"It's termites," Asakura stood on the roof, looking at the hole above, and shouted downward: "The rafters are pretty much hollowed out by termites, similar to the condition of the few wooden cabins I checked earlier."
"Other than that, the waterproof felt, breathable membrane, and eaves flashing basically all have some issues; if it rains, I'm afraid they won't be of much use." He continued: "The waterproof felt and breathable membrane have almost aged to the point of failure, and the flashing has shifted due to a lack of maintenance and years of thermal expansion and contraction, losing its proper sealing properties."
Standing below, Hiratsuka scratched her head: "What a hassle. Those old fogies on the board of directors are definitely going to nag endlessly again."
Clearly, this situation was already beyond what the students could handle, and they would have to get the school to commission professional craftsmen.
Incidentally, the Miss Fishnets who was stuck in the hole earlier had already been pulled out like a radish by the combined efforts of Yukino and Miura, and she has now gone back to the wooden cabin to rest.
Come to think of it, yesterday was the same; after working in the fields for just a little while, she fainted from being frightened by the giant snake, skipping more than half a day's work entirely—granted, it was partly Asakura's fault for releasing the giant snake to eat centipedes, but leaving the facts aside, does she bear no responsibility at all?
It's nothing but eating or sleeping; what on earth is this person here for? Only the little bear pattern is actually somewhat worth looking at...
Asakura leaped straight down from the roof, leaving Hiratsuka terrified: "Damn it! You brat, you have a ladder but don't climb it, why do you have to jump down directly? Are you tired of living?!"
Asakura paid no heed to Hiratsuka's words; although it sounded like a scolding, he knew very well that she was someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart, so he didn't take it to heart at all: "To be honest, the building materials of these wooden cabins are quite cheap. The most expensive part is actually the wood itself; as for the other bits and pieces, even if everything is completely renovated, it wouldn't cost much money, right?"
"The issue isn't the price. Sobu High is an established, prestigious school after all; it can manage to bring out this bit of budget."
Hiratsuka let out a sigh: "But as a prefectural school, the work efficiency of those old fogies at the top is pitifully low. If we go through the official procedures, heaven knows when professional craftsmen will actually come over to repair the cabins, and the school trip for the third-year seniors is going to be held shortly after summer vacation ends. It feels like it will be very difficult to make it in time."
"Then they might as well just not hold the school trip in this kind of place. Speaking of which, aren't school trips for normal schools usually to Kyoto or Osaka?"
Asakura inquired casually.
After all, though this forest looked very ordinary, it actually concealed an existence like an old tree spirit that had lived for over five hundred years, which made Asakura unable to stop himself from thinking along the lines of some conspiracy theories.
"Because it's cheap, of course."
As it turned out, Hiratsuka spoke as if it were a matter of course: "The kind you mentioned are usually private schools. Don't underestimate the gap in financial resources between a prefectural school and a private school!"
Asakura: ...
"So is there really no way to use something as a makeshift emergency fix?" Hiratsuka followed up by asking.
"Covering it with a layer of tarpaulin might hold it over for a bit, but don't hold too much expectation." Asakura shook his head.
"Tch, if it really comes down to it, it looks like we can only choose to go somewhere else for the school trip."
Hiratsuka let out a sigh; compared to the budget pressures of the school, she still placed greater value on the health and safety of the students.
Asakura stroked his chin and did not speak.
In reality, if he asked the old tree spirit for help, maybe they could completely renovate all the cabins—or rather, wrap them directly in a layer of brand-new wood—but there was no need for that; he had no obligation to save money for Sobu High.
One had to know that Sobu High hadn't even given his Ministry of Magic a proper, legitimate club activity room to this day.
☆
Inside the wooden cabin on the other side.
"Are you alright now?"
Yukino asked Sakiko with concern, who was still somewhat shaken.
"I-I'm fine now."
Sakiko's heart was still pounding nonstop; the sense of weightlessness brought by losing her footing, alongside the feeling of death quietly passing by her side in that split second, made it truly difficult for the young girl to calm down.
"Actually, I think if we're doing volunteer activities in this kind of place, it would be better to change into pants."
Yui suggested in a small voice.
After all, she was the only one who had walked into the cabin just now; watching that pair of bare, long legs swinging nonstop from the ceiling, along with the almost completely unobstructed little bear pattern in the middle, the visual impact was quite substantial.
Sakiko fell silent.
Was it because she didn't want to wear pants?
No, it was because she left home in too much of a hurry, and she simply hadn't brought any pants among her casual clothes.
