Sometimes, games are not meant for him to play alone.
There is something about working to the point of being tired that is strangely appealing to me. Well, it is certainly not because I want to work. After all, to work is to lose. I am talking about the feeling of finally being able to lay down comfortably on a futon and knowing that I have nothing more to do for that specific day than to relax. Maybe this is just the blood of corporate slaves that flows through my veins that subconsciously persuade me to also become a corporate slave in the future.
After I and Kuronuma were done washing the dishes and all of that Rumi-Rumi counseling thing, I pretty much spent my whole afternoon chopping wood for the campfire tomorrow night. Since everyone was either playing with the children or hanging out with their friends, I got to do it on my own. Well, not really on my own because Kuronuma was also with me during that time. She busied herself with collecting the wood I chopped.
It seems that it was a rare sight for me to do those physical activities. It certainly was not because of physical weakness because I'm pretty sure I am more physically fit than most teenagers. An example of my claim is that I always ride my bicycle to school, oftentimes with my sister riding on the back. Or those times when I played baseball by myself, swam two kilometers by myself, or played tennis by myself... You get the idea.
So yeah, I was tired from all of that wood chopping and gathering. Although I would have preferred if others were there to help me so that I could just disappear in the background and outsource my work to them, I am grateful in a way that they did not do so because I get to feel the sweet feeling of going to bed after a day's work.
It was already evening and we were already gathered in the boys' cabin. After a long day of a tiresome yet strangely enjoyable day (I can't believe I just said that), it's finally time to get my well-deserved sleep.
Everyone was silent and occupied with whatever their nightly routines. Totsuka was not here for some reason, probably the bathroom. Hayama and Tobe were using their mobile devices, with the former actually reading something instead of mindlessly tapping and swiping like Tobe and most teenagers do. And lastly, the tall guy from the other class was already asleep for quite a while now.
As for me, even though I am tired from earlier and wanted to sleep now, I still can't do so because of a certain chuunibyou incessantly asking me to play something. Eventually, I relented and decided to mindlessly play shogi with Zaimokuza. And yes, it is just a two-player game because even though there are a few decks of cards laying around the floor, no one really wants to join a game with these two gross creatures. Besides, Zaimokuza really wanted to feel like he was actually a Master General.
"So uh, Hachiman, do you think this is a waste of summer days?" Zaimokuza asked.
"To be honest, I'm not so sure." I replied while placing my knight at the board, setting up for my next attack.
"Hm, an interesting response. I expected you to say that you would rather be at home playing video games than being here."
"Funny, that's also what I thought of you... Checkmate."
It took several seconds before Zaimokuza processed what just transpired. For me, I was not really interested in winning because being bothered with it defeats the purpose of having fun. Yes, I admit that I had some fun playing shogi with Zaimokuza. Besides, it was not like we were good players or anything. We only know how the pieces move, not those strategy moves that also have some delusional names like they were in an anime or something. Maybe Zaimokuza has one but I have no way of identifying it.
"Wait, no! One more game! I promise I will beat you this time!" he complained.
"Why are you so agitated? You won the other round."
"That's what I'm talking about! We need a tiebreaker!"
"Sheesh, fine. There's no need to flail around."
In the end, I decided to play with him for this last time just because I do not want him to throw a fit. It's really annoying that we get to share this cabin with these people as it is, I do not want to cause another scene.
However, no matter how hard I try to keep the peace here, someone would eventually break it. Well, it was just a matter of time before Tobe ruins this invaluable quiet time with some random nonsense like-
"Guys, do you think that Ebina is kinda... cute?" Yep, just like that.
I thought Tobe liked Miura since he looked like he was trying so hard to gain her attention. Though it seems that he had no chance with her to begin with because it is pretty obvious that she is Hayama's girl repellant.
"Eh? I thought you liked the blonde one." I cannot help but voice out.
"Oh, I didn't notice you there, Hikitani-kun!" My eyes twitched with that comment from him. "But yeah, Yumiko is scary and Yui is kind of an airhead." I don't think you're in a position to say that.
