Part 2
There was a large auditorium inside Zokusho Shrine with rooms for doubles. The students who had come to the camp lived in this place.
The third-year students who were also participating in the training camp had come several days early. Though they also had a training camp, the third-years had to stay for four days and three nights as compared to the second-years, whose curriculum was two days and one night. The contents of their curriculum were also far more difficult than that of the second-years. The two classes would only have class together on the final day. As Harutora and the others arrived, the third-year students were carrying out 'mountain training', and hence he wasn't able to see them.
Once they reached the shrine, Harutora and the others put their luggage into the auditorium, then went to Ameba Shrine to pay their respects, immediately starting the training camp curriculum.
The first class was in the courtyard of the auditorium. The contents of the curriculum were to prepare lunch - curry.
"The ingredients and tools are all here. Since we've finally come to a place with such refreshing air, let's pretend we've come here to camp out."
Ohtomo announced seriously. Meat, vegetables, and commercially available curry blocks were placed on the tables that had been prepared outdoors beforehand.
Every single student was stunned and speechless, and he grinned again.
"You can't directly touch these ingredients and tools. It's not just the ingredients, you have to use a simple shikigami to do things like turning on the fire and putting things on plates. Understood? Remember, simple shikigami, alright? There's no time limit, but the next class starts in the afternoon, so you won't have much of a lunch break if you're late, you might even have to start class without having eaten lunch~"
Harutora and the others were divided into four or five person groups per table. Each group had a set of ingredients and tools, and each person was given a new charm and immediately started making curry.
Almost all the students were flustered for a while because things were so sudden. Maybe they had imagined the contents of the training camp curriculum beforehand, but for sure no one had expected them to be ordered to prepare lunch themselves.
Harutora was also troubled and didn't act immediately.
"......Make curry with a simple shikigami...... Tenma, have you done this?"
"I don't think there's anyone that's done this. However if it's shikigami that could act independently......"
"I recall that this is a commercially sold charm. Have we used it in practical skills classes?"
"Yeah, it's set with the most basic abilities."
Fortunately, Harutora was in the same group as Tenma. He looked around, seeing that Natsume, Kyouko, and Suzuka had all been separated into different groups. It seemed that Ohtomo had deliberately arranged them so that the groups' strengths weren't too different.
Harutora relaxed his breath for now since he had been put in a different group as Suzuka. Though, it was just a short relaxation.
"Uh, a simple shikigami...... In this instance, it's faster to manipulate it directly rather than ordering it beforehand right?"
"That's true, it's best to have the same sight and even touch when selecting ingredients. Ah, but I haven't tried sharing taste with a shikigami for taste-testing."
"The steps are to first wash the vegetables, cut them, cook them with the meat, then add water and simmer, and then finally put in the curry blocks......"
"Don't forget to cook rice. We have to wash the rice and then steam it with a cooker...... Ah, and we have to make the fire first. No, wait, we have to find firewood before we make the fire......"
It was close to eleven in the morning. There would be ample time if it were just simply cooking curry, but here there wasn't any spare time to dawdle. At the same time as they discussed, there were already many groups that had made simple shikigami and who were preparing to work.
"Okay, let's start moving. The person who's the worst at controlling simple shikigami in this group...... is probably me."
Harutora sized up Tenma and the other members of the group, unable to keep a wry smile from showing on his face. He relied on his own training to practice his charm skills and techniques, but even now he wasn't very practiced with simple shikigami control, especially instructing it with fine movements.
"Sorry, I'll take charge of making the fire. I'll leave the cooking to everyone else."
"Okay, let's split up and get going."
Upon seeing Tenma and the other members nod to express their agreement, Harutora quickly took his own charm.
He refined his aura, turning it into magical energy, then released the magical energy and infused it into the charm. The energy-infused charm gradually swelled according to the previously set magic, changing. The flat paper doll became a shadow puppet with thickness, which was the appearance set to the charm beforehand.
"Hey, Harutora-kun, isn't your shikigami a bit too big?"
"S, Sorry, but this size should be perfect for moving firewood. First is to bring firewood over...... Ah, no, we have to make a stone stove [17] first out of rocks."
