Ichinose didn't doubt it, she took a handful of rice and put it into her mouth.
"I guess it's about me?"
"Ah, about the same..."
"Can you tell me?"
"Hmm~ Are you sure?"
"Tell me, tell me."
"Ok."
Having been pushed to this point, Wu Yi did not want to be polite any longer and simply repeated verbatim what Long Yuan had said in the dormitory on the first night, observing the subtle changes on the girl's face from beginning to end.
But what surprised him was that after listening to the retelling, Ichinose Hoba did not immediately show an expression of confusion or disbelief. Instead, she was stunned on the spot, with a hint of...panic in her eyes?
Volume 220: Chapter Girl, You Are Not Saved
"Well, don't take it too seriously. It's just Ryuuen's nonsense. No one in our dormitory took it seriously."
Pretending not to notice the change in the girl's expression, Wu Yi continued speaking.
"By the way, there are those two from your class... uh, I think their names are Mori Ren and Tokiyama. They came to defend you."
"……Eh?"
When she heard those incongruous words, Ichinose Hoba was stunned for a moment, then she came to her senses and shook her head quickly.
"No, Wu Yi, you remembered it wrong. Those are Moriyama and Tokito."
"Oh, that's Moriyama and Tokito."
Without hesitating too much about the name, Wu Yi agreed immediately.
He has always had a good memory, and he made a mistake here on purpose so that Ichinose could quickly get back to his senses.
After all, if it was only a brief moment, it could be considered as not noticing.
But if you have been staring at it for two or three seconds and then pretend to know nothing, it would be too deliberate and no one except a fool would believe it.
"Anyway, Ichinose, you can take a look at it and play truth or dare or draw joker cards. Actually, we wanted to play Werewolf yesterday, but unfortunately we were interrupted by Nanyun, so we can only play it tonight."
"Werewolf... ah, that's right. I'll ask them if they want to play after we get back."
Ichinose nodded absentmindedly and agreed.
The lunch was not too slow, both parties were talking while eating at a normal pace, and there was no so-called shopping mall in Linjian School, so there was no chance of having afternoon tea after lunch.
There was nothing to do, so the only option left was to go back to the dorm.
Twenty minutes later, at the cafeteria entrance, the girl with long pink hair waved to Wu Yi.
"Thank you for having lunch with me. I'll go back now."
"Okay, see you later."
Without any unnecessary attempts to retain, Wu Yi chose the simplest farewell words.
Since the main and secondary buildings are located on opposite sides of the cafeteria, the routes taken by the two people to return to the dormitory are also completely opposite.
After saying goodbye to Wu Yi and leaving the cafeteria, Ichinose walked for a long distance, turned two corners, and stopped at the bottom of an empty teaching building. He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that no one was following him.
But it was only a "slight" relief.
The heavy feeling still lingers in my heart.
As if all his strength had been quickly drained from his body, Ichinose staggered slightly, and then leaned against the wall next to the classroom door with a weak body.
She looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and the usual energetic and lovely smile on her face gradually disappeared, replaced by a fragile look that no one had ever seen before.
An unforgivable dark history... eh?
It's so ironic. I had clearly sworn in my heart at that time that no matter what happened in the future, I would never escape the sin I committed because of "greed".
But why... when I heard classmate Wu Yi say it herself, I still felt palpitations and uneasiness.
It was just like a mole that was dragged out of its hole and exposed to the sun.
As expected, I still can't face it head-on just by myself...
Sighing softly, Ichinose shook his head vigorously, patted his cheeks with both hands to loosen up his stiff muscles, straightened up, changed direction and continued walking slowly.
It's time to go back to the dormitory.
"Ah! Ichinose-san is finally back!"
In the girls' dormitory, Manabe, who was lying on the upper bunk facing the door, immediately raised his voice when he saw Ichinose Honami coming back from outside.
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire dormitory seemed to have heard the starting gun at the track and field stadium. All eyes turned to him in unison, staring like a group of hungry wolves seeing fat meat.
Or a gossip reporter who saw the tidbits.
"Uh...eh? What's wrong?"
Ichinose was startled by the scene and subconsciously raised his hands.
But no one answered.
After a brief collective silence, probably realizing that their reaction was a bit too exaggerated, the girls turned their heads back, saying it was nothing and continuing to do what they were doing.
The atmosphere in the dormitory seemed a little weird for a while.
After a while, Takeko Nishino on the other side of the bed raised her head and asked casually.
"By the way, has Ichinose ever had a boyfriend before?"
"Boyfriend?"
Ichinose didn't overreact to this question, but just thought about it very seriously.
"Uh... it may be embarrassing to say this, but I have never been in a relationship."
"No way? She's so popular, are her requirements too high?" Takeko Nishino asked curiously.
Ichinose hesitated for a moment: "No... To be honest, I don't know why."
"So, do you have a boy you like now?"
Three questions in a row, one after another, until the truth is revealed.
"Eh……"
Being pressed so hard, even though they were all unimportant questions, Ichinose became a little nervous for some reason.
