COTE : Oh No, I've Become the Substitute

The next day, beside a small stream not far from the cave campsite.

"Haah~"

Fuyuji Mikage, dark circles rimming his eyes, fishing rod in hand, propped his cheek up and let out a long, drawn-out yawn.

"Um... are you alright?"

Seated beside him, Kamuro Masumi stared at the drowsy, half-asleep Fuyuji. Squirming and fidgeting, she reminded him.

"You've yawned who knows how many times today already. If you're sleepy, just go to sleep."

"A minor issue. Just didn't sleep too well last night, that's all..."

Fuyuji forced his spirits up and managed a strained smile, then lowered his head and resumed fishing.

What had originally been just one kiss—Fuyuji, by the end, had completely lost track of exactly how many kisses it had been.

In any case, he had definitely come out at a loss. Shiraishi Asuka had kissed him even more times.

Wait, no... had he really come out at a loss?

Fuyuji felt that his cerebral IQ had dropped by just a tiny bit.

Forget it.

The Grandmaster of Arithmetic, Fuyuji, decided to set this problem aside for now.

In summary, the final result was that Fuyuji, who had originally been unable to sleep, after returning to camp, was even more unable to sleep!

Shiraishi, on the other hand—after roll call, she had gone back to catch up on sleep with a smiling, radiant face. One glance was enough to tell she had slept very soundly.

Plop!

The fishhook dropped into the surface of the stream, drifting along with the current, tracing several fine, delicate ripples.

Having sat here in desolate futility for twenty minutes already, still utterly empty-handed, Kamuro voiced, for the fourth time, the protest of the exploited laborer.

"Why did you call me out to do this kind of boring thing? Can't you just find me some proper, serious work for once?"

Fishing, as the name implied, was waiting for the fish to hang themselves!

While people fished, the fish also toyed with the people. This entire experience, applied to Kamuro, was sheer, absolute, king-level torture!

"Stay calm, Pal. This is, right now, the most important work. The reason I called you here to fish is because I trust you the most. Our Pal Duo will surely triumph over the opposing Morishita-Yamamura Duo."

Fuyuji, like an old monk deep in meditation, sat cross-legged by the riverside, both eyes tightly shut, looking as though he might drift into slumber at any moment.

"But the other side just caught another fish." Kamuro reminded him, her face perfectly expressionless.

"Nani!"

Fuyuji's eyes snapped open abruptly. Staring at the grass carp thrashing and flopping wildly on the fishhook across the way, his expression instantly collapsed. With a face full of shock and alarm, he cried out. "Pal! Put in more effort! We're still two fish behind the other side! Otherwise, we're going to lose!"

"#!"

Kamuro's fist clenched tight. A surge of fiery anger blazed straight upward. "Does this kind of thing even matter?!"

"Shh—! You'll scare the fish away."

Fuyuji made a silencing gesture and spoke with incredulous disbelief. "How could it not matter? If we lose, we'll have to be the ones responsible for grilling the fish. Can you do it, or can I?"

Although Chef Fuyuji was brimming with confidence regarding his future culinary prowess, after enduring consecutive rounds of merciless beatdowns during this period, he felt that this one-in-a-million culinary prodigy still needed a bit more time to settle and mature.

The irritated, exasperated expression on Kamuro's face froze. Silently, she unclenched her fist and redirected her gaze back toward the stream's surface.

Fine...

Much as she hated to admit it, she was indeed utterly clueless when it came to grilling fish.

"Bro, the current situation is very clear."

Fuyuji stared gravely at Morishita Ai, who stood across the way, arms akimbo, looking immensely pleased with herself. He began to analyze the current state of affairs.

"We're only two fish behind the opponent. As long as we each catch one, we can instantly tie the score. Then we can make the other side do the grilling. Let me tell you—Yamamura's cooking is really delicious..."

As he spoke, Fuyuji couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, as if that golden, crispy, fragrant grilled fish were already right before his eyes.

