At Nao's camp.
Nishimori Yusa was eating the grilled fish in her hand when she slowly raised her head and asked Nao.
"Um... I want to take a bath."
Hearing this, Nao immediately retorted, "Huh? You can't even hold out for a day?"
Yusa scratched her head awkwardly and gave a sheepish smile in response.
However, Jojiro was not happy about this. As a die-hard fan of Nishimori Yusa, he couldn't just sit back and watch in this situation.
"What are you talking about?! Yuzurin is a top idol! Of course, she needs to maintain her hygiene!"
Nao waved her hand dismissively. "I asked her, not you. Also, maybe wipe the blush off your face before speaking."
Jojiro, completely exposed by Nao, showed no shame at all. Instead, he excitedly rubbed his nose.
"This is what a starstruck fan looks like? So gross..."
Nao threw out a snide remark before turning to Yusa, putting down the grilled fish in her hand.
"Don't worry, I already made preparations. Follow me."
"Boys are not allowed to come!"
"No, no, no!!"
"Disgusting!"
Nao kicked Jojiro away and then led Yusa to the place she had prepared.
Before long, they arrived at the riverbank.
Nao pointed her sharp chin toward a large rock by the river and said to Yusa, who stood beside her.
"There, go ahead. I'll keep an eye on that crazy fanboy."
"Huh?"
Although confused, Yusa still walked behind the large rock. But the moment she stepped in, she slowly backed out again.
"What's wrong? I know it's a bit of a makeshift, but just make do with it."
Yusa shook her head. "It's not that... there's nothing here."
"That's impossible."
Saying that, Nao walked over to Yusa's side.
"I put it here today...?? Where's my metal bucket?"
Nao stared at the now empty spot, eyes widening in shock.
Earlier that day, she had scavenged a discarded metal bucket to heat water for bathing.
Before dinner, she had placed it here to heat the water. According to her calculations, by the time they finished eating, it would be just right for a bath.
But now, forget about the bath—there wasn't even a bucket left! How were they supposed to wash up?
"Someone actually stole this?"
Nao crouched down to examine the scene for any clues. Since no one lived on this mountain, the number of possible suspects was limited.
Jojiro, Hakuto, and the guy with flight ability.
But Jojiro didn't have time to commit the crime, so he could be ruled out.
The one with flight ability wanted to stay as far away from Nao as possible, so he could also be mostly ruled out.
Which meant... There was only one suspect left.
"That bastard, Shiratori Hakuto!"
"Huh? Did Nao just say Shiratori's name?"
"He's the one who caught the grilled fish you're eating..."
Nao stood up and turned toward Hakuto's camp.
"Daring to take my things."
Without hesitation, she stormed across the narrow bridge toward the other side of the river.
"Huh? Where are you going?"
Yusa still hadn't figured out what was going on. She originally wanted to follow, but after glancing at the narrow bridge, she gave up.
"So annoying!"
The next second, Kurobane Misa suddenly took over! Possessing Yusa's body, she immediately followed Nao.
Meanwhile, Hakuto remained completely unaware that he had been labeled as a thief by Nao.
He was still locked in a battle of wills with Ginko.
"Ginko... when I said 'must win'... this isn't what I meant..."
Hakuto looked at the shogi board that Ginko had somehow produced, his face filled with helplessness.
Sometimes, he seriously suspected that Ginko had a four-dimensional pocket just like him. The only difference was that his pocket contained notebooks, while hers contained shogi boards.
"Either way, you don't have a better solution."
Ginko sat across the board, casually playing with her folding fan as she motioned for Hakuto to sit down.
Seeing this, Hakuto tried to resist one last time. But the uncompromising look on Ginko's face made it clear that his struggles were futile.
The reason they were suddenly playing shogi was simple—Hakuto had casually mentioned that there was only one tent, so he could sleep on a tree branch.
Originally, he had just wanted to see what Ginko thought about it, but her reaction was extreme.
She immediately pulled out a shogi board and declared that they would settle this with a match.
If Ginko won, Hakuto had to sleep in the tent with her.
If Hakuto won, then he could do as he pleased and sleep wherever he wanted.
The moment he heard this proposal, Hakuto's expression froze.
He had only said it offhandedly—he hadn't expected Ginko to take it so seriously!
"Is winning here a good thing or a bad thing...?"
The ultimate dilemma for any shogi player.
If they played a serious one-on-one match, Hakuto was guaranteed to win. But that would mean losing something else.
On the other hand, if he deliberately lost, wouldn't that reveal another truth? Damn... Hakuto felt like he was about to be completely devoured.
So what should he do? Winning wasn't an option, but losing wasn't either...
"Hurry up."
Hearing Ginko urge him on, Hakuto sighed helplessly and sat down across from her.
Looking at Ginko, he wondered how he could lose in the most natural way possible.
After all, that was his only acceptable option.
So he humbly asked Ginko, "Do you want to go first?"
"Let's decide randomly."
Hearing Ginko's reply, Hakuto maintained his smile as he slowly picked up a piece, preparing to determine the first move by flipping it.
He didn't plan to cheat—it wasn't his style.
In the end, Ginko got the first move.
However, even with this advantage, she quickly fell behind.
Hakuto looked at the board, nearly on the verge of tears. He really didn't want to win! He wanted to lose naturally!
But there was no helping it—the skill gap was just too big! No matter how much he tried to hold back, it wasn't enough. And throwing the game too obviously wasn't an option either.
Watching Ginko hesitate over her next move, Hakuto shook his head and sighed.
"Forget it, I'm feeling sleepy."
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