"So, Nishino-san, are you guys gossiping?"
"No! This is simply spying on the enemy!"
Spying on...the enemy?
The pink-haired girl was a little confused.
Manabe Shiho began to count them one by one on her fingers.
"Look, Ichinose-san is pretty, has a good figure, is academically competent, and is one of the most popular girls in school. If she has someone she likes, the rest of us will definitely not be able to snatch her away. Instead of struggling and then finding out that it's all in vain, it's better to give up early..."
It's all in vain and giving up early, are you so pessimistic?
Ichinose thought.
Manabe Shiho's voice rang out again.
"So, tell me the truth quickly, does Ichinose-san already have someone he likes?"
"This...it seems that there really isn't one."
Ichinose Honami speaks the truth.
This was indeed the truth. Not to mention that she had never been in a relationship before entering this school, even after entering the school, she had been busy managing the class. She had already done her best just to maintain unity and harmony within the class and resist attacks from other classes. How could she have the time to have a relationship?
"What about the boys you're more interested in?" Manabe Shiho asked persistently.
“No…right?”
"What about classmate Wu Yi?"
"……what?"
Since it involved specific names, Ichinose was a little caught off guard.
Nanami Yabuna and Saki Yamashita, who were listening at the side, couldn't help but sigh softly.
"Manabe, that idiot..."
Asking this kind of question when two people have just had dinner together is like admitting one's guilt. There's no way you can get the answer by asking this kind of question.
But when almost everyone thought so, Ichinose showed an expression of serious thinking.
"Indeed, Wu Yi gives people the feeling that she is very strong, powerful, and gentle... maybe a little bit, anyway, she gives people a very reliable feeling... Eh? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Volume 221: Chapter Let's Fight
Saturday is a half-day of classes, and Sunday is a full day of rest.
After a weekend that could be described as extremely boring compared to the usual school days, Monday came in a blink of an eye.
Currently, the entire training camp is halfway through. Including Monday, there are only three days left to prepare until the final assessment day on Thursday.
The learning task for the boys today is very simple. It doesn’t even matter whether they study or not. They just need to walk.
That’s right, it means walking with your legs, or it can also be called the 11th Road.
It was 7:30 in the morning and the location was behind Linjian School.
The bright but not scorching morning sunlight shone through the gaps between the trees and fell on the mountain path. Onodera, holding a document, was arranging the content of this morning's classes.
"Listen carefully. Your task for this morning is to do a complete cross-country operation in small groups. Start from here and walk along the route on the map. When you reach the end, return the same way. The total distance is 18 kilometers. At the turning point, other teachers will be responsible for roll call. Only those who have completed the roll call and returned here will be considered to have completed this morning's assignment."
"Ten... eighteen kilometers. It's so long..."
Some people feel a little uneasy when they hear this length.
Indeed, in school, running usually ends at 800,000 meters. It is basically impossible to run longer than that. Even if there is a race, it is usually in the form of a relay.
Just like at the sports festival.
But that’s only 1,200 meters.
But now this number has been suddenly increased to 18 kilometers, which is a bit beyond the scope no matter how you think about it.
"It's not an exaggeration, because you don't need to run the whole way. You have a whole morning, so you can walk the whole way."
Onodera glanced at the student who spoke.
"One more thing, don't complain, because this is an item that will be included in the final test score. If you can't even do the 18-kilometer round trip in the morning, the entire group will fail the final test."
"This...does the final assessment also require a round trip of eighteen kilometers?"
"Don't worry, that's not the case."
Onodera shook his head and continued to explain.
"Although the final test is also 18 kilometers long and the route is the same as what you are going to do today, it will be conducted in the form of a group relay. There will be a school van to pick you up at the relay point. If you are in a group of ten, each person will only be responsible for two kilometers at most. Today, we have you walk 18 kilometers to test the waters and to familiarize you with the route."
"I see……"
Upon hearing that the final assessment would be conducted in a relay format, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
You have to know that what this awesome school likes most is to let students roll in, the kind of roll that makes them roll to death.
It would be fine if it was a 50-meter or 100-meter race at a sports meet, but if everyone ran 18 kilometers in one breath, I'm afraid everyone would have to crawl across the finish line.
That would really cost lives.
"If you understand everything, you can set off now. The earlier you go, the earlier you can return. Remember to be safe on the road."
After briefly explaining some commonplace safety issues, Onodera signaled the students that they could set off directly.
The starting point was quite a distance away from the forest school. No one talked much on the way and the atmosphere was a little silent. Moriyama turned his head and looked around.
"Eighteen kilometers...ah, I can walk, but can I really walk this long distance in one morning?"
"it should be no problem."
The person who answered the phone was his classmate Shi Ren.
"Normally, an adult walks at a speed of about four to six kilometers per hour. A compromise is five kilometers per hour, so eighteen kilometers will take at most four hours. If we start walking now, we can walk until eleven-thirty and be back in time for lunch."
