After understanding the sequence of events, Hiratsuka looked at the theoretical chief culprit, Tobe.
"Tobe..."
"Hiratsuka-sensei..." Tobe lowered his head in shame.
"I don't blame you," Hiratsuka said gently, opening her arms wide in a welcoming embrace.
"Teacher!" Tobe moved forward to embrace her, deeply touched and wanting to feel his teacher's warm embrace.
Then, he was grabbed by Hiratsuka, lifted high up, and slammed hard into the ground behind her.
"Did you really think I would say that?! You idiot, don't do that kind of thing in the woods!" Hiratsuka said fiercely.
"What a textbook Overhead Suplex. As expected of Hiratsuka-sensei," Asakura nodded and praised.
Meanwhile, Hachiman, who had been wondering just a moment ago if Hiratsuka had been possessed by another soul, revealed an expression that read, 'Now this feels right,' and 'This is the real Hiratsuka-sensei.'
Although he took a solid overhead suplex from Hiratsuka, the Iron-Fisted Teacher (Unmarried) had held back, so Tobe was not actually beaten to the point of being unable to get up again.
After slamming him to the ground, Hiratsuka smoothly brushed the matter aside with a refreshed expression and sent all the students off to bed.
The next day.
The moment Sakiko woke up, she noticed that the atmosphere in the entire campsite seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
Had something happened while she was asleep?
She found it a bit strange.
However, the current her was no longer the hesitant and weak "Little Saki" of the past; after pondering for a brief moment, the young girl immediately made a decision.
Since things had come to this, she would have breakfast first.
A free breakfast is the most delicious thing.
A dense aroma of rice drifted over from the cooking station, making the young girl swallow her saliva involuntarily—ever since the price of rice in supermarkets skyrocketed to a level she could no longer comprehend, she hadn't eaten proper new crop rice in a long time.
Once upon a time, having lived a pampered life, she even thought that all the rice in the world tasted the same without any difference, until she had to eat super-old-aged grain, only then did she realize that there is indeed a massive gap between different types of rice!
As she walked toward the cooking station, Sakiko saw a boy by the side of the road... his last name seemed to be Tobe? His face was completely covered in injuries, looking exactly as if he had been brutally beaten up.
Could there still be bullying even in a place like this? The young girl thought to herself.
However, her current self did not have the luxury or leeway to help others anyway.
Inside the pot on the cooking station, the scalding hot porridge was bubbling and rolling actively. The snow-white grains of rice repeatedly bloomed in the thick liquid before slowly dissolving, raising a layer of warm white mist.
The aroma of rice diffused through the air along with the steam, carrying a reassuring sweetness that gently drifted into Sakiko's nasal cavity, as if even the early morning sleepiness was being driven away bit by bit by this scent, leaving behind only a warm and solid anticipation of a full stomach.
Unfortunately, there were no side dishes to go with the porridge. Clearly, the group responsible for shopping yesterday had not anticipated what they would be eating for breakfast this morning.
Fortunately, there was still curry. Throwing a large amount of yesterday's freshly picked vegetables into the leftover curry and adding a lethal dose of salt, the resulting concoction carried a heavy curry fragrance while being exceptionally salty. Although it didn't pair particularly well with plain white porridge, making do with it was not an issue.
At the very least, Sakiko felt quite satisfied.
After dishing out her breakfast, she looked around for a place where she could sit down—since most of the tables and chairs in the campsite were outdoors, not many were still in a usable state after all these years, so finding one that worked was quite a test of one's eyesight.
Using the keen eye she had developed from scrambling for discounted vegetables and eggs in supermarkets, Sakiko quickly locked onto a target and successfully sat down, drawing a certain amount of distance between herself and everyone else.
'As expected of me.' The proud girl folded her hands together, said a silent "Itadakimasu" in her heart, used a spoon to scoop up a massive mouthful of porridge, and ate it with loud gulps, a blissful and satisfied smile involuntarily radiating across her face.
At that moment, she noticed a few girls not far from her who seemed to be casually chatting.
Looking at that youthful appearance, they were definitely talking about vibrant, youth-centric topics that girls of this age would usually discuss; perhaps they were even talking about forming a band or something... unfortunately, she herself had already...
Then, she heard the girl wearing glasses declare in a voice that was practically shouted out.
"So Asakura-kun is definitely the top!"
