Ibuki

After Hasebe ran off, Takahashi saw Ayanokouji ask Sudo and Yamauchi for help, but both seemed to turn him down. In the end, he had no choice but to head into the forest alone. Takahashi went over and asked,

"Ayanokouji, are you going somewhere?"

"Oh, Hirata wants me to gather some firewood."

"I'll go with you."

"You just finished setting up the tents. Are you sure you don't need to rest?"

"I'm fine. I really want to do more for the class." I guess I'm going to have to inherit the workaholic spirit of that seventeenth-century non-whatever bestseller after all. ┭┮﹏┭┮

"Kamiya, can I come with you?" Sakura asked in a soft voice beside him.

"Sure. Let's go together."

Hearing Takahashi's answer, Sakura happily said, "Mm," then pulled out her handkerchief and wiped the sweat from Takahashi's cheek.

"Hey!"

Just as the three of them were about to enter the forest, Yamauchi's voice came from behind them. He quickly ran over to join them.

"Yamauchi, weren't you going to rest?" Ayanokouji asked.

"Haha, I decided to come help after all! We're all friends, and when a friend needs help, you can't just stand by, right, Sakura?" He paused, then added, "Takahashi."

Takahashi: ⊙_⊙ You think you can steal your big bro's girl? Just you wait, kid. I'll take you out in a minute.

"Since we're all friends, let's go together." Takahashi took Sakura's hand and headed toward the forest. Once they'd put a little distance between themselves and the others, they exchanged a couple of quiet words as they walked.

They didn't go far from camp before the four of them began gathering firewood nearby.

Before long, Yamauchi carried a few branches over to Ayanokouji. He put an arm around Ayanokouji's shoulder and began whispering to him.

"Ayanokouji, there's something I need you to keep secret for me."

"Yeah?"

"I... I want to pursue Sakura."

"Huh?"

"Come on, I realized Kushida's not really that great, right? And she's such a good communicator that I feel like I wouldn't be able to handle her. So this is when you have to give up on a high-difficulty target. Sakura, on the other hand, isn't very good at talking to people, is she? Or maybe I should say... she's completely unused to being around people. A girl like that must be really pure. To be honest, I'm thinking I should try to win her over during this trip. I figure with girls like her, all I have to do is play the kind of man who can gently take care of her and has enough masculinity to make her feel safe, and I'll win her over. If things go well, I'd like to get as far as kissing. I'm serious. Sakura's the only one who'll do at a time like this. No, Sakura's exactly the one I want!"

"No, I mean Sakura and Takahashi..."

"What about Takahashi? They never said they were boyfriend and girlfriend like Hirata and Karuizawa did. And look at Takahashi, all soft and delicate. What kind of fighting ability could he have? He's just a pampered rich kid. I could knock him down with one punch. How's he supposed to make Sakura feel safe? I made up my mind on the ship: whether Sakura's Takahashi's girlfriend now or not, once I win her over, she'll be mine! Besides, look at Takahashi. He's always with Hasebe, or Ichinose from Class B, or Shiina from Class C, and even that second-year upperclasswoman. How can someone as fickle as him make Sakura happy? Only a man like me, who's masculine and devoted, is a match for Sakura."

"Hmm... I don't think you can win Sakura over. Takahashi and Sakura were already close during the Sudo Incident."

"Come on, I've thought about that too. I just didn't have good judgment before. I thought she was just an ugly girl with big boobs. But now she's so cute, and she's a popular idol, too. Dating a popular idol is something you can be really proud of."

"Hmm... You'd better give up." Ayanokouji didn't think Yamauchi stood a chance with Sakura. With his level of intelligence, Takahashi would probably run circles around him.

"Damn it, Ayanokouji, aren't we friends? Whatever, whatever. Just don't tell anyone about this, especially Takahashi." Yamauchi angrily shoved the branches in his hands into Ayanokouji's arms, then turned and walked away.

Watching Yamauchi's back, Ayanokouji thought, But Yamauchi, I've never thought of you as a friend.

After a while, Takahashi called out, carrying a bundle of branches. "Everyone, let's gather up. We've got about enough, right?"

Once they'd gathered, Yamauchi looked toward Sakura and was just about to speak when Takahashi addressed her first. "I'm a little tired. Hold these for me. If you drop even one, I'll hit you. Got it?" As he spoke, he put the branches he was carrying into Sakura's arms.

"Hey, Takahashi, how can you act like that? Do you have any idea how to treat a girl? Sakura, I'll carry them for you. It must be tiring for a girl to hold so many, and you might even get hurt."

Takahashi: ←_← You've got less than half as many branches as Ayanokouji. You were planning to act like some gentle, manly guy from the start, weren't you?

When Sakura nervously handed the branches in her arms to Yamauchi, she let out a sigh of relief as if she'd just completed some major task.

Yamauchi thought, Sakura looked so relieved. Carrying all that must've been exhausting, but this is a great chance to show how considerate I am. Hahaha!

Takahashi thought, That silly girl can't keep her cool. She still needs practice.

Sakura thought, I'm so nervous, so nervous. But doing something naughty with Takahashi does feel kind of nice...

"Then let's head back." Takahashi took Sakura's hand and started walking toward camp.

Yamauchi: Ah????? ДO???

The three of them looked at the girl sitting beneath a large tree, her face bearing obvious injuries, and didn't know what to say. Where was Yamauchi, you ask? He was still behind them, carrying a huge bundle of firewood!

The girl in front of them wasn't from Class D. On the contrary, she was from Class C, Class D's rival.

Yamauchi, who'd fallen behind the three of them, caught up just then. When he saw Ibuki, he dropped the firewood and started to run over. But Ayanokouji grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Ah... Um... No, sorry."

Takahashi watched Ayanokouji closely. He still wore a blank expression, but from his movements and words just now, Takahashi could tell he'd wanted to say something and then restrained himself.

Yamauchi, playing the gentle-guy role, wasn't about to leave an injured girl alone. He was the first to speak up and ask her, "Are you okay? How did you get hurt?"

"Leave me alone. It's nothing."

"Nothing? Look how swollen your face is! Who hit you? Want me to tell a teacher?"

"There was just a conflict in the class. Don't worry about it," the girl said with a self-mocking smile.

"What should we do? We can't just leave her here, can we?" Yamauchi turned to the other three and asked.

"What should we do? What else? If she can walk, let her walk back on her own. If she can't, help her back to our camp," Takahashi said. He took some of the branches Yamauchi had dropped and put them in Sakura's hands, then picked up most of the rest himself.

This wasn't school, and it was getting close to dark. Besides, this was one part of Takahashi's deal with Ryuuen—and one part of his plan as well.