The simple shikigami of Tenma and the others organized the ingredients by the table. Harutora's giant shikigami searched for big rocks nearby, making a stone stove. Fortunately, there were cement bricks in the courtyard - maybe objects used in a stone stove during similar training. Harutora set them up, making a stone stove with only one opening. Then, he put the firewood inside it, crumpling the newspaper that had been prepared with the materials into a pile and putting it under the firewood.
Until now, everything had gone unexpectedly smoothly. "Ah! Damn, I crushed the lighter!" But, just as he planned on lighting the newspaper and making the fire, he crushed the lighter because he hadn't properly controlled the shikigami's strength.
"O, Ohtomo-sensei! Could I ask if you have any new lighters--"
"Nope."
"No?!"
"Harutora-kun, you have to rely on your own resources to make up for your own mistake."
"How do I make up for this......"
The possibilities Harutora could think of regarding methods for starting a fire only consisted of using a magnifying glass to focus sunlight, but of course, there couldn't be a magnifying glass here.
He had no options, so he could only take the firewood axe and sharpen the tip of one of the pieces of firewood into something like the point of a pencil.
The simple shikigami held the piece of firewood with both hands, rubbing the other firewood with it like a drill and trying to make a fire with friction by creating sparks.
Of course, succeeding in making a fire wasn't this easy.
"......Tch, no use, I can't make it......!"
"Harutora-kun, are you alright?"
"I'm not alright at all, do I really have no other ways......!"
Harutora frowned, continuing to desperately rub the firewood.
Just then, a quiet voice entered his ears.
"H-H-Harutora-sama, allow me to perform this task."
A girl's young voice sounded. The voice came from the defensive shikigami who was dematerialized and always by Harutora's side - Kon.
"Oh, it's Kon. Come to think of it, you can use fire."
"Yes, making fire is an easy task if I use my foxfire......!"
Though he couldn't see her figure, he could tell from Kon's tone that she was extremely motivated. Kon was a kitsune shikigami, and foxfire was one of her several techniques. Since she could use it without even materializing, no one would be the wiser if he stayed careful.
"But...... After all, this is a practical skills class, and sensei instructed us that we have to use simple shikigami. So I can't ask for your help or I'll be breaking the rules."
"H-H-However, why should this delay Harutora-sama's meal......!"
"Uh...... Then let's leave it until later. I'm grateful for your offer, though."
Harutora rejected his shikigami's goodwill, but he couldn't help but think that there were still Natsume's ningyouyaki left after all - finding himself a path of retreat.
But, Harutora wasn't actually the only student to encounter setbacks during the process of cooking.
"Hey! Why's this potato still have skin on it, go peel it cleanly!"
"There isn't even half of the potato left after you peeled it! Go tell your shikigami to be a little neater!"
"Hey hey, it's spilling! Don't pour the rice out with the water for washing it!"
"......I, I can't believe it, to think peeling onions could be this hard......!"
Every group was falling into a bitter struggle. Some people failed to hold things properly, dropping meat and vegetables onto the ground, and some people accidentally cut the shikigami's fingers while cutting vegetables. Some even cut apart the cutting board under the fingers, and other shikigami rushed into the ignited firewood. There were manifold reasons for failure, and simple shikigami turning back into charms could be seen everywhere.
It was a basic expectation for practitioners to be able to directly control simple shikigami and have their shikigami maintain materialization. Hence, if one didn't infuse all one's magical energy from the beginning, one had to continue constantly infusing the shikigami with magical energy instead. The latter required much more caution during fine control than the former. The magical energy couldn't break in the middle, and concentration couldn't waver.
"......Hey, Tenma, don't you think doing this kind of thing is actually pretty difficult?"
"Yeah...... As expected of the practical curriculum."
Tenma's face was ashen as he agreed with the opinion that Harutora casually put out. Thinking carefully, because he normally didn't cook much, this might not even get done well if he were doing it with his own hands. Now that it was being done by a simple shikigami, it couldn't possibly go smoothly.
"Come to think of it, I've only cooked curry while camping once."