What kind of ghost story are you talking about!
Sakiko, who almost sprayed her breakfast out of her nose, grumbled loudly and indignantly in her heart.
At least talk about topics that are more fitting for girls of this age!
"Ahaha... there's no such thing, Takuma-tan's orientation is definitely normal..." Beside the glasses-wearing girl, a pink-haired girl with a cute bun hair style laughed dryly as she tried to smooth things over: "Well, p-probably..."
Why does your confidence drop the more you speak! Could that guy named Asakura Takuma really have a problem with his orientation?
"Hmph, Yui, you've definitely noticed it too, haven't you? Hurry up and confess!" The glasses-wearing girl seemed to have caught onto her companion's lack of confidence as well, and pressed forward aggressively.
"I-I just feel like Takuma-tan is surrounded by girls, but I haven't heard of him laying his hands on those cute kids, so it just feels a little bit..." The girl with the mochi bun style called Yui seemed somewhat unable to hold her ground, turning to the blonde brioche roll beside her for backup: "Yumiko, what do you think? After all, you also spent some time alone with him in the woods yesterday, didn't you?"
The brioche roll named Yumiko looked like she didn't have much of an appetite, and with a rather pale complexion, she used a disposable chopstick to repeatedly poke a potato on her plate, almost mashing the poor potato into a puree.
"Don't make it sound like I was spending alone time with that guy, and to tell you the truth, I don't really remember much of what happened yesterday. The woods were simply too dark."
Miura let out a sigh.
"Yumiko, do you not have an appetite?" The pink-haired mochi bun girl asked with concern.
"I just don't know why, but I suddenly feel like eating frogs... No, it's nothing, just forget what I said."
The blonde brioche roll seemed worried about her own strange appetite. She shook her head with a slightly pale face, then picked up her plate, dumped it into the trash can nearby, and walked away.
What a waste.
Sakiko said in her heart.
Then, she continued to eat her breakfast in large mouthfuls.
☆
Eating a proper meal was something Hiratsuka had emphasized to everyone yesterday. After all, they came to this campsite for a volunteer service activity, not for a vacation.
The first day was merely an adaptation phase, while the second day was when things got real, which would likely demand a significant amount of physical strength. One wouldn't be able to hold out without eating properly.
After breakfast was over, it was a continuation of yesterday's work. The girls, because of their lighter body weight, were sent to the roof to check the situation up there. Once the damaged spots were determined, the boys would bring up the repair boards, nails, and tools to perform a temporary fix.
"Fortunately, Yanami didn't come."
Asakura said with a great sense of relief upon hearing Hiratsuka assign the tasks.
"Yanami is a member of that club of yours, right?" Hikigaya asked curiously. "Is she afraid of heights? Even if she really is, this height looks like it should be fine..."
"No, she is quite heavy." Asakura shook his head. "If it were her going up on the roof, the house would probably collapse entirely."
Hikigaya: "..."
Thus, the name "Yanami" became associated in his impression with a fat woman resembling an inflated balloon.
"Speaking of which, where is that guy Tobe?" Asakura looked around in confusion. "How come I haven't seen him since breakfast? Don't tell me this fellow went missing again?"
"Oh, him."
Hikigaya's expression looked a bit unnatural: "I heard he went out to catch frogs this morning, but ended up getting a bunch of toads instead. Now he's having an allergic reaction, swollen all over his body, and is resting inside the room."
"Why did he want to catch frogs?"
"Who knows, a hobby maybe."
"What a strange person," Asakura lamented.
Hikigaya shifted his gaze away from Asakura, refraining from voicing the complaint of "you have no right to talk about others" in his heart.
The roof repair work unfolded in full swing.
It was worth mentioning that, unlike yesterday when she stayed in her room all by herself, today's Tsurumi Rumi was quite diligent, constantly assisting Asakura and helping hand him tools or materials.
This caused the look Yukinoshita directed at Asakura to change from "this guy couldn't have laid his hands on an elementary school student, right?" to "just how far did this guy go to make an elementary school student so utterly devoted."
Of course, the underlying tone was definitely still one of disdain.
Only Asakura knew that the girl was doing this purely to spend more time with the little wooden person and secretly play together.
This child seemed to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of having a shared secret with someone else, while quietly maintaining that secret right in public.
"Speaking of which, does this ring have any use?"
The little one suddenly asked Asakura out of curiosity.