Although the uniform of the convenience store where she worked part-time included pants, for one thing, the work clothes were left in her locker in the convenience store employees' changing room, and for another, unless she was completely unafraid of being fired by the convenience store, she wouldn't risk wearing the work uniform out at the hazard of getting it dirty or ruined.
"By the way, um... your name is Yuigahama-san, right? Earlier when you were helping push me from below, what kind of object was used for that icy-cold yet subtly a bit fuzzy and prickly sensation..."
Sakiko, not wanting to dwell too much on the topic of pants, hurriedly shifted the subject.
"It was my hand."
Yui shifted her gaze guiltily.
In reality, it was the golem large snake Napoleon—after all, regardless of strength or length, Napoleon was much more useful than she herself was.
"My hand...?"
Sakiko glanced at Yui's height, then looked at her fleshy palms, appearing not to quite believe it. However, there really wasn't anything else in the wooden cabin at the time, so for the moment she couldn't harbor any specific suspicions.
"More than that, I am even more curious as to why Asakura-kun would call you 'Stock Market Goddess', Miss Togawa," Yukino suddenly asked.
"I don't know..."
As it turned out, Sakiko also had a look of utter blankness, completely unable to fathom why the other party would call her that.
"There's really nothing worth digging deep into regarding this, right?"
Miura crossed her arms, speaking in a somewhat impatient tone: "That Asakura is obviously a chuunibyou at a glance, so it's quite normal for an otaku like that to say things that can't be understood, right?"
"Making arbitrary assumptions about someone you don't understand is a rather foolish approach." "Takuma-tan is definitely not a chuunibyou!"
As a result, the moment the words left her mouth, Yukino and Yui spoke out in unison.
Miura was clearly startled by the overreaction of the two.
Looking at them with a bit of guilt and confusion: "W-what are you doing? Why do you care so much about that Asakura? As I thought, you like—"
"Impossible." Yukino instantly cut off her words.
"I-I'm just discussing the matter as it stands, Yumiko!" Yui also stammered.
Miura's face was filled with a contemptuous expression of disbelief: "Is that so? I don't think your attitudes say that at all."
"I admit Asakura is a very capable person, but I would never like someone so arrogant," Yukino said nonchalantly.
"Takuma-tan is too much of a blockhead! He doesn't understand a girl's heart."
Yui also added from the side.
Yukino: "He always likes to play the fool, and he isn't serious at all as a person."
Yui: "He never explains things clearly, giving off a hot-and-cold, non-committal feeling."
Yukino: "He always speaks from a high and mighty position, carrying a somewhat eerie indifference as if he were a mere bystander."
Yui: "For some reason, he always likes to act cool in front of girls, yet he never takes any further action; that's exactly where he falls short!"
Yukino: "Despite clearly possessing world-astonishing talent, he only channels it into bizarre places, likes to tease people, and seems to take pleasure in watching others squirm."
Yui: "Should we say he has a slightly invisible barrier with everyone, or does he always maintain a subtle sense of distance~"
Yukino: "In short, he's just an unprincipled, bastardly fellow."
Yui: "Occasionally, even I feel like Takuma-tan is a fickle guy who likes to toy with a young girl's heart..."
Yukino: "..."
Yui: "..."
Yukino: "Asakura-kun isn't quite so frivolous to that extent, is he?"
Yui: "Yukinon is the one being unfair, making Takuma-tan out to be so terrible!"
Miura looked at the two and couldn't help but criticize: "Have you two had a falling out?"
"There's no such thing." "It's just a normal discussion, a discussion." As it turned out, the two spoke out in unison once again.
Meanwhile, Miura's expression grew playful.
In truth, she was more or less aware of the fact that Yui liked that chuunibyou guy, but she just hadn't expected even that Yukinoshita to...
Thinking up to this point, the blonde brioche roll lady couldn't stop a smile from breaking across the corners of her mouth.
She asked Sakiko, who was sitting on the bedding and seemed somewhat out of the loop regarding the situation: "So, Miss Togawa, what do you think?"
"Huh?"
Sakiko was taken aback: Me?
She glanced at Yukino and Yui, then associating it with what the two had just said, whispered: "I can't help but feel... there's a whiff of impropriety..."
"I-Impropriety..." Yukino, who always wore an air of awe-inspiring righteousness, suffered a massive blow.
"It hasn't quite reached that extent yet, has it!" Yui also grumbled in protest.
Miura looked at her close friend and couldn't help but press her hand to her forehead: Yui, how do you look completely unresistant while even having a bit of bashful, small anticipation? Just how deep have you fallen, hey!
"S-Speaking of which, where is Hina?"
Seeing Miura's gaze toward her becoming more and more playful, Yui blushed and asked while forcing herself to look composed.
"Hina is outside taking care of those two little ones."