That meant...... Harutora looked at the other groups - the condition of the groups that Natsume, Kyouko, and Suzuka were in. As he expected, all of the groups were flustered, and comparing them to Harutora's group was like the pot calling the kettle black. Every group had a simple shikigami whose movements were particularly nimble, far surpassing the other shikigami of the group - the exterior of Suzuka's shikigami had even been changed to match hers - but these shikigami didn't contribute a great deal.
For example, Natsume's shikigami moved extremely vigorously, as if it had its own vitality, but it was cutting the carrots into centimeter-wide units with the cooking knife in its hands. The shikigami's movements were very precise, but not only would lunchtime be over by the time she finished cutting all of the carrots so slowly, she might not even make dinnertime. On the other hand, Suzuka's shikigami moved so rapidly one might be able to see afterimages, but it wasn't distinguishable whether the things that came out were vegetables that had been cut or food scraps. Kyouko was undoubtedly the most reliable of the three, but she seemed to have burned up all of the kindling newspaper while trying to light the firewood and received a merciless rejection when she asked Ohtomo for more kindling.
"......Huh? Come to think of it, Tenma's actually the most reliable among us, right?"
Though he wasn't too nimble, Tenma's stats were well-rounded and he carried out the preparation work step by step. When the other members of the group slipped up, he would try to help out as much as possible, and he was actually very trustworthy.
But, this was just the preparation phase after all. If Harutora was unable to successfully start the fire, all the members of the group would be reduced to just eating the lettuce in the end.
"Move a little faster, you're pressed for time and the ingredients also have their limits~ If you fail a few more times, the food might all go bad~"
Ohtomo watched the condition of every group, smiling maliciously. At the same time, he didn't forget to tease them with a few words, telling everyone to put in more effort. "Damn." Harutora cursed himself, continued rubbing the firewood to make fire.
"What's wrong, Harutora-kun, that's quite a primitive method."
"Please give me a new lighter if you don't want to see this!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, firemaking was a sacred action in ancient times. It's very suitable as the starting point of this practical skills magic training."
"You definitely don't actually think that way, right? And what's up with the smirk on your face!"
Harutora complained angrily and Ohtomo laughed out loud while listening.
"Don't misunderstand me, Harutora-kun. I'm really very happy to see you continue to grow. At the start, you couldn't even control a vessel, but now you can already control the simple shikigami however you want. I'm really pleased as your homeroom teacher."
Harutora controlled the simple shikigami's movements while glaring resentfully at the homeroom teacher who put his hand on his chest with grand movements.
He got even angrier when he thought of how Ohtomo's lunch would be prepared separately, but he happened to want to talk to Ohtomo.
"......Hey, Ohtomo-sensei." He casually walked up to Ohtomo, speaking quietly with a sharp tone. "It's not convenient to ask this in front of everyone, but why is Suzuka participating in this camp? It couldn't be that she herself wanted to come, right?'
He lowered his voice, speaking quickly like a cannon. Ohtomo reacted by turning his head, looking indifferent.
"......Yeah, she herself wanted--"
"No way! Why would she say she wanted to participate in a camp!?"
"You're wrong there, she answered unexpectedly readily--"
"So sensei really did ask her to come!"
When Ohtomo saw Harutora show a sharp gaze, he called out "Harutora-kun" in a low tone, putting his hand on his shoulder like he wanted to placate his anger. Then, he said with a transparent tone: "Did Suzuka-kun herself tell you the reason she entered the Onmyou Academy?'
"Huh? Uh, yes......" Harutora stammered for a bit when Ohtomo confirmed this.
Suzuka had passed the difficult First-Class Onmyou Exam, becoming one of the National First-Class Onmyouji, known as the 'Twelve Divine Generals'. In terms of power, she was one of the most prominent Onmyouji in the nation. Never mind students, even a normal professional was unqualified to be compared to her.
Though she had the identity of a special student, she had entered the cultivation facility for Onmyouji - the Onmyou Academy - to study, but actually she had other reasons. Since she had led to the incident last year, her punishment was to enter the Onmyou Academy.
"The main reason Suzuka-kun led to that kind of incident was because her personality hasn't matured. Entering the Onmyou Academy to study is to help her develop as a person and for her to receive so-called moral education. Do you understand?"