Hm, that was interesting. I did not expect him to be that insightful about the actual dynamics of their group, even to such a superficial level. Just a while ago, their whole group was in shambles just from those series of strange chain e-mails. Well, good for them that they settled down after the solution I gave Hayama.
"That's not very nice of you, Tobe-kun." Totsuka reacted, more like a reprimand. I didn't notice him arrive.
"My bad. Yui is cute and all but there are plenty of guys who already have a thing for her, same with Yumiko. H- Ebina is more... you know, different." That's odd. Ebina is the only girl in his clique that he didn't address with her given name.
Eventually, the conversation went to become just Tobe and Hayama, with the former incessantly asking the latter who is the girl that he likes. Hayama became uncharacteristically irritated by the question and just settled for giving away the initials of the mystery girl which unsurprisingly is a "Y". There's a lot of that Y. Could be Yukinoshita and her sister, Miura, Yuigahama or whoever that unlucky girl is.
"Ahem! You're quite distracted, Hachiman."
And once again, my focus was directed back to the shogi board in front of me and my opponent.
"That's very bad for you Hachiman. I called the check earlier but you just ended up cornering yourself to my next attack!" Zaimokuza proudly declared like some anime genius. He even pushed his eyeglasses up with only his middle finger. What a chuunibyou.
"Well, I guess that's it. You win fair and square." I conceded.
"Was there any doubt? There's a reason why I'm your master." He said with a mock condescending tone. "Although I'm wondering something... What got you so distracted in our battle?"
"Tobe was pretty loud." I replied unenthusiastically.
"Really? I thought you also wanted to discuss girls you like. Speaking of which, do you have a girl you like?"
Of all the useless things that Tobe rambled about, he just had to choose that. Hayama was right to be irritated by this because this is just too annoying to discuss even if I truly have someone I like or not.
"I was rejected by many girls in middle school so technically, yes."
For some reason, both Zaimokuza and Totsuka were shocked by my response. After a few seconds, they calmed down and what was left of Zaimokuza's gaze was that of understanding and sympathy. He must have experienced the same. As for Totsuka, I do not know why he looked amazed at me.
"You truly are my comrade, Hachiman. As for my case, I only tried confessing once and it ended up a failure. Maybe I'll just stick to dating sims." This didn't really surprise me.
"I didn't know that you've already confessed to many girls before, Hachiman! As for me, I haven't confessed to any girl yet because for some reason, some girls just look at me with contempt." Because you're cuter than them even though you're a boy.
"It doesn't matter, it's all in the past now."
That was a bit of a gamble but I have successfully dodged the question. Well, I did not lie to them, just stated a safe truth but redirected the flow of the conversation to something not very related to the topic. Meh, it really is a lie basically.
"Come to think of it, I haven't seen you since the start of orienteering, Hachiman. Komachi-chan is worried about you, you know?" Totsuka inquired, a bit of worry in his tone. Komachi is worried about me. I almost thought she stopped caring for her poor Onii-chan.
"I-I see. Is she alright?"
"She's doing fine. She ended up mediating the fight between Yukinoshita-san and Miura-san."
Komachi is always a reliable girl. She may be a klutz sometimes but she always steps up to the game whenever it is necessary. Well, she did put up with me for so long- Wait, what?
"A fight? Shame I didn't see it." It would have been fun to see them verbally assault each other until one of them decides to throw hands. Yeah, that would be quite a sight indeed. "Why were they fighting in the first place?"
"We were just talking about Rumi-chan and how to help her. Miura-san offered a solution but Yukinoshita-san refuted it. Somehow, it escalated quickly which might lead to worse if not for Komachi-chan and Hayama-kun."
My irritation about Komachi's name being mentioned with Hayama aside, I am proud of her for doing the right thing. Fighting on equal terms is one thing, but watching a brutal one-sided humiliation is an experience I do not want anyone to have, even to Miura.
