Chapter 264: A Low-Class Spirit Not Worth Capturing

On the corridor outside the forest school's zazen hall, Fuyuji Mikage and the others, having finished their seated meditation training, filed out one after another.

"Damn it. A Kansai old-timer even more rigid than our demonic teacher." Fuyuji rubbed his shoulder and muttered darkly. "This is experience personally tested by the world's number one psychic master. No wonder humanity hasn't evolved. It's all you old geezers misleading everyone."

That damned rigid Showa-era old man actually carried a long wooden ruler, walking back and forth among everyone's seats like an ancient sword-bearing samurai. If he caught a student distracted, he would strike their shoulder without mercy.

"Hey! You two up front, walking so fast, rushing to be reborn?!" A voice, fierce in tone but obviously lacking in strength, came weakly from behind.

Class C's shadow director, Komiya Kyogo, braced himself against the corridor wall. His legs trembled as if filled with lead as he shuffled forward. The muscles of his face were twisted into a mask of pure suffering.

A look back showed the others weren't much better off.

Those who hadn't joined last night's pillow fight were fine, barely able to keep pace. The other participants looked okay at a glance, following behind in a group.

In reality, every one of them walked with their heads down in silence, legs shaking uncontrollably like sifting chaff, gritting their teeth and forcing themselves to hold on. Sweat dripped from their temples down their cheeks, and every so often they'd muster up the energy to mock each other.

Intense exercise yesterday plus half an hour of sitting motionless in zazen. It felt like a hundred consecutive frog jumps followed by a hundred squats, and then waking up the next day unable to even get down the stairs. That kind of exquisite soreness.

"Hahaha, sorry, everyone. I don't intend to waste my beautiful time here. Whether to do something or not is for me to decide. Goodbye~"

Kouenji Rokusuke glanced at the crowd behind him, planted his hands on his hips, let out a hearty laugh, and then with a twist of his head, leaped. His figure vanished from the spot like the wind, leaving only a few leaves swirling up in the air current.

Fuyuji: "..."

A... a Naruto shunshin? Why was this guy's exit animation always so magical?

After a brief moment of thought, Fuyuji decided to put the question out of his mind. He mimicked Kouenji's tone, closed his eyes, and spread both hands.

"Sorry, everyone. As for me, I feel the forest calling me. So I'll be going ahead."

With that, not waiting for anyone to react, he slipped away in a flash, neatly disappearing around the corner of the corridor, leaving behind a group of students grimacing.

"Your Class A has this kind of person too? Katsuragi must... have it rough, huh?"

In the crowd, Ryuen Kakeru came over, dragging the same aching steps but forcing himself to look unaffected. A gloating smile hung on his face as he chuckled.

"Yeah," Hashimoto Masayoshi let out a long sigh and silently lowered his head, his lips pressed into a thin line. "Katsuragi often can't find him. At the start of the school year, those dozens of our class points were all deducted because of him."

"Katsuragi is fine in every respect, just too merciful. If it were me... hmph!" Ryuen let out a cold laugh and didn't continue.

"You're right..." Hashimoto's low voice came. "But if it's something important, as long as Katsuragi asks, he usually won't refuse."

"That's because compared to Kouenji Rokusuke, that guy's talent is nothing special. I'm afraid the reason he came to this group is also because Katsuragi wanted to keep this unstable factor—huh?"

Ryuen, halfway through shifting his position, paused. He realized that Hashimoto, who had just been beside him, had suddenly vanished. He stopped in surprise and turned his head.

"Why did you stop walking?"

His gaze dropped. There was Hashimoto, now sitting on the floor in a completely undignified heap, both hands clutching his stomach, his head pressed deep against the floor, his whole body curled up, hiding his facial expression, motionless.

"Um... my legs went numb..." A suppressed voice came from the floor.

For a brief moment, Ryuen was stunned. Then he burst out into hearty laughter that echoed through the zazen hall.

"Hahaha, Hashimoto, you bastard, you're way too weak!"

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Fuyuji, having taken the chance to slip away from the group, wandered around the school. The entire forest school had railings only around the few dangerous spots. Everything else was lush, winter-withered forest. There were almost no cameras.

