Stealing Spree

When Sawano and the other camp managers left, only leaving two of them to make sure that we wouldn’t cause some kind of chaos in and out of the cabins, dusk had started to dye the sky orange. Along with it, the wind blowing over had started to become chillier, causing a lot of us to put on a jacket.

Naturally, I did the same. While I could make do without it, I could find other uses for it like sharing it with my girl. Well, that’s an ideal scenario that would most likely happen with some of them.

Anyway, having been told to just wait for one of them to pick us up, I waited near the entrance to the path, staking them out so that they wouldn’t need to go in and run into the idiot boys who would, more than likely, drool over them.

Even if it’s Setsuna who will show up for me, she’s attractive enough to draw numerous gazes on her. I mean, the difference between Satsuki and Setsuna-nee wasn't just their breast size, height, and hair length. While Satsuki seemed to have her resting face grumpy by default, Setsuna-nee usually had a playful smile on her lips. Only recently would she look as grumpy as my girl because of my presence.

Due to that, boys would find her more pleasing to stare at than Satsuki who’s taller than most of them.

And if it’s Juri who shows up... no doubt, they won’t just drool over her appearance. They’ll also be struck witless by how attractive she is. She can make even a plain white shirt look fashionable. Along with her naturally cool demeanor, I won’t be surprised if she tells me that there are guys who kneel in praise of her.

That goes to show how lucky I am to be the one to gather her fancy.

Anyway, Sakuma, Shirai, and Kobayashi tried to invite me when they saw me standing there. Naturally, I rejected them. And the same happened when Hino tried to stick around me, most likely hoping to see me in action.

I don’t know where they’re going but I’m more than in favor of them going away. I have no need for a nuisance who might tag along – even if it’s Sakuma who’s already thirsty to see Setsuna-nee.

Around five minutes later, I saw the familiar figure of Setsuna-nee appearing not from where they should come from. Instead, she emerged from the path leading to the cabin area for the teachers and professors.

Moreover, Juri was nowhere to be seen with her. As soon as her eyes locked on me, her footsteps visibly quickened, traversing the distance between us in less than twenty seconds.

The good thing is... she’s not looking so grumpy this time but instead, she just looked so indignant as if she was forced to pick me up.

Ah. Right. That might be the case. Juri put her up to this.

I lifted my hand to wave at her which made her eyebrows slant. But perhaps remembering that she promised Satsuki not to be unreasonably grumpy towards me, she forced a smile. Ironically, like Satsuki, that somehow suited her considering they’re almost like an identical twin if not for their differing height and bust.

“Setsuna-nee. You look great.”

“Oh. Shut it. I don’t need you to compliment me. Let’s go.”

Waving her hand at the front and immediately turning to the direction of our destination, the woman started moving without even trying to wait for me to walk alongside her.

It’s like she’s trying to escape from me as soon as possible.

This must still be an effect of what happened earlier, no? Confessing that to me made her more conscious instead of returning to her usual playful self.

I have no idea how to help her in that regard then.

I chased after her and mindfully maintained a distance of just a step behind, watching her back.

She’s conscious of me, alright. Her head kept moving as though she was holding back to glance at her side to check if I was already there. And when I ended up not doing so, she paused momentarily to glare at me and click her tongue.

I thought of asking her whether Juri and Satsuki were already there but with the current mood, I stayed silent and simply followed her to where she was going to take me.

I mean... there’s plenty of time to ask that later. Knowing them, they wouldn’t just change the plan and give me time to break this woman down.

Wait. That sounded bad if taken out of context.

Ugh. Anyway, while we ran into other students and some camp managers as we followed the path to the bridge connecting the two hills, everyone minded their own business. Or maybe both Setsuna-nee and I just had this passive aura repelling anyone from disturbing our walk.

The sun was about to set so a lot of people were moving towards the peak to see it disappear from the horizon. Even if the hill wasn’t that tall to see it clearly, it’s still going to be a breathtaking sight.

A few minutes later, we soon passed by the garden-like space earlier. We walked past it and continued to the area for the second year.

Soon enough, we arrived at the open space where they were also supposed to gather. Students, both boys and girls littered the place. I could recognize some of them but because of the gradual dimming of the sky, it was becoming hard to clearly see those at a certain distance.

I know I can recognize the figures of my girls, unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of them. Maybe they’re still in their cabin area or already gone somewhere.

Setsuna continued on her steps and naturally, I couldn’t just separate from her. We stepped into one of the paths that would most likely lead to their cabin.

On the way there, we ran into some teachers and professors. No one bothered to stop us though. They’re probably also busy with what they’re about to do. They’re not just going to prepare for dinner, after all. They also have to set up the place. Although there were lamp posts there that served as a guide for anyone who could be lost in the woods during the night, those weren’t enough if they were going to eat dinner there.

Of course, that’s also what’s going to happen on our hill.

According to Juri and Setsuna, as their reward for being given the task of scouting the camping locations, they’re exempted from helping out. And that’s why for the next hour or two... they’re free to do whatever they want.

As for how they convinced the others to allow them to bring us here, I had no idea yet. They didn’t elaborate on that earlier.

They most likely volunteered on another task separate from those who would prepare dinner.

Anyway, I soon caught sight of their cabin area. It’s already almost deserted but I could see some of the cabins having their lights on.

Setsuna-nee remained silent and would only look behind her occasionally to make sure that I was still following her.

As she guided me further in, we soon stopped in a cabin located farthest to the right neighboring the woods. She walked towards the door and used a key to open it.

Looking at it from outside, the light was still turned off which means... Juri and Satsuki had yet to arrive.

Before pulling the door open, Setsuna-nee turned to me and said in a rather shaky voice as though she struggled to decide whether to say it to me or not.

“Shameless guy, we’re going to wait for Juri and Satsu-chan here... Don’t get the wrong idea.”

This girl... If someone’s getting the wrong idea here... it’s probably her. It must be fun to pry open her head to see what she’s thinking about.

She had no idea that she was giving me an opportunity to tease her. But well, since we’re still outside, I should hold back. Besides, I’m not here for her. Even if it will be amusing to see her get flustered because of how conscious she is of my presence, I’m here for both Satsuki and Juri.

“Mhm. I understand, Setsuna-nee-san.”

That’s all I said as an answer to reassure her. Maybe she’s expecting a different reply to me, Setsuna-nee clicked her tongue in response before going in.

Seeing that, I smilingly shook my head and followed her inside.