Rolling green hills and crystal-clear blue waters. Even the pavement and road signs are pristine. No trash, no graffiti, and just as gloriously, no potholes. By simple comparison to cities alone, Okinawa is top-notch. Considering it on its own merit, it's a dream-like paradise that leaves no question for why it's so frequently and affectionately called, the Land of Endless Summer. In any case, our sophomore-year class hit the jackpot in terms of school trip locales. It's barely our first full day here, and already, I'm feeling hesitant to leave.
It's a history-filled itinerary for us today, and we've in fact just finished a morning taking a charming tour which encompassed the areas both in, and around, a beautiful landmark called the Urasoe Castle Ruins. Right now, we're back in our buses on the way to another historical site further up north of the island, cruising along the coast. Though, since it's close to lunchtime, we'll be stopping by a spot along the way which our contracted bus drivers know about.
Ousai Academy's sophomore class, and teacher-chaperones, are currently divided into six buses which we've rented out for the day, all of which are from the same local travel company. The awesome thing is that, rather than organizing the students alphabetically or by classroom, we've been allowed to buddy up to our heart's content.
For the duration of our Okinawa school trip, Takatoshi, Suzu, and I have decided to form a party with Mutsumi Mitsuba and three other students from our classroom of 2-B: Suzu's best friend, Nene Todoroki, Mutsumi's right-hand man, Chiri Nakazato, and the first friend who Takatoshi ever made at Ousai, Kenji Yanagimoto. The two other sophomore-year Judo Club vets aren't with us, surprisingly. The first, Nanako Umibe, has joined up with some of her own classmates from Classroom 2-E. The second club vet, whose name escapes me and who I only remember as the tiny girl with the side-ponytail who rejoined the roster after her parents made her temporarily quit last April, has partnered up with her cousin over in Classroom 2-A. This is something that only I seem to find intriguing, as for as long as I've been at Ousai, both Nanako and Side-Ponytail had always only ever been seen standing together with Mutsumi, Chiri, and that senior-year Judo Club vet with the blue hair. They've always been like the Five-Man Band to me, yet here they all are suddenly separated. In any case, it's kind of cool that we all, as the sophomores of Ousai, are spicing things up by trying out a slightly different configuration of friends than how we usually tend to roll.
I, myself, am interested to see how things are going to play out with such a huge boon to our odds as Grumblers. I mean, aside from the Swiss representatives, Mutsumi and Kenji, it's going to be a ratio of our four Grumblers against the one Perv among us, Nene. I dare say that this might very well be the first time where the clique dynamic has been cast so heavily in our favor.
"Miss Yokoshima, look! That lighthouse is shaped like a ****!"
"And it's huge, Todoroki! You think it wobbles in the wind?"
Or maybe I shouldn't put all of my eggs in one basket just yet. I trade looks with Suzu, Takatoshi, and Chiri in regards to this Perv outburst, but we communicate that we're all just too lazy to perform our Grumbler obligations at the moment. I guess we're collectively willing to let more of it slide than we usually would since we are, technically, on vacation. And fun fact, Mutsumi and Suzu are still seated on either side of Takatoshi, holding a hand each in the interest of fighting back motion sickness. I have a feeling this is a trend that's going to continue for the entirety of our school trip.
Soon enough, our six buses pull into the somewhat filled parking lot of a somewhat busy-looking rest area. This entire cliffside slice of Okinawa heaven looks like it's owned by a single conglomerate, comprised of a small souvenir shop, an array of vending machines, and a large outdoor diner with tons of shaded seating, all of which sports the same company logo and color scheme. From the counters of the diner, three cashiers grow excited at the sight of our convoy and begin shouting into the kitchen to prepare. Our bus-groups file out in an orderly fashion, gradually getting into several formations.
Kenji stretches his arms up with a yawn, then fans himself. "This island is the most beautiful place I've ever been to, but I feel like this humidity is going to be the end of me."
"I'm just glad we're in our summer uniforms," says Suzu. "These short sleeves are certainly helping us feel the breeze."
"The skirts, too," says Chiri.
Takatoshi chuckles. "I'm almost jealous of you girls for that."
"Really?" asks Nene. "Well, I'd be happy to share my skirt with you, Tsuda!" She's actually unzipping herself, but Suzu stops her immediately.
"That won't be necessary, Nene."