"But..." Kamuro lowered her head, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Up to this point... we haven't caught a single one, have we?"

"Ahem."

Fuyuji's face twitched with embarrassment. Straightening his expression, he declared. "It can't be helped. The other side has Yamamura. Those fish just act like they don't even see her, and stupidly bite right onto the hook in one go."

"..."

Kamuro pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a long sigh. "Couldn't you all just find some other activity to kill time? Or find someone else to do this?"

These three oddballs entertaining themselves was one thing. But whenever they ran into a three-missing-one situation, they immediately dragged her over to fill the gap.

"Wasn't it because I saw you were far too bored and thought I'd find something for you to do?"

On a deserted island utterly devoid of any entertainment facilities or books, even Fuyuji, who frequently wandered and roamed around the school, was bored out of his mind. Let alone Kamuro, who sought thrills and would, from time to time, run off to deploy her Divine Thief ultimate technique.

If he didn't find something for her to do soon, those restless little hands of hers would start itching and stirring again.

"Hmph hmph!"

Not far away, diagonally across the small stream, Morishita planted her hands on her hips and raised her little face high, launching a frenzied barrage of provocations in this direction.

"Fuyuji Mikage! You're about to lose big time! You may now consider surrendering to Morishita-sama. If you do, I'll only count it as half a loss!"

How could this be tolerated?!

Morishita Ai—it truly has been a long time since I've seen you provoke me this arrogantly. The last time you were this arrogant was yesterday!

"Don't get cocky. A mere gap of two fish—my pal and I will immediately—"

The fishing rod across the way was hoisted up with a sharp swoosh. Accompanied by scattering droplets of water, a grass carp over a dozen centimeters long thrashed and struggled ceaselessly on the line.

Fuyuji stared silently at the grass carp leaping and dancing under the sunlight, and continued his stubborn bluster.

"Don't get cocky. A mere three fish. As long as I get serious, I'll catch up immediately."

"Fuyuji Mikage hasn't caught a single fish."

"Haven't you also not caught a single fish? You're just mooching off Yamamura's glory."

"Fuyuji Mikage hasn't caught a single fish."

"Fish alone—compared to the over one hundred supply points I saved for the class, it's practically a drop in the bucket."

"Fuyuji Mikage hasn't caught a single fish."

"￥@￥#%￥!%"

...

Five minutes later, illusory bravado had ultimately succumbed to the crushing blow of reality.

Having been directly angered into full alertness by Morishita, Fuyuji returned to his fishing spot in a huff of righteous indignation.

Damn it all. A mere Morishita Ai—clearly just like me, she hasn't caught a single fish either—yet she's so arrogant just because she's teamed up with Yamamura!

Just as Fuyuji was contemplating whether to deploy a bit of supernatural power and teach that Morishita a lesson she wouldn't forget—

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps—athletic shoes trampling through the grass—came from within the forest. In no time at all, several of Class A's classmates who had been out on reconnaissance burst forth from the tree line.

After roughly sweeping their gazes around a few times and confirming there were no students from other classes nearby, Takemoto Shigeru steadied his breathing and quickly walked over to Fuyuji's side. He spoke in a low voice.

"Fuyuji-san. There's been a sudden development. One of the classes—last night, their entire class returned to the cruise ship."

Fuyuji raised an eyebrow. "Class C?"

"No!" Takemoto furrowed his brow and spoke in a grave, solemn tone.

"It's Class D!"

Class D?!

Fuyuji looked at the fishing rod in his hand, then looked at the three fish caught on the other side. Without any hesitation, he decisively set the rod down and rose to his feet.

"Sudden situation—the match is temporarily suspended! We'll compete again next time! Morishita Ai, count yourself lucky. I'll let you off this once!"

Without even waiting for a reply from the other side, Fuyuji immediately seized Kamuro and slipped away, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

The very next second, a voice, hopping with indignant fury, came chasing straight after Fuyuji.

"Fuyuji Mikage! You shameless, cheating scoundrel!"

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