Upon reaching the gathering area where the smell of their dinner was already permeating the air, I looked for Uchiyama and handed the four to his care. Finding out that they were from his class, I decided to make use of him in this situation. Of course, I instructed him not to intimidate them but to take care of them like he would his goons.

Although the delinquent looked confused as to why I was with them in the first place, I provided him with a simple explanation that I found them in the woods and it looked like their exploration went too far. They experienced an unlucky circumstance that left them mentally exhausted.

That got him curious so I let him hear an excerpt of their experience. It made him shudder in fright but I could already imagine him exploring that place too.

Maybe tomorrow, there’d be stories about their ghost adventures. Well, that’s the ideal outcome.

And for the four idiots’ convenience, I also instructed Uchiyama to not make fun of them. If he could follow my instructions, I guess I’ll find it worth having him become my follower.

If not, I have some backup plan that would leave my girls unscathed. It would also be a great reason to abandon the dogs.

Anyway, I’m positive that he’s going to follow it along with those two other idiots who started following me. Even if Enomoto has a lot of sway over other delinquents in school, he’s not here and those three should be enough to handle small issues like this.

Leaving it at that, I walked away from them to look for Juri and the girls amidst the crowd of second-year students.

As usual, I got recognized by a lot of students and those who went up to approach me could be considered my acquaintance. For example, the gamer girl from the Game Club. Surprisingly, she’s still wearing her headphones here. She even brought a handheld gaming device. It’s tucked inside her tracksuit jacket. I noticed it because it was sticking out close to her chest. Not that my eyes were drawn to it…

Anyway, I never expected her to approach me since our only interaction was during their board games and most of the time, she’s acting dismissive – especially when she’s losing.

But I guess it’s understandable. Like many others, she’s wondering why I am on their hill. When I told her that I was brought in by one of the camp managers, she accepted it and moved on, leaving me alone.

She’s kind of eccentric but I guess that’s for the best. Despite her looks, she probably doesn’t care about her looks or other people’s opinions about her. All she cared about was to have fun with her games. She couldn’t even care less about the rumors Miura-senpai picked up when she accompanied her to check out our clubhouse.

Apart from that gamer girl, those from the basketball club also found me wandering. One of them was part of the regular team in the position of small forward. In any case, just like earlier, they’re just curious about my reason for being on that hill.

Since they had nothing better to do until dinner started, they stuck to my side until I ran into another girl…

The overly curious, Otsuka-senpai.

As always, she had these brilliant purple eyes that seemed to outshine even the stars in the night sky. As soon as she recognized me, her lips stretched from side to side before almost shouting my name.

I only managed to stop her thanks to my reflex. I covered up her mouth and brought her away after excusing ourselves from the basketball girl seniors.

Well, I didn’t technically bring her away but I used her as a reason to get away from them. Although I don’t mind having them by my side since they pretty much act like a ward to stop the other curious girls from approaching me, I can’t just drag them with me to meet up with my girls, right?

Anyway, after coming to a less crowded spot, I let go of Otsuka-senpai’s arm and faced her. Even before stopping, she already barraged me with questions that I have yet to answer.

So, to start, I flicked her forehead to calm down her excitement before responding to some of those questions.

“Sorry, I didn’t come here to look for you, senpai. But I guess you can say that I’m glad to see you. It has been a while.”

Yeah. That’s an answer to her question of ‘Did you come here to look for me, Onoda-kun? Could it be… you missed me??’

Somehow, seeing her act like that after a few days of not seeing her felt refreshing. I mean, I may have been spared from her constant bout of curiosity that seemed to be endless but the club seemed incomplete without her liveliness there.

That’s not to say that it’s not as fun with only my girls there. How do I say it? She’s like the mood-setter there. In a way, her presence there was always uplifting.

“Heh. Onoda-kun, you know you could’ve lied there and said you missed me. Kana-chan-senpai and the others won’t be jealous of me anyway. Don’t you want to please me too?”

“When did I ever want to do that, senpai? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Eh… you’re no fun, Onoda-kun. But you’re correct. We have a lot to catch up on, right?”

“Maybe… but senpai, you know I won’t be as interested in whatever you did these past few days, right?”

“I know. You’re the guy who only cares about your girls, after all. But still, aren’t you curious?” With her round purple eyes blinking and twinkling, Otsuka-senpai closed in and pushed her face close to me.

Her curiosity or maybe interest was once again at an all-time high. And maybe she really wanted to tell me what she’s been up to these past few days we haven’t seen each other.

Before answering her, I continued to search our surroundings for Juri and my girls. They shouldn’t be hard to find since their presence was too strong. In one way or another, they’d create a buzz around them, especially if they gathered in groups.

And sure enough, I found them already staring in our direction. And looking at their amused expressions, they probably followed me with their eyes ever since I emerged from that path with the four idiots… The reason I failed to see them right away was because if not for our current location, they would’ve been hidden behind the other girls that were standing around them…

It must have been fun seeing me looking for them while I kept being flanked by other girls left and right. Should I expect to be teased by them later?

Bringing my attention back to the curiosity-incarnate girl at my side, I noticed that she followed my gaze and she’s now staring at Haruko and the other girls. In particular, Arisa and Izumi.

They’re from the same class.

Understanding that, an idea lit up in my head.

“Alright. Let me hear about it, senpai. But let’s see, can I introduce you to them? You’re my precious senior, after all.”

Otsuka-senpai looked at me with a puzzled expression and then her gaze alternated between me and the girls.

When she finally realized why I said that, twinkling eyes blinked a few times as both curiosity and perplexity mixed in them.

“Them…? Wait, Onoda-kun… Are they what I think they are…?”

“Mhm. Whatever you’re thinking… it’s correct. They’re as special to me as Kana and the others from our club.” I confidently answered, proud even, “I’m certain they’re also curious about you by now.”

“Uh. I don’t know how to feel about that, Onoda-kun.”

“Really? And here I thought you’d be ecstatic to find out more about me.”

“Normally, I would. But Onoda-kun, that lineup… I feel like I’ll be crucified by the end of the day.”

“You’re funny, Otsuka-senpai. They won’t bite. Besides, like you said earlier, they won’t be jealous of you. I mean, I’ve already mentioned this certain overly curious senior who keeps trying to make a move on me.”

For the first time, the girl reacted differently. She facepalmed and looked like she wanted to hide her face somewhere.

“Onoda-kun… you’re a bad guy. Help me out, okay?”

“Mhm. Don’t worry. I care about you, senpai.”

“That doesn’t sound reassuring…”

Upon saying that, Otsuka-senpai moved behind me as though she wanted to hide from their gazes.