Nishikata: "Naoto? Isn't your cabin next door?"
Senpai: "The heating broke, so I guess this is where I ended up."
In front of Senpai was Kimura, Hamaguchi, Takao, Nakai, and Nishikata.
Kimura: "Takao was just getting Hamaguchi and Nishikata to spill the beans on what that was!"
Hamaguchi: "Shut up! I swear, it's nothing!"
Nishikata: "Hey! Why me?"
Takao: "I overheard Yukari screaming about it earlier."
Nishikata: *sigh* "When is Houjou gonna learn…"
Nakai: "Guys, maybe we should just lay off-"
Takao: "Never! You have a girlfriend, so you aren't as invested, but I don't! Aren't you with me, Kimura?"
Kimura: "I mean, it's not really our business, is it?"
Takao: "Oh, I see. You and Mina snuck off or something."
Kimura: "You were with us all day! Besides, we're just friends."
Takao: "You say that, but you guys are connected at the hip! How can you be that close?"
Kimura: "I guess you don't care about those 2 anymore."
Takao: "Don't dodge the question!"
Kimura: "Mina's just my friend. Is it that hard to believe that a girl and a guy can just do that?"
Takao: "Sure, if they're already in a relationship, but otherwise, it's almost never the case!"
Kimura: "Then what's going on between you and Tsukimoto?"
Takago: "Hey, shut up! I'm too chicken to do anything with her…"
Hamaguchi: "As you should be. She hates you!"
Takao: "What?! Why?"
Nakai: "To be fair, you have been stealing glances at her in swimming class."
Takao: "What about you, Hachioji-Senpai?! I've heard plenty of rumours about you and that Hayacchi!"
Senpai: "Huh? I-I We like each other. I'm just working on myself before we do anything about that."
Takao: "What?! If you like each other, why don't you just get together?"
Senpai: "I'm working on myself. I just… don't want to feel like I'm not good enough for her."
…
Nakai: "That's deep, man. Heh."
Nishikata: "Anyways, I'm gonna head to bed-"
Takao: "Not so fast! You gotta tell us what you did with Takagi!"
Nishikata: "H-hey! How'd you know that?"
Takao: "I assumed. Plus, we couldn't find either of you! So spill, what did you do?"
Nishikata: "Nothing, I swear!"
Kimura: "I admit, I am a bit curious."
Nakai: "Mhm. Come on, you can tell us!"
Senpai: "Hey, maybe we should just-"
Takao: "No. Come on, Nishikata! You can tell us!"
Senpai: "Hey! Lay off! Let's just sleep-"
Takao: "Just because you've got your own girl doesn't mean we all do!"
Senpai: "H-hey! Stop it. That's not your business."
Nihsikata breathed a sigh of relief.
Nishikata: "Yeah. Stop, please."
Senpai: "Shouldn't you guys listen to your upperclassman?"
Nakai: "He's got us there."
Takao: "Come on! Are you saying you don't want to know?"
Nakai: "Come on. All of us have at least one girl we're close to, even Kimura, even if it's not romantically. Are you jealous because Tsukimoto hates your guts?"
Kimura: *smirking* "Hey, too far. Let's go to bed before Takao gets sad."
Before long, everyone had gone to bed. That is, everyone except Nishikata and Senpai.
Senpai: "Nishikata?"
Nishikata: "Huh? What is it?"
Senpai: "Can't sleep either?"
Nishikata: *sigh* "Guess not. Did Hayase ask you out or something?"
Senpai: "How'd you- nevermind. She did ask me to the dance, but what about you? You seem unusually happy."
Nishikata: "Really?"
Senpai: "Yeah, you've been smiling this whole time unless someone looks at you. So do you want to know what happened?"
Nishikata: "...Promise you won't tell the others?"
Senpai: "Don't worry about it."
Nishikata: "W-well…"
Nishikata told him everything, from the date, to the confession, to helping Hamaguchi. He left out the whole bit about Nagatoro and the competition, though.
Senpai: "Damn. I guess that for the most part, you had a pretty good day."
Nishikata: "Yeah. I did. Thanks for getting those guys off my back, by the way."
Senpai: "No problem."
The 2 lay there silent for a bit until Nishikata spoke up.
Nishikata: "You know what you said about improving yourself?"
Senpai: "Yeah. I feel like until I'm able to be confident, I don't really deserve her."
Nishikata: "Well in that case… I think you're there."
Senpai: "Huh?!"
Nishikata: "The Naoto I knew would've waited until it was all over, then been nice and apologized for them after, even if it wasn't a big deal. Still, you've come a long way if you're standing up for people other than Hayase now."
Senpai: "I suppose…"
Nishikata: "How about a challenge? You have to call Hayase by her first name for the rest of the trip!"
Senpai: "I-I mean, it's not really a challenge if you don't do it as well…"
Nishikata: "I-I mean, Takagi and I are kind of dating right now, so it's not that big a deal…"
Senpai: "Then why don't you call her Rie?"
Nishikata: "I… You know what? Sure. Is it a challenge?"
Senpai: "I guess so. Goodnight."
With that, they went to sleep.
###
Meanwhile, Takagi and Nagatoro were also discussing the events of the day while everyone around them slept.
Takagi: "Congratulations! So do you think that you'll manage to confess to him then?"
Nagatoro: "I don't know, ok? Besides, we're not done talking about your date with Nishikata!"
Takagi: "It was really nice. I don't think I've blushed as much in the rest of my life combined…"
Nagatoro: *smirking* "That must be embarrassing for you, huh?"
Takagi: "Yeah, it kind of is. It's fun, though!"
Nagatoro: "…Do you never get flustered?"
Takagi: "The only one who can do that is too embarrassed to do it often. Still, how are you planning to confess at the dance?"
Nagatoro: "I… don't know. I just feel like no matter what I do, I'll mess it up."
Takagi: "I mean, I don't think that it'll matter to him how you confess. You could probably do it while your mouth is full and he'd still get all embarrassed!"
Nagatoro: "Fair… I just don't want to seem too weak in front of him…"
Takagi: "Hey, sometimes you need to let down those walls. Senpai never has his up, so maybe you should be honest for once."
Nagatoro: "Y-yeah. Maybe I should."
…
Takagi: "You're blushing."
Nagatoro: "Goodnight!"
Takagi rolled over, smirking while Nagatoro stayed awake for several more hours, only falling asleep at roughly 3 am.