"Good question!" Asakura, who was inspecting the waterproof felt, replied with a serious face: "The answer is, I don't know."
"Huh?"
"This thing itself is part of a Bowtruckle, so it should possess part of its power... but the problem right now is, I have no idea what abilities this guy has, so naturally I don't know what use the thing around your neck serves either."
Asakura replied with complete confidence.
The little girl pouted, seemingly wanting to complain, but not knowing where to begin, her small face turning flushed red.
"Of course, the most basic efficacy can probably still be guessed at a bit." After taking a long pause, Asakura then continued while enjoying the little one's aggrieved look: "The ring carries magical energy... it's not entirely pure, perhaps if categorized further it would be something like yokai power, but in essence, it's still a type of magic. Its existence allows you to see things that ordinary people can't see, and since it is connected to you to a certain extent, it should also be able to save your life if you run into any danger."
As descendants of old tree spirits, even though Asakura felt that there was a clear generational gap between these two kinds of things, their basic abilities probably wouldn't differ too much; they were just common, run-of-the-mill things of the plant element.
Thinking about it this way, the basic ability of a Bowtruckle should be having vibrant vitality and being able to control plants to a certain extent. Maybe it can even stimulate the growth of flora, and if subsequent abilities branch out, perhaps it can even synthesize toxins or something.
Looking at the flower bud ring on the girl's chest, the thoughts in Asakura's mind gradually ran wild: Come to think of it, stamens and pistils are basically a plant's reproductive organs. Thinking about it this way, a Bowtruckle that gives its own oo to an underage girl is also quite something...
Just then, with a sharp pi-ka sound, a cry of alarm came from not far away.
Both Asakura and Tsurumi Rumi instinctively looked toward the direction the sound came from. Over on Sakiko's side, while surveying the roof, she hadn't paid attention, and the long-decayed wooden board under her feet failed to support her weight, causing her to fall straight through. Now only her upper body was stuck on the roof, making her look absolutely terrified as she cried out in alarm repeatedly.
"I'll go help, be careful yourself."
Asakura quickly instructed Tsurumi Rumi before leaping straight down from the roughly three-meter-high roof.
Because there were footholds made of [Scale] along the way, he landed lightly and directly on the ground before running toward the wooden cabin where the young girl was.
Just as he wanted to walk into the room, he was stopped at the door by Hiratsuka.
Hiratsuka, however, glared at Asakura with a look that said "you brat!": "No need, Yuigahama has already gone inside and will help catch her if necessary. Yukinoshita and Miura have also gone up to the roof to help pull her out. You should just go do whatever you're supposed to do."
"I'm not quite at ease with only Yui in there." Asakura tried to barge his way in with an air of awe-inspiring righteousness, but he was still held back by Hiratsuka using a rear naked choke.
"I'll tell you the truth, Togawa is wearing a skirt, but her skirt seems to be caught on the roof. So the situation inside the room right now... well, it's really not suitable for a boy to see. Just give up."
"So that's why." Asakura nodded understandingly. "I get it, so can you let go of me now, Teacher?"
"Bah, you brat who dares to secretly rub against my chest under these circumstances, did you really not think of that just now? Your expression didn't even change a bit after I finished speaking. Today I shall act on behalf of heaven and give you a lesson to make you remember!"
"Ugh, that's not fair! If you have the guts, let go of me and face me head-on!"
"I don't know how you trained, making it so I can never hit you, but let's see you try to dodge now!"
"Hiratsuka-sensei... you wouldn't be intentionally using a public matter to avenge a private grudge just because you can never hit me normally, right?"
"That's exactly right!"
"You actually admitted it so cheerfully?! Where is your shame as a teacher!"
"Educating students is a teacher's sacred duty. In order to correct your personality, I am willing to turn my own shame and self-esteem into the power of a punch driven into your chest!"
"No, no, no, this is purely just venting, right?"
"You actually still have the energy to complain? Things have come to this point, you'd better just give up and beg for mercy quickly."
"Well, although it's a bit strange for me to say this... but I'm naturally quite flexible, joint locks are ineffective against me, you know?"
"Does it not matter even if you're bent like this?"
"Yes."
"...Are you a snake, brat!"
Thus, when the others arrived in front of the small cabin, they saw a panting Hiratsuka and a perfectly nonchalant Asakura carrying a pleasant smile on his face.