"That's good then. As for me, I was just chopping some firewood for the campfire tomorrow night because I was bored."
"Eh? You could've invited me to do it together. I was actually pretty bored during the afternoon."
There's no surprise there. Totsuka is a sporty gir- guy. Chopping wood and other physically straining activities are their idea of fun and pastime. What's surprising is that I was the one who did it.
"Well, there's only so much I could finish by myself in one afternoon. We might be required to finish it tomorrow."
I guess that's it. I'm very sleepy now and Zaimokuza is already asleep so he can't bother me anymore. After our conversation, Totsuka also immediately went to sleep, leaving the only person awake inside this cabin being myself.
To make sure I am comfortable in my sleep, I set my futon at the other corner, away from everyone else. After all that work, I do not need a direct proximity to Zaimokuza's snoring or Totsuka girly sleeping frame. That last one is just weird. All I need is a dreamless sleep that makes everything like a convenient time skip.
...
Setting up the campfire was faster than what they expected because of mine and Kuronuma's work yesterday. Now, only the guys were assigned to the campfire work while the girls were off to do some other things like preparing the costumes for the test of courage event.
As expected, most of them were having fun chopping and gathering wood because only Zaimokuza and I were not that much into sports. The other guy was also enjoying himself but he pretty much keeps to himself which is a good thing.
Since I already did my part in chopping wood yesterday, I decided to stack the large straight logs like I was playing a giant Jenga. Yeah, I am aware that one should play Jenga with someone else but I got used to doing it alone and doing so now for obvious reasons. The only difference in this game is that I will not remove even one of the logs on the stack. I do not want to risk my life over something as stupid as that because injuries will be the least of my concerns if these were to fall down on top of me.
After that, seeing that there is nothing left for me to do, I wandered around the forest to cool myself. I saw a beautiful and shallow river around here from the orienteering event yesterday and decided to go there.
When I found the river, what I was supposed to be doing was to admire the beauty of it because it really is beautiful. I can still see the small fishes swimming under the clear knee-high water. Under it was stones of varying sizes ranging from that of a marble to something bigger than a fist. It is clearly a well-maintained attraction.
However, what I found myself doing instead is staring at the woman with long black hair that almost went past her hips in length. I know at least three people with that length of hair but this time, I know exactly who she is.
"Kuronuma." I made my presence known to avoid startling her in the future.
"Hello, Hikigaya-kun." she greeted back with a simple nod.
I was not surprised that she found this river because there are subtle signboards pointing towards this direction, hinting that this is one of their minor attractions here. I am also not surprised that she was alone here.
"So uh, done with your side of the tasks?" I asked.
"Yes. The costumes only need some minor fixing. They then went back to the cabin, saying something about having fun elsewhere." she replied.
I also remember overhearing the boys being excited about something as well. Needless to say, I did not hear the rest of it because I immediately walked away from them after doing my part, which in hindsight is quite a dick move if I was their friend. Good thing they could not care less about me.
We then sat at the base of a nearby huge tree, taking shelter from its wide shade. The tree was just a few feet away from the shore of the shallow river that we can still observe its peaceful beauty. I can now see why this is the favored spot of the elementary schools for summer camps. I should have brought a can or two of MAX Coffee with me and this would have been a perfect place to wind up and relax.
"Um, Hikigaya-kun, do you think Tsurumi-chan is doing well right now?" Kuronuma asked after a long silence.
"To be honest, I have no idea. Still, it could be worse if you didn't tell her what you told her."
"I hope she's doing well."
"I hope so. Well in the sense that she would be satisfied in the closure that she got from her former friend. For all we know, they have already made up and are playing with each other as we speak." That was quite a mouthful.
An abrupt silence then envelops the whole conversation, as is often the case with us. I did not pay any mind to it as I then turned my attention to the relaxing sound of the shallow river flowing. It is like one of those forest ambience videos on YouTube, only that it is the real deal this time. It was a peaceful quality time I got to spend without the noises of normie activities.