"That...... The Onmyou Academy shouldn't have many techniques to teach her......"
"Well, then what's the fastest and most effective form of moral education? Of course, that's establishing good and healthy interpersonal relationships. In other words, I believe the most suitable method is for her to make friends--"
"Uh, hold on, if you want her to make friends, wouldn't it be fine to find students of the same age? That's a true natural, healthy interpersonal relationship, right? Why...... What reason is there to deliberately make her join the second-year camp!"
Harutora brought up a reasonable question. Ohtomo narrowed his eyes upon hearing that, staring at Harutora with a cold gaze, and called out majestically: "......Harutora-kun."
"Wh, What?'
"You...... I heard that you and Suzuka-kun were 'intimate friends', you know."
The simple shikigami that Harutora controlled tumbled violently to the ground.
The firewood fell to the ground and the stone stove he had managed to build was destroyed. Tenma and the others were taken aback, turning to look at him, but unfortunately he didn't have the energy to pay attention right now.
"Th, That's not true, where did you hear that?"
"......You don't need to glare at me, it's already spread that Suzuka-kun calls you 'darling'--"
"That's a huge misunderstanding! That's because...... I was forced."
"Didn't you call her Suzuka directly just now--"
"That was because she would gone off again if I didn't call her that! She's always picking on me, so I have to!"
"Oh my, how intimate--"
"Stop that!"
"Yeah, but, Suzuka-kun needs friends, and I asked you to look after her. Whatever the result, I definitely won't spread any rumors--"
"I said, it's not like that! I have my own difficulties!"
"Oh, difficulties, huh?"
"That's right!"
"......Hey, Harutora-kun, I don't want to act as if I know everything, but a man can't be so timid--"
"What is that supposed to mean!"
Harutora was flustered and his face red. The members of his group as well as other students looked over curiously, wanting to know what had happened. Harutora didn't notice their gazes, as it already took all of his energy to untangle his homeroom teacher's confusion.
To tell the truth, Ohtomo didn't truly suspect the relationship between the two, he just wanted to tease Harutora a bit. "Alright, alright." He laughed and let go of Harutora's shoulder, saying a couple carefree words.
"I won't ask what your difficulties are, but right now, you're undoubtedly the person Suzuka-kun is the closest to - and that group of yours. Thinking carefully, only you know what happened with Suzuka-kun, so it's natural that things developed like this. That's why it was the correct choice to ask her to participate in this camp."
Ohtomo spoke self-confidently, but Harutora pouted angrily upon hearing that.
"Of course, I hope that she can get along better and better with the students in her own class along with you guys, but that kind of thing isn't urgent, and I still have to rely on your help for her interpersonal relationships for now."
Ohtomo whispered into Harutora's ear and finally grinned.
"Here." Then, he passed a magic charm to the displeased Harutora.
"I'll give you a little push so that you guys will be able to eat lunch."
"......A fire charm?"
"......Yeah, it's not so bad that it's impossible to swallow, but you can't call this good......"
"This is already very good. This charred rice is indeed crunchy, but...... It counts as a different style."
Harutora and Tenma exchanged wry smiles as they scooped curry from aluminum dishes with spoons.
Actually, the curry that Harutora's group had made didn't count as a success. Because the fire had been too strong, the curry and rice had gotten a bit burned, though this could be regarded as delicious based on the taste itself. Moreover, when enjoying curry outdoors with friends on a clear day while they could simultaneously gaze at Mount Fuji and the beautiful Lake Yamanaka, they couldn't possibly consider it bad. The other groups' students also criticized the curry they had made while eating with beaming smiles.
"But, I never thought that simple shikigami could be used to make food too."
"That's right. Simple shikigami are usually disposable and they're almost all used for simple actions."
Simple shikigami - more accurately, simple manmade shikigami. They were the basic shikigami used in General Onmyoudou, shikigami whose distinguishing feature was being quickly constructible to fulfill a necessity. Just as Tenma had said, the strongest feature of these shikigami was that they were usable to quickly deal with sudden situations.