Miura said: "And guarding the door at the same time to keep the boys from coming in. After all, Togawa still has to stay here."
Sakiko also subconsciously cast a glance at Yukino's frontal armor, and then revealed a dry smile, saying nothing at all.
In reality, she just needed to change her skirt, which didn't seem to have much to do with her chest... as for whether that second young lady of the Yukinoshita family had a big enough backside, that was a completely different matter.
Miura let out a sigh: "Forget it, you'd better wear mine..."
"No need, Yumiko, I really brought some. Wait a moment for me."
The moment Yui finished speaking, she dashed out of the room, and the startled cry of Ebina Hina being caught off guard by her could still be heard outside.
A moment later, Yui ran back into the wooden cabin while holding several sets of clothes.
"Since I'm not clear on your exact body measurements, Miss Togawa, I just brought over a few sets with different size differences for the time being. Hurry up and try them on, Miss Togawa!"
Looking at the clothes in the other party's hands, Miura couldn't help but be entirely astonished—no matter how you looked at it, that small crossbody bag couldn't possibly hold so many clothes, right? Where on earth did you pull those out from!
"I... I'm fine."
Sakiko shook her head and said: "My body is fine, I didn't suffer any injuries. I'll be good after resting for a little bit."
That's right, after experiencing the brutal beatdowns of life, the current me is no longer the weak person I originally was! The current me is already Sakiko Ver2.0 reborn, launching for the second time! This mere level of misfortune is completely incapable of defeating the current me!
"It's not a physical problem."
Yui said in a small voice: "Um... Miss Togawa's little bear has been exposed too."
"The... the little bear?"
Sakiko was taken aback for a moment, and then her face instantly turned blood-red as she realized what the other party was talking about.
She felt her own backside—no, to be precise, the skirt at her buttocks—and as expected, discovered that the fabric at the back had been scraped and torn open into a long, large rip.
"My skirt..." The young girl wanted to cry but had no tears.
She hadn't brought many casual everyday clothes when she left home to begin with. Due to the nature of the materials, some of them couldn't be washed with water, and sending them to a dry cleaner was painfully expensive. Therefore, she could only rely on a few sets of water-washable casual clothes to keep up appearances. Having another one ruined now, how could it not break her heart.
"It's alright, I covered you up really well when I brought you over, so absolutely no one saw it."
Yui comforted her.
Sakiko puckered up her small face and remained silent, her amber eyes completely filled with dejection and despondency.
The thing she cared about most wasn't her panties being seen, but saying that kind of thing out loud would give off the vibe of a perverted woman, so she could only mourn for her skirt in her heart while throwing a brief fit of helpless rage.
"If you don't mind, would you like to wear my clothes? I happened to bring a few extra sets, you know."
At this time, Yui asked again.
"Yui, you don't have many spare clothes to change into either, right?" Miura knit her brows, thinking that her close friend's sympathy was overflowing yet again.
After all, she had come over here to find Hiratsuka together with Yui, so she naturally knew that Yui had only brought a single small crossbody bag. It completely didn't look like she was out for a three-day, two-night volunteer activity, but rather like she was simply out strolling the streets.
Fitting her own clothes into that small crossbody bag was already a stretch, so how could there possibly be any room left for Sakiko's clothes?
"Wearing mine works too," Yukino said.
Miura glanced at Yukino: she had indeed brought a proper hiking backpack, which should contain quite a lot of supplies.
However, Miura looked at the young girl's chest, then looked back at Sakiko's chest, and let out a scoff: "Forget it, with your flat figure, if Miss Togawa wears your clothes, she'll probably be squeezed to the point of being unable to breathe."
Sakiko also subconsciously cast a glance at Yukino's frontal armor, and then revealed a dry smile, saying nothing at all.
In reality, she just needed to change her skirt, which didn't seem to have much to do with her chest... as for whether that second young lady of the Yukinoshita family had a big enough backside, that was a completely different matter.
Miura let out a sigh: "Forget it, you'd better wear mine..."
"No need, Yumiko, I really brought some. Wait a moment for me."
The moment Yui finished speaking, she dashed out of the room, and the startled cry of Ebina Hina being caught off guard by her could still be heard outside.
A moment later, Yui ran back into the wooden cabin while holding several sets of clothes.
"Since I'm not clear on your exact body measurements, Miss Togawa, I just brought over a few sets with different size differences for the time being. Hurry up and try them on, Miss Togawa!"
Looking at the clothes in the other party's hands, Miura couldn't help but be entirely astonished—no matter how you looked at it, that small crossbody bag couldn't possibly hold so many clothes, right? Where on earth did you pull those out from!