"Koukan..." Hayama shook his head after racking his brains for a long while, "It might not necessarily be Koukan, it could just be that Tobe mistyped it."
"Like 'favorability' or 'high official' or something?" Hachiman also pondered along and chimed in: "It doesn't seem to hold any concrete meaning either."
"Come to think of it, I've heard of a case that happened at the University of Tokyo before," Asakura rubbed his chin and said meaningfully: "The protagonist of the case went missing, and his family received a text message sent from his own phone with incomprehensible contents reading '广厂厂厂丫厂厂卜尸广丁ㄙ扌乞入质'. Because it felt highly unusual, his family directly called the police. As a result, by the time they located him, he had already been murdered. That text message was actually sent after the killer murdered him, due to the phone screen being accidentally touched while the body was being dragged."
The faces of the others instantly turned deathly pale.
"You're right, we should directly call the police..."
Hiratsuka pulled out her mobile phone, looking uncharacteristically flustered.
"Hold on a moment."
Asakura grabbed her hand that was gripping the phone, halting her movements: "Let's still go with what was said just now, and call the police in half an hour."
"But, what if something has truly happened to Tobe..."
"If we've truly run into that kind of situation, half an hour earlier or half an hour later makes absolutely no difference at all."
Asakura shook his head: "We might as well take a gamble and let me verify my hypothesis..."
"Do you already have a lead?"
Hiratsuka blanked for a moment, then asked with a mix of surprise and a hint of delight.
"Just a little bit."
Asakura let go of Hiratsuka's hand and shook his head at Hachiman: "Let's go, Hachiman."
"Got it."
Hachiman uncharacteristically skipped any useless chatter, quickly following in Asakura's footsteps as they walked out of the wooden cabin.
☆
"Why hasn't Hina come back yet?" Miura, who was wearing her pajamas, complained as she sat on the bed planks: "It's just going to the restroom, does it really need to take this much time."
"It's probably because the restroom here is rather primitive," Yui, who was also wearing her pajamas, comforted her: "Maybe she didn't go to pick flowers, but rather, cough..."
Even though this place had running water, there was no proper drainage system, and a restroom was naturally not attached to every wooden cabin. Instead, it was an independent, outdoor public restroom. If one wanted to use the restroom, they had to step out of the cabin and head to the toilet facility situated a slight distance away—
For someone who was timid and afraid of the dark, this path was actually quite terrifying.
It was worth mentioning that Yui wasn't originally supposed to sleep in this wooden cabin. It was simply because Miura insisted on having a pajama party that she dragged Yui, who shared a room with Yukihira Itsuka, over here.
In fact, out of courtesy, or rather out of a 'since I saw her I might as well invite her' mindset, Miura had also called Yukino, but the latter flatly refused the late-night girls' gathering.
On the other hand, Komachi, who shared a room with Tsurumi Rumi, happily joined in.
Interestingly, in Hiratsuka's original arrangement, Tsurumi Rumi was paired with Yukihira Itsuka in the same room, since the two of them were classmates of the exact same age. However, considering they were both little kids, if anything were to happen at night, they wouldn't even have anyone to rely on or call for help. So they were separated later on: Tsurumi Rumi stayed in a cabin with Komachi, while Yukihira Itsuka shared a cabin with Sakiko.
"Everything is just so inconvenient here, if I had known earlier I wouldn't have come to participate in this volunteer activity." Miura grumbled under her breath: "Or rather, if Hayato hadn't insisted on coming, I would never have come to this kind of godforsaken place."
"Does Sister Miura like that older brother named Hayama?" Komachi asked.
"Well, I mean~" Miura vaguely murmured, mindlessly playing with her drill curls with her finger.
Komachi flashed a sly, mischievous smile.
"Maybe our school trip next year will be held here too." Yui, who was off to the side, cracked a joke.
"Uwah, Yui, don't say such unpleasant things, what if it actually comes true!"
Miura suddenly waved her hand listlessly, appearing thoroughly averse to this place.
"I actually find this place quite fun." Komachi said happily: "The curry is super delicious too!"
"You're eating it so happily purely because the curry was made with your own hands, which gives it a psychological flavor boost. Once you eat it a few more times, you won't think that way anymore."