On the other hand, since the creation method was simple even for a normal person and they were very easy to make according to one's own demands, the high adaptability aspect of simple shikigami could be considered a big advantage. Though their energy for movement came from and relied upon the practitioner's magical energy and they weren't suitable for moving over long periods of time, this wasn't much of a big problem if preparations were made beforehand. Simple shikigami could have various uses according to the practitioner's ingenuity and strength.
"The steps for 'making curry' like everyone did this time are complicated, which isn't suitable for the use of simple shikigami. But, I noticed after actually controlling them that it's actually not impossible. If you think a little, simple shikigami can do a lot of fine work. It's very profound."
"I see."
Tenma brought up an opinion that was something like a prodigy would say. Harutora ate his curry while nodding to express his agreement.
Harutora had a defensive shikigami, Kon. Kon belonged to the class of shikigami that had their own autonomous personality, and the practitioner Harutora didn't have to control her directly. Of course, he didn't share senses with her either. Though he had practiced techniques for controlling shikigami during practical classes, this was his first time truly 'applying' a simple shikigami.
"Though it was very difficult, Natsume-kun, Kurahashi-san and Dairenji-san really are incredible. Though they're not very good at cooking, their control of shikigami is simply unmatched." Tenma looked at the three, his tone full of admiration. "Especially Natsume-kun. It's like the shikigami is a part of him."
"Yeah, his shikigami burned itself while cooking and started jumping around. Nothing happened to him, but the shikigami caused quite a big disturbance."
"That means that his mind was completely focused on the simple shikigami. It's actually a very amazing thing."
"It's because he had harsh training from his father ever since he was young."
"But normally someone wouldn't get special training like that unless he had talent to begin with."
Tenma seemed to feel deep admiration. Harutora was about to reply carelessly, but......
...Hold on.
"......Part of him......" Harutora murmured, frowning and straightening himself unconsciously. "Hey, Tenma? Controlling from a long distance - and while transferring the practitioner's personality in the shikigami, is that kind of manipulation very difficult?"
"Huh? O, Of course it's not very easy......." Tenma was taken aback upon hearing Harutora's sudden question. "But...... If the magic was set up beforehand, it would just be up to the practitioner's own magical energy afterwards. The degree of 'transferring personality' also affects the difficulty level."
"You can't feel anything strange with ordinary touch, and after materializing, you can't even see any flaw in its external appearance. It was created with extreme detail so that never mind a normal person, even professional Onmyouji couldn't easily see through it."
"You mean that that shikigami could even fool the eyes of professional Onmyouji? That's really incredible. It means that the practitioner controlling the shikigami was probably at a professional level - and his power was extremely strong, or else he wouldn't be able to do that. Also, 'making a shikigami similar to a human that no one can see through' is naturally harder than 'making a shikigami visibly similar to a human'. Also, like I just said, normally no one would put in the effort to hone that sort of technique."
"I, I see......" Harutora chimed in solemnly upon hearing Tenma's explanation, but he immediately showed his incomprehension. "......A professional with extraordinary techniques? That person should be even more stupid than me in some sense...... How could she have some incredible role?" He murmured in wonder with a serious expression. Tenma was taken aback as he listened to Harutora sink into worry alone.
"What's wrong? Harutora-kun, could it be that you saw such an incredible shikigami?"
"Huh? Yeah, I guess......"
Harutora suddenly felt a bit awkward upon being asked that and glossed over it briefly. He didn't have any meaning to hide it - though he thought that it was very difficult to talk clearly about this matter and that it would take a lot of work to explain. Most importantly, he didn't know why he felt that he couldn't talk about it.
Just then--
"Harutora-senpai, what are you talking about~"
A hateful, sweet voice rang out and Harutora's body inadvertently stiffened.
He turned to look at the source of the voice, noticing that Suzuka was holding the curry her group had made and smiling sweetly.
"Dairen......"
"Hmm?"
"......S, Suzuka...... What do you want?"
"Do you even need to ask? Of course I came to let Darling taste the curry I made."
Suzuka deliberately pretended to be cute when she talked, keeping a fake smile on her face. Harutora's face sank, muttering: "What?", but when he looked at Suzuka's sharp gaze, he hastily changed his attitude.