In the winter forest, the sun rose, its color pale, without much warmth. Sunlight leaked through the sparse branches, strand by strand, falling slantwise on the withered yellow grass, forming pale golden patches of light. As the cold wind stirred the branches into faint movement, the light patches swayed and shifted gently on the ground.

He stepped on thick layers of fallen leaves and dry grass, producing a fine, crisp rustling sound, again and again. His footsteps echoed through the woods.

Suddenly, the regular rustling stopped abruptly.

Fuyuji halted. He stood on a fork in the path half-hidden by weeds, silently looking at a crude notice board nailed to an old pine tree.

[Beware of wild boars on the mountain. Do not take this path.]

Then he twisted his head and looked toward a babbling brook about thirty meters away.

A battle-scarred wild boar, close to two meters long by the look of it, with one of its gleaming tusks already broken off, stood on the opposite bank of the brook. Its massive head was lowered, snorting as it gulped the icy stream water.

"..."

Don't you think it's a bit late to put this board up here?

In that moment, Fuyuji briefly wondered if Advanced Nurturing had already blown through today's budget in advance. The uninhabited island special exam had at least provided a life-signs monitoring locator. Now they just dropped the students at a forest school and called it done.

Just then, the boar on the opposite bank seemed to sense the strange gaze. Its drinking stopped abruptly. It raised its head alertly, its murky, ferocious little eyes staring straight across the brook at Fuyuji.

In the quiet woods, one man and one boar faced each other across the stream. The surroundings went dead silent for an instant. Only the splashing of the brook and the occasional crisp birdsong in the distance remained.

After a long while.

Fuyuji revealed a friendly smile and raised a hand to greet it. (Do not attempt in real life)

"Hi!"

Completely unexpectedly, the battle-scarred boar didn't appreciate it at all. Instead, as if provoked, it lowered its scar-covered body slightly. Its hind legs kept scraping at the ground, kicking up clouds of dust. Its massive nostrils flared violently, puffing out two dense clouds of white vapor like a steam engine. A low growl rose from its throat.

"..." The smile on Fuyuji's face froze. His arm hung awkwardly in midair.

Hmph!

After a few seconds of silence, he quickly lowered his hand, abruptly turned, and swept off in a huff.

To actually reject the friendly invitation of the world's number one Pokemon Master. A low-class spirit not worth capturing!

Having had his good mood ruined by a wild monster that jumped out from the roadside, Fuyuji ended his Pokemon Master journey early. He followed the forest path back, planning to enjoy today's breakfast.

Passing through a low grove of zelkova trees, the faint clink of bowls and dishes and the sound of voices drifted from ahead. After a few twists and turns, an open area with a sunshade came into view.

The breakfast location wasn't yesterday's big cafeteria, but outdoors.

A small clearing had been carved out of the forest. All kinds of cookware and utensils were set out on it, in an outdoor cookout style. The school would provide the menu and ingredients for that day's breakfast, and the students had to make breakfast themselves.

Three grades preparing seven days of breakfast. Due to Japan's seniority culture, most large groups would, intentionally or not, leave the extra day to the first years to handle.

However, given Ryuen's illustrious reputation for sending the Student Council President to the hospital on day one, the second and third years didn't have the guts to pull rank and demand Ryuen's group take over all the breakfasts. They only asked the first years to shoulder two days' worth of work.

What was unexpected was...

Fuyuji stopped again, silently watching a certain someone bustling about in the neighboring group. "Does Suzune know you're this..." He paused, then after a good while managed to say, "...good with your hands?"

There was former Student Council President Horikita Manabu, wearing a pink apron, sleeves rolled up, standing methodically by a makeshift stove doing the chopping and prep work. Beside him, several third-year senpai each had their own tasks, busily handling the final breakfast preparations.

"She probably doesn't know. Ever since she started elementary school, the kitchen at home was her territory. Cooking is something I only picked up again during these three years at Advanced Nurturing." Manabu said, head down, his tone utterly flat.

Casually finding an empty tree stump to sit on, Fuyuji's mouth twitched. "You really are a man of all trades!"

Compared to the powerful aura of the Student Council President who had single-handedly suppressed the entire grade at the start of the school year, this home-cooking version of Manabu was simply too explosive. So much so that Fuyuji regretted not bringing a camera out to snap a photo and share it with his sister.

"In this school, knowing more never hurts. Especially in special exams, cooking often brings unexpected advantages." Manabu placed the tofu into the soup and washed his hands. "Looks like your first-year classes are done. How does it feel?"