Speaking of peaceful, I always find Kuronuma to be like that. It was as if she does not have any care in the world. But of course her not caring for her surroundings couldn't be more wrong. There are many things she cares about, from the wellbeing of Rumi-Rumi to those neglected flowers at the back of the special building back in Sobu. And yes, she is fidgety at times but that doesn't affect the grace that she unconsciously shows most of the time.
In the distance, I faintly heard some noises. They sounded like children, probably also here to explore this shallow river. Well, it was not like I owned the place so I was not really all that bothered sharing this unexpected sanctuary with them as long as they keep to themselves.
"Ah! There they are!" came the surprised voice of a familiar child.
I listlessly looked towards the direction of the voice. And there, I found Rumi-Rumi. Kuronuma was also excited upon seeing the child.
"Yo, Tsurumi." I lamely greeted her.
It took me a few moments to notice that there was someone with her this whole time. It was also a girl of her age. One thing I noticed is that the other girl is as gloomy-looking as Rumi-Rumi herself. Perhaps this is due to the fact that this one was also ostracized by the same group of normie eggs that ostracized Rumi.
Kuronuma was a bit embarrassed by the sudden crowd so she just smiled and waved shyly at the two children. Yes, four is a crowd, at least for me.
"These are, um... These are the people I told you about last night." Rumi told the other child.
The other child was at odds with what she saw in us. A highschool boy with scowling dead fish eyes and a literal look of a zashiki warashi at first glance. If Rumi described us as the ones who were friendly enough to encourage her to make amends with the new girl, it is very clear that we don't look reliable enough.
"I um, Hello, I am Ran." the girl introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kuronuma Sawako."
For some reason, the three of them immediately got along with each other. Well, the three of them looked very awkward with their shy interactions but they looked like they were enjoying themselves quite substantially. From my perspective, it looks like Kuronuma was out with her little sisters and she didn't know exactly what to do given their age gap.
I did not pay them much attention because it is just weird for a high school boy to watch elementary school girls play even if there is a high school girl with them. I already heard enough from Yukinoshita without actually doing anything devious.
Left with my lonesome, I played tic tac toe on my own using a stick to draw on the surface of the sand. I had tons of experience playing this when I was left alone on the playground while the other kids were playing together. If I remember correctly, my record in this game is two hundred eight wins with also two hundred eight losses, my win rate being an exact fifty percent.
"Hachiman!" I heard my name called. I snapped out of my daze and stood up from the shade of the tree.
"What is it, Tsurumi?"
"Can I take a picture of all four of us together?"
Well, that is surprising. By the looks of her, she does not seem to be the type who enjoys normie things like taking a photo with friends or something. Still, she has a digital camera dangling on her neck so there is that.
"Picture? I didn't know you were into that sort of thing."
"I'm not. It's just that Mom wants me to take a picture with my friends. I don't think she would be happy if I went home empty-handed." Friends? Did I miss any conversation that raised my relationship status with her?
"I also don't think your mother would like to see that you've made a friend with a suspicious high-schooler with dead fish eyes." I think I've gotten way too used to being insulted because of my eyes that I just also instinctively insulted myself.
"That's true..." You little-
"Oi, don't go affirming it on your own."
Somehow, this little exchange of ours had garnered unwarranted small chuckles from Kuronuma and the other little girl who is known as Ran. Well, at least some were happy about this whole exchange.
"Okay, give me your camera and I'll take a photo of you three."
And so, Rumi handed over the camera to me and they went to the edge of the river. Kuronuma sat down in the middle of Rumi and Ran, still looking as awkward as ever. The two kids attempted a peace sign pose which looked a bit odd due to how hesitant they were in doing so.
With a soft click, I took the picture and it turned out not too bad considering I do not really know how to take a picture properly. It was clear and the image was as balanced as I could make it to be. The scenery was already beautiful to begin with so I could not do much to ruin it even if I wanted to.