"...Uh, I see, then since it's a rare opportunity...... T, Tenma, let's both...... That's weird? Tenma?"
Harutora turned around, his face frozen. Tenma, who he had been talking with a second ago, had already snuck away to the other end of the table and was talking with the other members of the group. Once he noticed Harutora's gaze, he quickly winked and gave him a thumbs up as if to say that he was a tactful person and to tell Harutora not to worry. That action seemed nice, but in fact it was just the opposite.
Harutora couldn't help but click his tongue. Suzuka walked next to Harutora, shoving the plate in her hands into his and taking Harutora's portion of curry. Just as Harutora was about to open his mouth to protest, Suzuka had already eaten at bite of the stolen curry.
"......Hmm, it's a little bitter, but it'll do......"
"You came here to trade because the curry your group made was bad, right!?"
"What's that supposed to mean? What do you mean, bad, that's rude. It's just that...... It doesn't taste like curry rice, it's more like curry gruel, that's all"
"What do you mean 'that's all', this is curry gruel."
Suzuka quickly revealed her original personality once she was alone with Harutora. Harutora had long since gotten used to her sarcastic tone after half a month of being acquainted with her.
Suzuka ignored Harutora's complaints, instead glaring back ferociously and saying brashly: "What did you say? You mean my specially-made curry is bad?"
She spoke haughtily without any intent of pretense. Unlike her small, young external appearance, her princess-like attitude was already deeply rooted in her.
"Uh, I'll eat it...... Anyway, it's a waste not to." Harutora murmured, scooping up a mouthful of Suzuka's curry with a spoon and bringing it to his mouth.
This curry seemed like diluted curry gruel. The amounts had clearly been gotten wrong when it had been stewed and too much water had been added, and the vegetables - come to think of it, it had been Suzuka's shikigami responsible for cutting the vegetables - were of different sizes. In addition, there were some carrots and potatoes that weren't very easy to chew in it. But, overall, it wasn't at an inedible level. It wasn't any more or less completed than the curry of Harutora's group, it was just slightly inferior.
"......H, How is it?" Suzuka stared intently at Harutora as he frowned while trying the curry, her tone inexplicably tense as she asked.
"Hmm, it's much better than it looks."
"Wh, What does that mean? Make it clear whether you're praising it or criticizing it."
"I'm telling the truth, this barely counts as 'curry'."
"Tch - what are you being so arrogant about, you don't understand how to be grateful at all."
"Then you eat the rest of it."
Harutora replied out of annoyance and Suzuka hmphed, wolfing down Harutora's curry. She said she wanted Harutora to be grateful, but she herself didn't have any intent of eating the curry gruel.
...How unbearable......
Harutora secretly complained to himself, eating the swapped curry.
He ate and ate, then suddenly noticed something.
Ohtomo was looking at him from the distance and nodding his head like a kindly old man. Moreover, it wasn't just Ohtomo, Tenma who sat across the table and the other students were also looking at Harutora - casting 'knowing' gazes at Harutora and Suzuka.
Some smiled from the heart, some had malice written all over their face as if asking why this again, and some showed jealous looks. Kyouko seemed to have a hard time accepting this situation, showing a perplexed appearance. Overall, the area was filled with silent acceptance - 'recognition' of the warm relationship between the two.
"......Tch......" Harutora angrily clenched his teeth.
In the eyes of these students, they might believe that Harutora and Suzuka had truly traded the curries that they had made and happily tasted each other's curries while teasing each other. To Harutora, this was a misunderstanding that could get no worse.
When they had been cooking earlier, Ohtomo had also thought the two of them were 'going out'. It wasn't what he wanted at all, but most of the students in the class - no, most of the Onmyou Academy students - had this misunderstanding. In addition, when Suzuka entered the academy, she had publicly announced that he was her 'first kiss' in front of a large crowd, deepening everyone's misunderstanding.
And for some reason, Suzuka was extremely happy to use this misunderstanding to play around with Harutora. What's more, she even readily sowed the seeds of misunderstanding, a typical example being how she called him 'Darling' in front of others. In particular, now that Natsume's true identity had been revealed, Harutora had no way to oppose anything Suzuka did.
