Chapter 174 – To the Camp

On a bright and early Friday morning, all of the second years of Shirakawa High were in the front courtyard waiting for the buses to come and pick them up.

Each and every student had their backpacks filled with essential things that they needed in order to survive the weekend-long camping trip.

Takei probably would've only came with the clothes on his back if he had the choice, but he luckily came prepared due to Akari's influence.

I don't really understand why I need an entire house worth of stuff in my backpack, but I'll just trust Akari for now.

"How are you two faring?" Takei asked the two other boys in the group.

"Could be better," Eiji shrugged. "I went to bed really late last night because I got addicted to this new dating sim game."

"Isn't that completely your fault then?" Ryuto asked. "As for me, I'm feeling really excited to go on an overnight trip with everyone else."

The atmosphere of the school was very similar to the atmosphere that the three boys were exerting.

More or less everyone was excited to go on the camping trip that would span almost the entire weekend.

"...And then Takei told me that he was planning on bringing only a few things, which made me really surprised!"

"Classic Takei, huh? He hasn't changed from his roots."

"Takeichi's such a goofball sometimes, that's why he's lucky that you're there for him!"

From afar, Takei could hear Akari happily chat with the other girls in the friend group.

It made him happy to see her getting along with other girls when Akari used to be so detached from everyone else.

A true shift from the goddess personality to her normal girl personality was what ended up helping Akari break the chains of the goddess persona.

For that, Takei was truly happy to see her flourish.

"The buses are here! Everyone please line up in single-file order and promptly get in!" One of the teachers yelled.

For some odd reason when the teachers announced that the buses had arrived, everyone near Takei and Akari put some distance from them and moved away.

It was almost as if they were yelling at the two to get a room together, or in this case, get a seat together on the bus.

This is definitely just a part of my imagination, right?

Being completely oblivious to his surroundings, Takei moved over to Akari to sit with her on the bus.

"How is everything going? Are you doing alright?" Takei worriedly asked.

If you hadn't realized it already, Takei was a big worrywart when it came to his loved ones.

He was anxious that Akari would be feeling some type of stress from this field trip, whether it be from the stress of preparing for the trip or the stress of social interactions.

"I'm doing just fine, thanks for asking," Akari gently smiled as she placed a hand on his back to reassure him. "I should be the one asking you if you're going to be okay. It's going to be a while before you can have any of your special private time to yourself."

"I'll be fine, I have you after all. Nothing else matters if I have you," Takei shyly admitted.

Akari noticed that Takei was blushing a bit, which almost would've triggered her sadistic teasing side if they weren't about to get onto the bus.

Once it was their turn, Takei and Akari boarded the school bus and sat down on some empty seats.

""Ah...""

Conveniently enough, there was a familiar person sitting in the seat across from them.

"We saw each other again, huh? Even with multiple different buses, we managed to board the same one. Is it destiny?"

"I'm going to get killed if you keep on fueling the misunderstanding..."

Yes, the person that was sitting across from them was the girl that had helped Takei out a few days ago.

"This is Hasebe, she helped me with shopping a few days ago. So I'm indebted to her, haha..." Takei nervously said.

"Is that so?" Akari suspiciously eyed the new girl.

"Oh crap... Hey Ike, wake up already! I'm about to get killed!" Hasebe frantically shook the boy that was snoring next to her.

"Huh, what's happening?"

The boy, Ike, had finally woken up from his short nap.

"Ahaha, this is my boyfriend, Ike. See see? I'm happily taken and wouldn't think of stealing anyone else's boyfriend. Hey Takei, can you tell her for me?!" Hasebe frantically tried to explain.

Akari's tense expression lightened up immensely once she saw that Hasebe had a boyfriend, which made introductions much easier.

Hasebe and Akari were introduced to each other, while Takei was introduced to Ike.

He had already somewhat known of Ike since Takei would occasionally see him practicing for the boy's basketball team.

What an absurdly athletic couple!

From the very short and minimal interactions that Takei had with Ike, he could tell that Ike was a gentle and kind person.

Takei could also tell that Ike was a man of few words, as evident by his short responses.

Even if his voice was a bit deep and face a bit menacing, Ike was definitely a good person underneath that rough exterior.

After socializing for a bit, Hasebe brought up an interesting topic that would be perfect for the four of them.

"How about we have a double date during our stay at the camp?"

Takei looked over to Akari and saw that she was visibly excited by the idea. "No objections from us. Let's plan this out later when we have some free time."

"Mhm, that's a promise!" Hasebe happily nodded.

It seems that this little camping trip will be a lot more fun than I thought.

—

Go Explode! Idiot Couple Meter: 82 -> 84%

I love me some possessive waifus.

Serious-san: Don't we all?

Sugar-chan: Yes yes, duly noted.