With my girls gathered around at the same table again, I instantly noticed who wasn’t around or those who were assigned to cook.

Satsuki was the first one I saw because of her height. She was even looking at me despite how busy she should be.

Nami and Chii were also sticking out because of their unique presence. And lastly, Komoe. I have no idea if that girl even knows how to cook but she’s there with them.

Seeing the pots and the fragrance of the dish wafting towards our location, we’re going to have a staple comfort food in every household this time.

Curry.

Unlike the porridge, miso soup, and grilled salmon during breakfast, it’s undoubtedly heavier than it. Add to that, they’re also preparing deep-fried pork cutlets or tonkatsu to pair with it.

Desserts would also be served in the form of fruits and small ice cream cups. Possibly bought at a discount somewhere. They kept them frozen inside a cooler. The other groups who went down earlier were assigned to pick those up.

Was it healthy? Probably because of fruits. Potatoes and carrots were also plenty on the curry. But the most important thing was the protein from the meaty chunks as well as the thick cutlets. Carbohydrates from the rice would just be an addon but I probably needed those as well.

I needed to fully recharge myself, right?

At one point, we got another speech from the Dean who seemed to be in a great mood upon seeing that no one had dropped out of the camp yet.

In summary, she just rehashed what she said earlier this morning while also padding more encouraging words for us.

Actually, she’s already old enough to be called a grandma. For her to even come here to watch the progress of the camp, she’s probably not just doing this as something she decided on the fly. She’s passionate enough to see this through, accomplishing the goals set like the team building and other aspects that could shape both the students and the camp managers alike.

Anyway, I tried probing if she’s connected with Shiina at all but even after she returned to her seat along with the other professors of their department, she acted normally, treating everyone the same way.

I guess I could probably find out more if I ask Shiina directly later. There’s no need for me to investigate it like this.

Soon enough, Satsuki and the others joined us at our table. They finished cooking so the task of serving the lunch was handed over to other groups.

And with the announcement of the start of lunch, those starving immediately stood up to get their food.

We waited for a while before also lining up and just like that, we enjoyed our lunch together. I tried escaping the carrot cubes but it was futile. Thankfully, they’re small enough to be gulped down as a whole. And since my girls didn’t even notice me acting a little pickier when it came to separating the cubes, Shizu still kept that secret to herself.

Well, it wouldn’t be long before everyone finds out about it. I’d just get ready to be teased.

Unlike this morning, I didn’t go over everyone’s table and simply remained on ours. Nevertheless, girls from the other classes and our classmates still attempted to come over and check me out.

I entertained them with short answers, just enough to not let them feel like I was being dismissive.

Though it was easy to ignore them completely… I thought maintaining my reputation would be better than smearing it with my own actions. In this case, even if someone cooks up another negative rumor about me, the girls themselves – even the ones who only had one interaction with me – would be taking my side.

That’s a win-win situation with minimal effort for me. Who knows? I might also be able to use this kind of reputation to get away on some other occasions.

Apart from that, since I promised Hino earlier, I brought him to Rae and her friends. The guy was so excited that he almost bit his tongue when he introduced himself again to the girl.

If I had to comment on how he acted… well, it’s clear that he’s someone who has never courted a girl before. He’s either afraid to be turned down right away because of his looks or he is always discouraged by those around him.

I was probably the first one to encourage him to try it rather than shelve his attraction to a girl.

Of course, at that time, I hadn't accounted for his inexperience and his tendency to be that deluded. I did remind him to behave himself but that only affected him a little.

At the very least, he didn't come out and confessed right away. He just acted so friendly that his awkwardness spread over everyone.

Luckily for me, I have Rae on my side. Focusing on each other shielded us from that widespread awkwardness he was spitting.

Anyway, as for Yoneda’s reaction to his overly enthusiastic display, she was kind enough to entertain him. However, it was undeniable that she wasn’t interested in him.

At least, according to Rae, Yoneda might not be someone who’d be into an easily excited guy like him. She’s also quite reserved when it comes to her interest in boys. She’s one of those students who focuses more on studies than school romance. Or maybe, she just hadn’t found someone that would satisfy the condition for being her type of guy.

If Hino could act calmly without being influenced by whatever fantasy he was having in his head, he might get a slim chance of becoming her friend.

And I have to add this; because of our recent interaction, Yoneda seemed to favor me more, or rather, she put me up as the benchmark for her when it comes to the guy she could be interested in.

For example, she said that she likes that in any topic, I’m not just agreeing blindly to them and will, more often than not, speak my opinion.

I guess she likes someone outspoken.

As for the reaction of their other friends, their friend from Class 2 summarized it with one word, ‘weirdo’. Nazuki, on the other hand, rated Hino a little lower because of his delinquent background. She mentioned how it might trouble Yoneda if she got involved with someone like him.

I guess that’s a proper evaluation, no?

Ah. Of course, since I was there with them, I also got a reevaluation. I got a pass for being the Disciplinary Officer but Nazuki still had something to say to me.

What is it? Well, it’s obvious.

She’s still bothered by my closeness to a lot of girls. She’s the one getting annoyed about it for Rae.

Most likely that’s her protective instinct for her friend. I didn’t defend myself there as there wasn’t any need to. She did understand that it’s not a big deal for Rae anyway. She’s just voicing her own opinion, expressing that it doesn’t sit well with her.

I told her that she didn’t need to worry about it as I wouldn’t ever hurt her friend to which Rae’s three friends answered collectively by saying ‘You better not or we’ll bury you in her books.’

Uh. All in all, I’m just glad that she’s not like Fuyu who would look at me with eyes filled with suspicion. That saved me a lot of trouble. And it’s the same with Momoiro-senpai for Kana.

Anyway, that’s that.

After separating from them, Hino stuck to my side just like how Sakuma did. Then Shirai, Kobayashi, and the other boys somehow gathered around me.

I humored them for a while before slipping out of their group with the help of Satsuki. The girl just yanked me by my shoulder, making them speechless. And as they watched me getting dragged by her, they all saluted like soldiers sending me to my grave.

… Ridiculous, right?

Still, it worked out in our favor.

Satsuki and I then just made a stopover at our table before dragging me with her somewhere.

Were we allowed to leave? I don’t know but the girl didn’t stop and before long, we exited that area and eventually reached the path going downhill or maybe to the area where the short bridge leading to the neighboring hill was located.

At this point, I was already confused. I had no idea what her plan was, after all.

And so, after we got a sufficient distance away from that area, I decided to ask my girl as I matched her steps.

“Satsuki, don’t you want to share with me where we’re going?”

The girl stopped in her steps, glanced at my side, and pouted, “Idiot. Did they not tell you? I thought you knew.”

“What do you mean?”

“You really didn’t know? Ugh. It’s Nee-san and Juri-nee. They told me to come with you. They’ll wait for us at the bridge.”

This… That specific? Wait… When did they contact her? I haven’t seen those two since our arrival to this place…