Miura looked even more mentally exhausted.
But she perked up right after, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Yui, who was acting like an innocent bystander off to the side: "Come to think of it, Yui, the one you like... is that chuunibyou named Asakura, right?"
"N-No such thing..."
Not expecting to hit a sudden ambush here, Yui blanked for a moment, then said with a flustered lack of confidence: "Yumiko, don't talk nonsense..."
Komachi stared curiously at Yui.
"Hmph, it would be great if that were truly all it was. I saw that brat making eyes back and forth with Yukinoshita during the day today; he's not a proper fellow. Yui, you'd better not get involved with him."
Miura let out a charming snort and spoke with dissatisfaction.
However, compared to her dissatisfaction with Asakura, the undertone of her dissatisfaction with Yukino was a fraction stronger in her words.
"Yumiko, don't talk like that."
Yui protested in a small voice using that unique, crisp timbre of hers: "Whether it's Takuma... Asakura or Yukinon, they are both good people."
"Hmph, oh?" Miura scrutinized Yui with a scanning gaze, closely taking in her beautiful figure in pajamas which utterly outclassed a certain second young mistress of the Yukinoshita family: "Who are you crying foul for? The old Yui wouldn't speak to me like this."
"Ahaha, it's just out of a bit of protectiveness for a fellow club friend..." Yui broke into a cold sweat under her gaze.
"Hmph, it must be that Yukinoshita brainwashed you with something again."
"N-No way."
"Or did that Asakura bastard do some good deed?"
"Taku... Asakura-kun isn't as terrible as you make him out to be, Yumiko."
"It seems your changes are entirely due to Asakura." Miura's gaze instantly grew razor-sharp.
"Ugh..."
Only just realizing that she seemed to have been tested, Yui let out a tiny whimper.
"And you still say you don't care about that fellow? I'm telling you, a girl must have her own reserve. A guy who makes eyes back and forth with other girls—you absolutely cannot abandon your dignity and throw yourself at him in such a mad rush!"
Miura cautioned her with total seriousness.
"I-I wouldn't do that kind of thing either." Yui hurriedly defended herself.
"Is that so?" Miura looked at her skeptically: "Then visualize this, right now Asakura is standing right here."
She gesticulated next to her side, indicating that Asakura was right there.
"H-Here?" Yui was entirely blank.
Komachi stepped into that exact position and began to roleplay as Asakura.
"Yo, Yui-tan~" She waved toward Yui.
Yui's face blushed a fraction.
"Then, that guy says some out-of-line things to you." Miura continued to guide her.
"O-out-of-line things?" Yui grew even more bewildered.
"Well, though I'm not entirely clear on it either, I've seen a few things in Hina's books before, like SM dis○cipline or whatever..." Miura also joined in the speculation.
"Yo, baby~ Come put on the collar and become my little puppy~" Komachi lowered her voice, attempting to imitate Asakura. Of course, it didn't sound like him at all.
Yui: "A c-collar?! No, no, no, that's impossible! Even if Asakura-kun wanted to put a collar on me and flashed that kind of wicked smile at me, I would definitely... definitely still... poof..."
"Sister Yui? Why did you suddenly turn red-faced and stop talking?" This time it was Komachi's turn to be completely blank.
"Ah, this situation..." Miura massaged her forehead helplessly: "It's a severe case."
"Ugh! No way! Why has this turned into me being the only one getting interrogated and subjected to a shame-play from the very start!" Yui snapped out of it, speaking with shame and annoyance.
"No, nobody wanted to do that type of play with you, you're simply immersing yourself in it all on your own..." Miura complained.
"In-in short, since things have reached this point, Yumiko and little sister Komachi must say some private things too! Otherwise, I'm the only one beig embarrassed! Unfair! Unfair!" Her sense of shame exploding, Yui acted spoiled like a little child, throwing a bit of a self-abandoning tantrum.
"Since things have reached this point, Komachi can only reveal what she has been hiding all this time." Komachi had a solemn expression, speaking with a heavy tone.
"Huh, little sister Komachi actually has dark secrets too?" Miura was somewhat surprised.
"...So me liking Takuma-tan counts as belonging to the dark side." Yui knelt on the bed planks, drawing circles and muttering to herself.
