ugh…writing off the thing we were off to the edge of the forest.
"Is it really okay for us to go in there? We might get lost. I can't see into it at all." One boy let out a pointless remark which was ignored as we pushed forward. Leading us was Hirata of course, more specifically he was leading the girls with one of two tents over his shoulder—the girls had just gathered behind him, like bees behind a flower.
"Wow, Karuizawa. Hirata is amazing, isn't he? He takes on everything that comes his way, even if he dislikes it."
"Oh yeah. The other guys are pathetic, so it's good to just leave everything to Hirata, right?"
A bitch sniffing after a guy who was already sleeping with one of her friends remarked and the other agreed.
Ignoring them my eyes turned to the girl walking beside me. "How are you feeling?"
"My health is fine," She answered, a frown on her lips, "I don't like this."
"Could tell. At least you tried to take the lead."
"I didn't want to. This is all unfamiliar to me, all of this is…I don't know what to do, the best I can do is make guesses," She sighed, "I don't want to damage our points by making bad calls. You were right then, even the trio might be more useful than me here," Oh, I don't know about that, I didn't ever talk about the trio, rather it was about Sudou—who gives a shit if the other two drop out, well, maybe our class points will…I need to ask someone if dropouts damage our class points.
Not that I would say any of that out loud. "Worried about making bad calls?"
"Aren't you?"
"I think I am generally more worried about making the best calls I can over making bad calls."
"I see…how do you decide what are the best available calls then?"
"Simple," My head tilted to the side, "Are we making the best use of our current resources?"
"Resources? Our points?"
"People are a resource too, manpower in other words."
She nodded, "By your line of thought we should focus on the best utilisation of our numbers? Utilisation of those numbers will result in fatigue, fatigue which we will have to recover with food, water and rest."
"A trade-off, yes. But not doing work has the drawback of falling behind," I pointed at my forehead, a drizzle of sweat forming, "We are under siege by the environment too."
A hesitant sigh left her thin lips. "Noted," She said before something was spun up and thrown at me, "You seem okay with all of this."
Yes, I have the piss drinker extraordinaire, Bear Grylls, to thank for that. "It is what it is."
My eyes were on her when I saw her lips tremble, tremble into a small smile, "I suppose you are right. 'It is what it is,' huh? Those words seem to fit you well. A really inertia-less person."
"What's that supposed to mean? An insult?"
"Yes."