"......What exactly is fun about doing this...... You're too evil......"
"Huh? What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Harutora frowned, speaking unhappily. But Suzuka had keen intuition and immediately noticed the reason for Harutora's bitter face. Her mouth curved like a cat playing with a mouse, revealing a sadistic and joyful smile.
She deliberately faked a childish tone and said: "Come on, Darling, you don't need to force yourself to eat it even if it's the curry I made myself~"
"......You make me so angry, you damn brat......"
"......What? You dare to use that tone with me? Careful, or I might feed you curry in front of everyone--"
"I'm sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me."
Harutora desperately apologized and Suzuka giggled, showing her snow-white teeth. In the eyes of those around them, the atmosphere between the two was definitely harmonious. It was way too unreasonable.
Then, Harutora suddenly thought of his childhood friend who was in the same position as himself. He sneakily looked at Natsume, "Ugh......" then went momentarily speechless.
Natsume's face was sunk, and she ate curry without a word.
She immersed herself in eating curry, but her gaze wasn't at her hands. Rather, it stared in the direction of Harutora and the others. Her empty expression coupled with her gloomy look frightened Harutora into a cold sweat.
...Hey, I, I can't do anything about it. Also, I wouldn't have to go through this much trouble if I weren't trying to keep your identity as a girl from being exposed.
Harutora made excuses for himself with his eyes, but Natsume didn't reply. He didn't give up, continuing to stare intently at Natsume, and in the end Natsume finally swung her head around in disdain.
"...Hey!"
"Huh? What?"
"Uh, no, nothing......"
Suzuka suspiciously looked at Harutora who hadn't been able to help but cry out. 'Really, who exactly am I going through all this trouble for', Harutora suddenly wanted to angrily shout. He had some sort of feeling, as if he had lost many important things recently.
...Exactly how long is this kind of situation going to continue......
Actually, it wasn't just Harutora, Natsume was also impatient. The two of them had been in high spirits on the tour bus before coming to the camp, contrasting even more with the miserable present. Harutora recognized that his tolerance was already nearing its limits.
...Maybe some 'event' or 'incident' really will happen someday.
Harutora scooped curry with one hand under the blue sky, a bit of despair in his heart.
Just then, "Oh, Touji-kun, what's going on, weren't you originally going to come here a bit later?" Ohtomo spoke, and Harutora along with the other students turned their heads over one by one upon hearing him.
An academy student wearing the jet-black uniform walked over from the main entrance of the auditorium. His hair was tied up messily with a bandanna, and his looks could be described as handsome. He was Harutora's good friend, Touji.
"Touji." Once Harutora called out, Touji glanced at him as a reply.
Touji walked towards Ohtomo first. The two of them exchanged a few words, and only after talking did he walk up to Harutora and Suzuka.
"Hi, Harutora, it looks like this camp had an unexpected start." Touji said, smiling.
"I know, but how's the seal? No problems?"
"Yeah, everything was very smooth. Your dad wanted me to say a few words for him. He told you to work hard."
Harutora spoke up to ask out of worry, but Touji just casually shrugged his shoulders. Harutora originally hadn't been very anxious, but Touji's attitude was even more carefree.
Then, Touji moved his gaze to Harutora's side.
"I didn't think you would appear here, Dairenji. To think you would chase Harutora to this kind of place."
His tone wasn't provocative, but instead as if he were watching liveliness.
Since Touji already knew Suzuka's true nature, she didn't pretend.
"What stupid things are you saying? If your homeroom teacher hadn't lowered his head and pleaded for me to come, I wouldn't have been bored enough to come take part in this kind of stupid camp."
"So it was Ohtomo-sensei working behind our backs."
"What, got a problem?"
"No, it just saves a lot of trouble."
Touji just said a few knowing words back to Suzuka, who was like a biting wildcat.
Suzuka knit her brows, and Harutora also asked in incomprehension: "What?"
Touji's gaze never left Suzuka. He spoke to Suzuka in a cold yet unrefusable tone: "Actually, I have something to ask you. Sorry for interrupting your fun time with Harutora, but come with me for a bit."
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