"So-so." Fuyuji spread both hands, playing the slacker. "But you're impressive. As the most outstanding Student Council President in generations, personally making breakfast for your juniors."

"After all, I agreed to duel Nagumo. Leading from the front and setting an example is always good for the group's unity." He reached out, took a clean porcelain bowl, ladled out a bowl of miso soup fragrant with soybean and scallions, and handed it to Fuyuji. "Want to try?"

"I don't believe you didn't notice. Blond senpai is acting a bit strange this time." Fuyuji took the bowl, blew on it, and took a light sip.

"Yes." Manabu ladled a bowl for himself too, then sat down on the wooden stool beside him and tasted it himself. "If he were seriously dueling me this time, at the very least the second years in our group wouldn't be this quiet. Of course," he set down the bowl and glanced lightly at Fuyuji, "it's also possible that yesterday's incident in your group made him quiet down a bit. There might be movement in a few days."

From that angle, it did make some sense.

Blond senpai got ambushed by Ryuen and sent to the hospital. After getting out, he found the public opinion too big and temporarily had no face to show himself. He'd decided to wait a few days for the storm to pass before stirring things up again.

What a pity. Blond senpai still didn't know what he'd missed today.

"I can't know what Nagumo wants to do for now. There may be a scheme. But I still lean toward trusting him. After all, in the two years I've known him, he hasn't broken a single promise. Not with me, and not with other students."

'Then you're really something, managing to make blond senpai throw away even his face, willing to break his good reputation, just to step in personally and use dirty tricks to take out that Tachibana-senpai.'

"So what's your plan?"

Manabu raised a hand to push up his glasses. "Thoroughly manage the group. Strengthen our defenses to ensure there are no oversights."

Fuyuji: "..."

As expected of siblings. Even their way of handling the same problem was roughly the same. Back when Cha-Cha stabbed her in the back, Horikita's little sister had thought the same way. And Cha-Cha had stabbed true every time.

Well, now it was settled. Horikita older brother was really going to be saved by Horikita little sister.

"In any case, Nagumo won't drag other classes' students into it this time. On that point, I'll maintain a wait-and-see attitude for now." Manabu changed the subject, his gaze landing on the miso soup in Fuyuji's hands, already more than half drunk. "How's the taste?"

At this moment, clamor came from the bend of the forest path in the distance. Ryuen's group, arriving late, appeared in view, cursing and swearing as they walked.

Fuyuji tilted his head back and downed the rest in one gulp. He casually handed the bowl back to him and headed toward his own group's stove.

"Feels... not as good as Suzune's."

'Is that so...'

Manabu silently picked up the bowl and took another careful taste to check the salt. He let out a headache-laden sigh.

That virtuous little sister who handled all the housework at home had no sooner started at the same high school as him than she ran off with a boy. In a sense, he had introduced them.

How was he going to explain this to their parents after graduation?

Fujimaki, who had been the overall commander at the last sports festival, walked up to him and together watched Fuyuji's receding figure. "That student. You and he are pretty close?"

"My sister's... friend? I suppose we're close enough..."

"Your sister's friend? Oh!" A look of sudden understanding appeared on Fujimaki's face. He nudged Manabu's arm with his elbow and teased, "Then why didn't you pull him over to form a group? Even for the fair former Student Council President, teaming up like this is allowed in this exam, right? Knowing you, the Student Council President, is itself part of social ability."

"No need. He's outstanding. He doesn't need me to worry about him."

"What a shame. If you'd formed a large group with him, and then Tachibana and your sister were in the same large group for a week, that would've been a sight to see."

"Unfortunately, Tachibana and Suzune aren't in the same large group this time. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Huh? They're not in the same group?" A look of astonishment appeared on Fujimaki's face. "Yesterday at the cafeteria, I saw Tachibana sitting with your sister. I thought Tachibana had taken the initiative to invite your sister into a group. I didn't expect they weren't in the same group?"

Suzune... and Tachibana? Why...

Manabu's brows slowly furrowed. After a moment of thought, he suddenly rose from his seat, bowl and chopsticks in hand, and turned to leave.

"Huh? Manabu, where are you going?"

"The miso soup didn't have enough salt."

-----------------------------------------------------------