We form lines at the counters and end up placing our orders surprisingly quickly. The cashiers are as efficient as they are helpful, answering our questions and guiding us along with just enough polite urgency to keep the lines moving fairly fast. I don't catch everybody's order, but I decide to follow Suzu's suggestion in joining her to try out a dish called taco rice after she tells me a bit of trivia about how it became a local Okinawan dish in the 1980s when it was used, en masse, to feed American servicemen. Another side-order item catches my eye, as well. It's the greatest seafood-related gift from God Himself, calamari rings, but I relegate the desire for another day out of respect for my best friend, Takatoshi Tsuda.
There's a bunch of hanging screens scattered about the entire property that show which orders are ready for pickup. Confirming that it's going to be a little while, the seven of us opt for checking out the array of vending machines for a snack to munch on in the meantime. Many rows of benches are laid out in front of the array, though this is only one of what seems like several covered eating areas on the property. The seven of us then huddle together around a pair of available vending machines to decide what to get. Although, I can't help but notice that Suzu keeps glancing over her shoulder for some reason. It happens enough that I join her whenever she does so, but I see nothing of note in her line of sight. Sure, there are different parties of tourists of varying size scattered about, eating their meals and having conversations in a small variety of different languages, though it's nothing that would strike me as being out of place. I'm about to ask her straight up, but Takatoshi beats me to it.
"What's wrong, Hagimura?" he asks, loud enough to draw the attention of the remaining four members of our little gang.
"Yeah," I say. "You keep looking over your shoulder, Suzu. Is something behind us?"
"Give me a second," she says, fully turning around now.
We all then join Suzu to observe the tourists scattered harmlessly about the benches with scrutinizing eyes, but nothing sticks out to us as being odd. "Legolas," Chiri then says, resting a hand on Suzu's shoulder. "What do your elf eyes see?"
"Oh, my God, I love that trilogy," Kenji says quickly. "Let's have a movie night tonight at the hotel." We all agree, though with our gazes kept towards the benches.
"There's a lady acting really strangely," Suzu finally says, refraining from gesturing to draw any attention. "The one in the green top who's using her straw hat in a way as if to hide her face from us."
"There's, like, five straw hats out there, Suzu," says Mutsumi. "I can't tell which one you're talking about."
"Green top, Mutsumi. Green top."
Chiri hums in thought, then gasps lowly in realization. "Wait, are you talking about the one to the left of that old, fatass Santa Clause-looking dude with the ugly sunglasses?"
"Nakazato!" scolds Takatoshi under his breath. "That's so rude."
"What, Vice Prez? You want me to point instead? Besides, now you guys know where you're supposed to be looking at. Right?" At that, we all mumble to the affirmative, with Suzu even joining in to confirm it.
"Anyways, what's so weird about this lady, Hagimura?" asks Takatoshi. "Other than the fact that she's sitting like she's posing for a magazine for some reason?"
"She's not spread-eagled, Tsuda," says Nene. "Why would you think she's posing like a girl in one of your dirty magazines?"
"I'm talking about normal magazines, Todoroki."
"Nene, at least get your jokes in line with the times," says Chiri lightheartedly. "We're post-smart phone era and high-speed internet. Who the hell gets off on magazines these days?"
"Kaya Kitayama wants to know your location," says Takatoshi. That earns a snort from me and even Suzu, surprisingly.
"Kaya-who?"
"Forget it," says Suzu. "Just a magazine model friend of Amakusa and Shichijou."
"So what, she does nudes? What is she, like, eighty? Can the pages in her magazines open up enough to accommodate that level of sag?" Minus Mutsumi, the snickers amongst us are palpable. You know, now that I've been spending more time around Chiri, I'm kind of fascinated with how she's basically the most Perv-like Grumbler I've encountered to date.
Barring Lancer, I suppose. And . . . possibly me, too? Shit. Never mind. Anyways, whatever. Moving on. "So, what's that lady doing that's got your attention, Suzu?" I ask.
Shaking away the last of her snickering, Suzu answers with, "She's getting closer to us in an extremely suspicious manner. I noticed that every time I looked over my shoulder, she was sitting at a completely different bench trying to act natural, but obviously facing in our direction each time."
"Are you sure, Hagimura?" asks Kenji.
Suzu scoffs. "Do you also have a photographic memory, Yanagimoto? Yes, I'm sure. One-hundred percent certain."
"We have a stalker!" Nene cries out in joy, clapping her hands. "A lady one, too! Oh, That's so hot! You think she'd use dildos on us, or a strap-on? Or maybe she's into ***-fist***! Wait! Foot***s! I bet she's going to make us use our toes on her **** and butt****! The possibilities are endless!"
Our full attention is focused now on desperately trying to calm Nene down. Her quickly escalating pervert attack is drawing the attention of more than a few nearby benches, but I'm hoping like hell that none of these foreigners can even understand us. Slowly, but surely, we successfully soothe Nene. It's mostly at the lead of Suzu, who's had the most experience in doing so since they're best friends. Then suddenly, Mutsumi draws our attention back to the original matter at hand.
"Wait a second," she says. "Where'd that lady go?" We follow Mutsumi's gaze back to the benches to find that the lady has, indeed, disappeared. It's just all the same groupings of tourists from before, now having returned to being engaged in their own conversations and paying us no mind.
The seven of us spend another few moments expanding our survey of the area, looking left, right, high, and low. Yet to our confusion, there's not one trace of our mysterious stalker lady to be found.
"Përshëndetje miqtë e mi," greets a familiar voice, in whatever language, from behind us. We all spin around with a fright to discover that, leaning against the wall in the space between two vending machines, our stalker with the green top and straw hat is none other than Ranko Hata. Oh, God. Why did I think about Hata back on the plane? I just jinxed this whole trip, didn't I?
"Hata!" cries Suzu. "What are you doing all the way out here in Okinawa?"
"Well, I'm simply here because there aren't any sophomores in the Newspaper Club. As the club chief, I've been forced to pick up the slack, so to speak."
"Oh. So, wait . . . were you on the plane with us? I never saw you." The rest of us mirror that before Suzu continues with, "You would've been sitting pretty close to me in the H seats, Hata."
She laughs heartily, leaving her nook to wrap an arm around Suzu. "Really? I said hi to you, like, ten times! You didn't see me waving?"
"From where? My left, or my right?"
"Um, the right?"
"Really? So, your seat was on the airplane's wing, Hata?"
"No, of course not! I meant the left."
"Or maybe I was sitting on a window seat to the left and was just testing you."
"Oh! Uh . . . so, where were you sitting?"
"You tell me. You said you saw me, didn't you?"
"Quit pulling my leg, Hagimura! It's funny, but you're giving everybody the wrong idea here!" Hata starts laughing nervously, but ends up melting at our collective, accusatory stares.
"Hey, you guys!" calls out Miss Michishita from the direction of the counters. When we all turn to look at her, she points towards the array of benches opposite of us and says, "When you get your food, we'll all be sitting over there!" She leaves us be after we wave and call back our confirmation. Afterwards, we return to Hata and find that's she's ducked herself into her nook between the vending machines, though upside-down for some reason. She must have panicked and did a back-flip into the wall, or something.
"Did you just hide out of sight from a teacher?" Takatoshi sighs. "So, you came here without the school's permission."
"You're going to be held back a year if they catch you," says Suzu. "I hope you know that."
Hata forces out a laugh, trying and failing to contort herself back to her feet in a cramped space. "I'll be fine! Don't worry. Besides, my backup plan is to say that I'm merely staying with my grandparents here."
"I doubt that's going to fly," I say. "Even if you do have grandparents here."
"I do! My paternal grandparents run a farm out in the countryside nearby. In fact, it was my grandfather himself who brought me here on his ox cart!"
Suzu scoffs. "School is still in session, Hata. You get caught, you'll be marked as truant. You'd best head back to Fuyuki while you still can."
"Wait! Will you at least hear me out?" With one last groan, she finally normalizes her posture and sighs in relief. After dusting herself off, she says, "I have a very important favor to ask you all!"
"No way, Hata," says Takatoshi.
"Just hear me out. That's all I'm asking you for now. Please, Tsuda?" Hata grabs his arm and pulls him closer into the nook to keep herself out of sight, pouting and hitting him with the sweet voice. She's even giving him a pair of remarkably breathtaking puppy dog eyes. This sight leaves me so confused that I can't even speak. I was honestly joking in my head when I wondered back on the plane if Hata would be the next late contender in the Grand Prix of Love, but what the hell is even happening right now? Glancing around at the others shows that my confusion is far from exclusive.
Takatoshi is giving her the stink eye. "Are you trying to smooth-talk me into helping you, Hata? That's kind of a new low. Even for you."
She pouts even further from there, rubbing her cheek against his bare forearm. "Pretty please, my fair Tsuda? With a cherry on top and ice cream in the middle?"
"I'm still going to say no, so why are you even —"
Suzu leaps up to screech Hata away. "Fine! I will at least hear you out!"
"Ah," say all of us in realization. Minus Suzu, obviously.
Takatoshi rubs his neck before looking at the rest of us. "I'm going to have to use my authority as vice president to assume Hagimura's concession towards Hata, meaning I'm taking Hagimura's place, so Hagimura is off the hook."
"What? But Tsuda —"
"That's not up for negotiation. Now, what about the rest of you? Are you willing to stay here and potentially involve yourselves in whatever scheme Hata is going to propose?"
"I don't want to get in trouble," says Mutsumi, fiddling with the hem of her blouse.
"Neither do I," says Nene.
Kenji and Chiri trade a glance before answering with, "Same."
"Let's introduce some plausible deniability here, then," says Takatoshi. He's suddenly speaking in his vice president voice, which perks us all the hell up. "Anyone who doesn't want to be accused of being involved with Hata by the teachers, take your leave right now while you still can." Hesitantly, the four aforementioned walk off and return to the counters to await their orders. He then looks at Suzu and I to ask, "What about you two?"
Suzu shakes her head. "I got you into this mess. I'll stand at your side."
"If Suzu's got your side, then I'll have your back like always. But at least answer me this, Takatoshi. Why are you so eager in taking responsibility for listening to Hata? I mean, we could just walk away right now."
"Rude!" says Hata in a huff.
Takatoshi gently guides Suzu and me further away from Hata, who tries to follow before once again back-flipping back between the vending machines. She's upside-down again. Once out of earshot, Takatoshi leans into us and whispers, "I wanted to get an idea of what Hata is up to. As student council vice president, it's my duty to take on that responsibility, even if it means that I could be going down in flames with Hata as some sort of accomplice. The two of you, however, don't need to get involved."
"You're not doing it alone," says Suzu. "No sir."
I nod firmly. "We're not going anywhere, Vice President."
Takatoshi gives us a little smile before we all return to a frowning Hata with determined strides. Or at least I think she's frowning. Playing it cool, Tsuda says, "We've decided that it wouldn't hurt to at least hear you out, Hata. You came all this way, after all."
"That doesn't mean we're agreeing to anything, though," Suzu says.
"Fair enough," she says, shrugging. "Now, the biggest lead I'm following on this school trip has nothing to do with any of you. You know those rumors around Ousai that Mister Daimon and the music teacher, Miss Michishita, are secretly dating? I want proof of it. It would end up being the biggest story I've had in months!"
"We aren't taking any pictures or film on your behalf, Hata," I say.
"I wouldn't expect or force you to, anyway! Just keep an eye out for anything of interest happening between those two, and give me a lead to follow up on whenever I pop in to check on you three. That's all I ask from you!"
Takatoshi crosses his arms. "Is that really all, Hata?"
"Well . . . as you know, both Nao Hanamaki and Yoshi Umakawa are on this trip. If you happen to catch them sixty-nine'ing each other in some alleyway, I'll pay you for pictures and cell phone footage!"
"Not happening," we say.
"Fine. I knew that was a long shot, anyways. Just keep my request about our dear athletics and music teachers in mind, then, will you? If I successfully break this scoop, I'm going to go down in Ousai history as the best reporter the school has ever seen!"
"Wait," I say. "Isn't Ousai's Newspaper Club less than ten years old?"
"History is history, my fair Pendragon!" She then gives us a thumbs-up. Thumbs-down? Whatever. "Now, I need to stay here until the coast is clear, but you three have fun out here in the Land of Endless Summer, and keep safe!"
"Oh," says Takatoshi. "Well thanks, Hata."
With that, we take our leave to join up with Mutsumi, Chiri, Nene, and Kenji. Right before we round the corner, however, we hear a tourist yelp out in fright followed by Hata shushing her and apologizing profusely.
"Everything okay?" asks Mutsumi once we reach them.
"Everything's fine," says Takatoshi. "Nothing to worry about, actually. It turned out to be less of a headache than I thought it'd be."
"You going to give us any details, Vice Prez?" asks Chiri.
"Only if you want to surrender your plausible deniability status, Nakazato."
She chuckles nervously. "Forget I asked. Anyways, our food got served up a minute ago. Grab your plates, you three, and follow us!"
We're led out to a free bench at Ousai's assigned spot. The view of the sea from this part of the property is panoramic and spectacular, with what looks like steps descending down to a rocky beach below. We're specifically told by Mister Daimon, however, that the beach will be off-limits to us for the duration of our lunchtime here. This earns more than a smattering of disappointed moans and groans.
Forgetting that downer for now, the seven of us take a seat and dig into our meals. This dish, taco rice, turns out to be a delicious one filled with flavors I don't think I recognize, but wouldn't mind getting more of. "Suzu," I say between spoonfuls. "Good choice!"
"Right?" she says.
"I'm joining in," says Yokoshima, filling out the last seat on our bench. She sets her tray down and takes a few bites before her eyes bulge in surprise at something, or rather someone, a few tables over. "Whoa, now. Aren't you a tasty little piece of future ex-husband material?" She then drops her spoon and pulls out a little makeup mirror to touch up her cheeks. Weird. I didn't know she wore makeup. What's the point of wearing makeup if you're just going to use it to make it look like you're not wearing makeup? I don't think I'll ever understand makeup users.
"Miss Yokoshima," Suzu warns. "What are you doing? Have you forgotten your promises already?"
"Chill out, Hagimura! Hell, does he look like a local to you? He's clearly not an Okinawan boy. That means he's open season for me."
"I think he has a wedding ring on, Miss Yokoshima," says Chiri, looking hard while trying not to look hard.
She scoffs. "Never stopped me before."
"Miss Yokoshima?" comes the stern voice of Mister Daimon from a few benches away. We all turn to find him glaring at the perverted teacher in question, shaking his head.
"Fine!" says Yokoshima. With that, she snaps her mirror shut and puts it back into her pocket. Or at least, she tries to. All we hear is the sound of it hitting the concrete floor. She curses, picks it up, and opens it to inspect the glass.
"Did the mirror break, Miss Yokoshima?" asks Nene.
"Nope. I'm good. Guess I'm lucky today. Although, that luck could have instead been directed at picking that boy up over there."
"Forget the boy for a second, Miss Yokoshima! If you had broken that glass, it would've been seven years of bad luck!"
"That's just a superstition, Nene," says Suzu. "It holds no scientific backing."
"Only seven years of bad luck?" Yokoshima then scoffs. "Peanuts, Todoroki. Imagine breaking a condom."
Nene laughs. "You're right! That's way worse!"
"Oh! That reminds me of what happened to me at this bar downtown a couple nights before we got on the plane."
"Did sex happen, Miss Yokoshima?"
"Sure did! Twice. So, I just got done ****ing this boy I met in the restroom stall, right? We thought we had a mishap with the condom, but forget that, because it's not the punchline. I go back to the bar, and there's this sorry geezer in the corner trying to **** me with his eyes."
"Huh?" asks Mutsumi, confused. Takatoshi has covered her ears with his hands, and I've joined him in adding my own above his for extra security.
"Wait," I then say. "Should we still be doing this? I mean, Mutsumi was the coach during that anti-harassment training we did for you back at the outlet, wasn't she?"
"That's a good point, actually," he says. He removes his hands and, by extension, mine.
Suzu smirks at us both, advertising that she's onboard, as well. "Question, Mitsuba."
"Oh. Yes, Suzu? What is it?"
"Remember when we were doing that anti-harassment training exercise at the outlet, and you were laughing just as hard as the rest of us?"
"Yeah! Of course, I do, Suzu! Takatoshi was really good with those comebacks."
"Sure, Mutsumi. But my question is, why were you laughing?"
"Why? Well . . . like I said, Takatoshi's comebacks were really funny. Is, uh, that not the right answer?"
Shit. Takatoshi and I know where Suzu is going with this. The issue here is how we're going to be able to confirm Mutsumi's comprehension on double entendres in the least risky manner possible. "They were certainly funny, Mutsumi," I say carefully. "By the way, what did you think of Takatoshi's comeback about the wrong way sign?"
"Hilarious! He said Shichijou was driving down the wrong way on the highway. Right?"
Takatoshi, Suzu, and I look at each other incredulously. "And the punchline about the drought?" Suzu asks.
"That was the funniest one! I totally pictured Uomi standing outside in the rain, staring at Takatoshi through the window where he's all nice, dry, and warm."
"Oh crap," Takatoshi and I say.
Suzu closes her eyes tiredly. "Last question, Mutsumi. What did you think about the cologne punchline?"
"That was pretty good, too! Even if it was sort of a lie."
Takatoshi looks confused. "You thought I was lying about 'Leave Me the Fah' cologne?"
"Yeah! Weren't you? I mean, you always smell so good. You don't smell like pho at all!" Oh, phock off, dude. Really?
"We have made all of the wrong assumptions here, it seems," says Takatoshi. He then looks over at Miss Yokoshima telling her story. Needless to say, Nene is the only one listening. Kenji is staring off into space while eating, and Chiri is doing similarly, though looking at Yokoshima instead. However, her eyes are straying ever so slightly in opposite directions, hinting that her attention at Yokoshima is purely cosmetic. After nodding to himself while biting his lower lip, Takatoshi turns back to Mutsumi and says, "Final test, then. As risky as this would be, this will, at least, give us a definitive answer. Do me a favor and listen to Miss Yokoshima's punchline, okay?"
"Oh. Um, sure?" We all then turn to Yokoshima.
"So finally, he comes up to ask me out with a joke, and you know what I said back to him?"
"What?" Nene asks excitedly.
"I go, 'That's so funny! Hey, you want to hear a joke about my *****? Oh, never mind! You'll never get it!' You should have seen the look on his face!" The two Pervs burst into laughter. Once they both settle down, Yokoshima closes out her story with, "Anyways, he was nice, at least, so I sucked his **** while he drove me home."
"That's genius, Miss Yokoshima! You still ended up having some fun while making some old geezer feel good, yet you still never gave him your *****!"
"Exactly. What can I say? I'm a saint in disguise."
"Or a sinner in mascara and blush," says Chiri, finally blinking.
Takatoshi, Suzu, and I then look at Mutsumi. Her eyes dart between us nervously, like she's just been asked by a teacher to answer a question on a topic she wasn't even paying attention to. Finally, she shrugs and says, "Roosters and kitty-cats?" We sigh and cover her ears once again just as Yokoshima starts telling another story about a time she almost successfully queefed the beginning of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at her gynecologist.
Author's Note: Credit where credit is due. Hata hitting Takatoshi with the sweet voice is inspired by the "Simple people" segment of SYD #330, where Hata tricks the student council into helping her by acting clingy towards Takatoshi to make the main girls jealous.
The rest of this is another temporary AN to announce some retcons. As usual, please feel free to skip reading any of this.
Retcon (minor): Changed "hundred-yen shop" to "hundred-yen store" in Ch14 to make it match when it becomes referenced again in Ch28. Figured it would be for the best, as I picture a "store" to be larger than a "shop", anyways.
Retcon (minor): Added a few new sentences to Ch26 to reflect the fact that Principal Kondou, Miss Yokoshima, and the OC minor character Miss Tsujita have also attended the Children's Day festival on the Shichijou estate. Also, in that same paragraph, I added a passing reference to how Caster successfully rejoined her students after the Saber-Caster argument. There was also more stuff I added to make things clearer, like during the Kaede or Lancer bits, but I can't remember exactly what I did at this point.
Retcon (mild): Made a mild change to Furuya's dialogue in Ch24. Specifically, the bit where she mentions that her college fair starts on the second Friday in June. I changed it from second, to third, in order to leave some padding to accommodate a more ambiguous length of the sophomore-year school trip schedule. Other than that, the upcoming chapter at Furuya's college fair will go on as usual. Whenever it comes out.
Retcon (global): This one is more of a blanket statement regarding the entire story of An Outside Perspective as a whole. Any of the more long-time readers who may have reread earlier chapters might have noticed a few minor alterations over the last few weeks, like the rearranging of sentences or even minor new additions. I don't want to gaslight you into thinking that you might be remembering things wrong. I did, in fact, make some changes here and there for the sakes of clarity, flow, spelling, overly repeated words, and plain old grammar. Overall, every chapter remains the same to the best of my knowledge.
And that's it for now. I'm trying to be more careful in making any more time-related promises in my temporary ANs from now on, as some of you might remember my last temporary AN back in Ch20, when I said something stupid like, "Hey, the Okinawa school trip is only a handful of chapters away!" And then, of course, the Okinawa arc got pushed back to Ch30. Which was posted about nine months later. My bad.