I handed the digital camera back to Rumi. She browsed the recently captured photos and to my surprise, she was actually satisfied with it. I guess it was to be expected since she did not really have much of a choice on the matter. It was either that or she would settle for a weird group picture with me polluting the image with my eyes, which is never a great idea.
"Do you think that's enough for your mother?" I asked Rumi.
"I hope so. She didn't tell me how many friends I should take a picture with. Adding more is just me lying to her." she replied, trying to hide a smile on her face.Try to act cool all you want but you actually enjoy looking at that photo, kid. How sweet... "And Hachiman?"
"What is it?"
"Thank you for not deleting the earlier photos." she looked at me with a bit of a sly smile.
I did not know something about earlier photos because I did not bother looking at them, let alone deleting them. That is absolutely none of my business and it is just plain wrong to mess with others' files.
"As if I would do that. What do you take me for?"
The only response she gave me was the screen of the camera showing a picture of two teenagers sitting beside each other under a tree. They both have a listless expression with the male one having a dead fish eyes-
"When did you take that?" I asked as I instinctively reached out to the camera. What a stupid question. Of course she took it moments before approaching us
Rumi immediately stepped back and brought the camera away from me. There was a look on her face that I do not quite understand but something about it tells me that I should not force her to delete the photo. Besides, she does not have any motive to do harm to me using it and it was kind of my fault for not taking a picture with them.
The hand that I used to attempt to reach out to the camera moved up to instead reach towards her head and patted it. For some reason, she reminded me of younger Komachi although the latter is not in any way as gloomy as Rumi is at this age.
"Ok fine. It's not like you would share that with everyone you'd meet."
For some reason, instead of being disgusted by actions, Rumi just looked down. She was probably embarrassed by the gesture, a slight blush on her pale face being an indication.
Out of courtesy, I immediately retracted my hands and internally chastised myself for doing such a forward thing to someone who is practically a stranger. I probably looked like a normie who does not know the meaning of personal space. Ugh, disgusting.
"Thank you, Hachiman."
The only response I managed to make was a nod. It seems that I just made the atmosphere awkward. That is one of my 108 skills by the way.
I looked around to distract myself. My eyes landed on Kuronuma and Ran, the former wearing the second brightest smile I had ever seen from her. She must be very happy that her desired outcome for Rumi and Ran came true. Well, I also hoped for the best for her yesterday but not to the extent that Kuronuma did.
I cannot help but return a small smile to her, hoping that it would not look like my usual creepy grin that Yuigahama always complains about.
Shortly after, the two kids decided to play by themselves but still remained at the riverbank. I and Kuronuma both went back to the tree where we took a shade earlier even though we did not verbally confirm in doing such.
When I sat back, I saw Kuronuma looking at the strange drawings on the sand. There is a look of curiosity and eagerness in her eyes.
As for how I know what her facial expressions mean even though her very facial expressions are so blank to the point of ostracizing her, well, I cannot explain it but it just happens. I know, not being able to explain how things happen is unbecoming of a monster of logic. But then again, the title itself is ironic to the fact that I am terrible at mathematics.
"Um, Hikigaya-kun, was this the one you've been scribbling on the ground earlier?" she asked.
"Yes, I was playing tic tac toe by myself while you girls were occupied."
I may have revealed unnecessary knowledge about myself by saying that I play multiplayer games by myself.
However, it seems that she does not mind it all that much as opposed to when I say such things to the club and basically everywhere else. As what she indirectly said with her look, she was just curious about why I did such a thing.
"I see. C-Can I play with you? I never tried playing it with someone else." she asked shyly.
Just as I suspected. It seems that I am getting better at reading her actions and ending up guessing correctly. Well, I have a lot of practice dealing with nonverbal communications only through observing others. I just hope that I am actually getting better at it instead of just being overly presumptuous and getting some lucky guesses here and there.
"If it makes you feel any better, I haven't played it with anyone also. So, yes."
I guess my win rate would not be a perfect 50 percent anymore.