"Actually—" Komachi dragged out her tone long and drawn out, keeping them in suspense.
"Actually, I have an older brother called Hikigaya Hachiman."
"Wow, what an astounding secret." Yui complained expressionlessly: "I also happen to have a classmate named Hikigaya Hachiman, how could there be such a coincidence."
"But to tell the truth, this is the first time I've known that fellow's full name." Miura remarked.
"You're lying, right? You've been in the same class for three whole months?" Yui was shocked.
"Next up is Sister Miura's dark secret." Komachi turned her spearhead directly toward Miura without a shred of hesitation.
Yui's train of thought was also instantly derailed as she looked toward the other party.
Miura felt a mountain of pressure under their gazes. She clapped her palms together: "Oh, Hina hasn't come back yet, I just happen to want to go pick flowers, so I'll check on the restroom along the way!" Having finished speaking, she didn't wait for the reaction of the other two, standing up abruptly and swiftly exiting the wooden cabin, shutting the door on Yui's voice crying, "Ah! Cunning!"
As the cool night breeze blew, Miura's somewhat heated brain instantly cooled down, and she also snapped completely awake. That fellow Komachi pulled herself out of this truth-or-dare segment without having said anything at all! Be that as it may, she had no intention of heading back to call her to account; aside from feeling that turning back right away would make her lose face, the young girl was truly a fraction worried about Ebina Hina who hadn't returned for so long.
"Let's go check the restroom..." She muttered under her breath, walking toward the public restroom at the edge of the campsite.
Yet before she even arrived over there, she caught sight of a stealthy, petite silhouette exiting another wooden cabin, quietly walking toward the pitch-black woods in the distance.
It was Tsurumi Rumi.
Miura had barely any impression of this child because she had stayed inside the wooden cabin alone nearly the entire afternoon without stepping out, completely unaware of what she was tinkering with, totally unlike that other industrious and sensible elementary schooler, Yukihira Itsuka. Even during essential public appearances like eating meals, the other party would only show up for a fleeting spell, and would explicitly set aside a small portion of food to bring back to her room to finish before coming out to wash the dishes, keeping zero interaction with anyone else throughout the process; despite there being so many people at the campsite, she lived as though she were completely on her own.
Miura pulled out her phone, verifying that the current time was nineteen twenty-eight. At such a late hour, where on earth was that child going all by herself? Wait, considering that the child took a portion of food back to her room whether it was lunch or dinner... could it be that she was raising some pet?
No, that's not right. This child was brought here by Hiratsuka-sensei, so it was impossible for her to carry common domestic pets like cats or dogs throughout the trip. Judging by the portion of consumed food, it didn't look like a miniature pet like a hamster that could be easily hidden on one's body either. But thinking carefully, if a girl wanted to raise a pet, she wouldn't need to "carry" it from home at all. One must realize that this was the woods, and a highly primitive type of woods that was just a single step away from a "forest".
Although it had been confirmed that there were no bears in the surroundings, there were bound to be plenty of miscellaneous small animals in the woods. In this kind of place, finding and picking up an animal like a squirrel or a weasel didn't feel entirely impossible.
So for that child to sneak into the woods at such a late hour, she must have realized that she had no proper way to raise a wild animal she had picked up, and thus planned to take this opportunity to release it back into the wild.
Thinking up to this point, Miura also abandoned the idea of contacting Hiratsuka via her phone, quietly following her instead. Since that child was merely going to release a small animal, she didn't need to meddle; at most she would follow behind, and if the child couldn't find her way back to the campsite in a bit, she would simply show up and bring her back. Hmph, this way, this child will definitely become close to her. At the thought that Tsurumi Rumi, whom even Yukino seemingly failed to conquer, might become her little fangirl, Miura couldn't resist letting out a soft hum.
Ah, no time for idle thoughts, I need to keep up quickly.
Seeing that Tsurumi Rumi's silhouette was about to vanish among the trees, Miura hurriedly followed after her.
And entirely unnoticed by either of them, a massive patterned snake was coiled upon a cedar branch at the edge of the woods; its dark ophidian eyes took in this entire scene as it flicked its tongue, quietly trailing after them along the branches in the forest.