"Wow! This is really exciting! Hey, Yukino-chan, are you scared?"
In the mountain forest, two girls, each holding a flashlight, walked along the mountain trail.
One was lively and outgoing, the other quiet and reserved. It was hard to imagine why these two completely different people would be together.
The lively girl was called Yuigahama Yui. She had a beautiful appearance, wore light makeup, and her pink hair was tied in a large side bun, making her even more energetic.
The other had long black hair falling over her shoulders, radiating a cold aura, like an icy lotus that people dared not approach. Her identity was even more surprising: she was the second daughter of a newly minted real estate magnate, named Yukinoshita Yukino.
At that moment, Yuigahama Yui was gripping Yukino's hand tightly, so much that her hand sank deep into the soft flesh, with no chance of pulling it out. Only by her frightened expression could it be seen that she wasn't doing it on purpose.
"Why would I be scared? Yuigahama, it's the 21st century. Let go of superstitions."
Yukinoshita Yukino glanced at her hand, frowned slightly, and tried to pull it out, but Yui was holding too tightly. In the end, she had to give up.
"Eh?! How can you say that when I also enrolled in Sobu High School with good grades!"
Hearing that, Yui immediately protested, with a resentful expression.
"Yeah, yeah."
Yukinoshita Yukino nodded indifferently, as if she had no intention of arguing with an idiot.
"Yukino-chan! That's too much!"
Seeing her stance, Yui spoke, hurt.
Yukino sighed and changed the topic:
"By the way, have you found any traces of the person you're looking for, Yuigahama?"
"No!"
Yui answered very directly, almost immediately.
"Ha? Well, that's typical of you."
Yukino's mouth twitched slightly, not knowing how to react.
"Ehehe~ But I'm sure he's also a student of Sobu High School!"
Scratching her head with a silly smile, Yui spoke in a tone full of confidence.
Even though she hadn't seen the boy's face that day, the style of his clothes was incredibly familiar to her! He was definitely a Sobu High School student!
"At this pace, I don't know how long it will take us to find him."
Rubbing her forehead helplessly, Yukino had just finished the sentence when suddenly a student in a white robe jumped out of a nearby bush, his face painted in ghostly white:
"Waaah!!!"
The student just appeared and started screaming, but Yukinoshita Yukino showed no reaction. Even Yui looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Being looked at like that by both girls, the student felt uncomfortable, laughed, waved at them, and then turned and crouched back into the bush.
Seeing this, Yukino showed a bored expression:
"I really don't understand what's so fun about a test of courage that looks like a child's game."
"Well, Hayama and the others have been planning it for quite a while."
Yui scratched her head. Yukino wasn't actually interested in the test of courage; she was only there because Yui begged her to come to Woodland Cottage.
"Let's keep going. We should be back in about ten minutes."
Yukino didn't care. She was hurrying back to read. She had long been suppressed by the top student in the class, Nakano Yu. She had originally planned to try to surpass him at home during the vacation, but Yui dragged her here.
"Alright!"
Replying, Yui grabbed Yukino's hand again and continued walking the route.
Not far away, on a cliff, Nakano Yu, standing on the back of a monster, also noticed the crowd gathered at the main entrance of the inn. Of course, he didn't intend for the monster to leave him there, so he simply ordered it to take him to the back of the inn. The inn was quite large, and he doubted anyone would have time to wander around the back entrance.
"I have to hurry. Nino is still waiting."
Looking at the message Nino had sent him, Nakano Yu twitched the corner of his mouth and muttered as he put away his phone.
The monster, hearing the human's voice on its back, did not dare to delay. It jumped off the cliff and spat out grayish-white cobwebs from its mouth, moving quickly through the mountain forest.
"Hey, Yukino, did you hear something?"
As they walked along the narrow trail, Yuigahama Yui suddenly perked her ears, as if she heard something, and spoke.
"Probably just the wind moving the leaves, it's a bit noisy."
Yukinoshita Yukino said, brushing the strands of hair the wind constantly carried across her face.
"T-That should be…"
Feeling that something was wrong, Yui swallowed and held Yukino's hand even tighter.
"Let's hurry."
Knowing the girl next to her was scared, Yukino couldn't say much. Fortunately, they were already near the end of the test of courage, so it was better to arrive as soon as possible.
"Alright!"
Yui nodded, but just as they started moving, a strong tremor was suddenly felt behind them.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Hearing the sound, both Yui and Yukino looked confusedly toward the mountain forest.
They were still thinking it might be a speaker set up by Tobe Sho's group, when suddenly from the forest burst a huge monster with a bull's head!
The monster spat webs and flew directly over their heads, disappearing in an instant.
Although it was fast, both of them clearly saw it.
Standing frozen, Yui looked up, mouth agape. Yukino beside her was no better, staring at the sky, not recovering for a long time.
"H-hey… Yu-Yukino-chan, what was that just now?"
After a long time, Yui finally stammered, poking Yukinoshita Yukino.
"I-I don't know either…"
With a complex expression, Yukinoshita Yukino looked away, feeling her view of the world collapse. But… how could monsters even exist in this world?!
It must have been some huge bird she had never seen before! Surely!
Patting her cheeks, Yukinoshita Yukino forced herself to calm down, then grabbed Yui's hand and ran toward the inn.
It was better to return earlier now. Although she still didn't believe that monsters existed in the mountains, just in case — hm, to avoid wild animals!
…
Nakano Yu, having returned to the inn, looked at the mountain forest behind him with a complicated expression.
"Those two girls… were that Yui and Yukino? So, Yumikoina's 'annoying person' she mentioned earlier was Yukino. They probably saw me, but it doesn't matter. I need to find Nino quickly."
After saying that, Nakano Yu headed toward the front yard of the inn.
At that moment, the front yard was still crowded with people, mostly those who weren't participating in the test of courage but came to watch. For example, Ichika and Miku didn't plan to participate, while Itsuki was in a group with Yotsuba and had already set off.
"Really, why hasn't Yu arrived yet?!"
Dressed in a skirt, Nino crossed her arms and muttered unhappily. They had clearly agreed on a time earlier, but he was still late.
At that moment, Nakano Yu's voice was heard. Turning around, she saw Nakano Yu, now dressed in a white short-sleeved shirt and shorts, running toward her, looking neat and clean.
"Hey! Nino, sorry I'm late, I had to take care of something."
"Yu, you're so rude, you're so late!"
Looking at Nakano Yu in front of her, Nino glared at him, then, as if no one else existed, grabbed his hand.
"Come on, hurry, we're already late."
Saying that, the girl pulled the young man toward the starting point.
Their closeness was fully observed from afar by Ichika and Miku.
"Nino, Yu, good luck!"
Watching Nino leave with Yu, Ichika smiled and called out. But as their figures disappeared from view, Ichika inexplicably felt a void in her heart. Nino and Yu had always been like this, but… now it felt somehow strange.
Miku's attention, however, was focused on the tightly clasped hands of Nino and Nakano Yu. In her blue eyes, no clear emotion could be discerned.
————————
Support me on patreon.com/_BlackRose
Read 30+ advanced chapters
Every 20/50/100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter.