Study Trip on an Uninhabited Island part 1 — 8

[gyaxa]

Sakujiro: Well then. I have already explained the rules to Kamina-san and Kinouchi-san, but the final challenge, representing the “body”, will be a walk down the river.

Daniel: A walk…

Yachiyo: Well, we can’t have them tripping on the rocks, oh no no no.

Sakujiro: The objective is simple: reach the goal by walking along the bank, and victory is yours and your teammates’.

Nayuki: Everyone else, come this way. We’ll wait up ahead by the goal.

Drone Sensei: I’ll record the action once more. Vroom…

Sakujiro: It all comes down to this. May it be a thrilling match! Off you go!

Tao: Damn, the rocks make it so hard to walk. I’m going way slower than I thought I would…

Kamina-san has a one-minute handicap, though, so as long as I keep this lead—

Yukikaze: There you are.

Tao: Wait, already?!

Ryui: Kamina’s fast as shit…!

Raito: He is an active athlete.

Yukikaze: Oh, that reminds me. Do you want to try fighting for each other’s badges while we’re at it? Raito seemed so excited recounting his battle with Kuguri, so I got a little curious.

Tao: Nah… I’ll have to pass on anything too rough.

Yukikaze: Don’t worry, we can have a tickle battle instead.

Ready? Coochie coochie coo…

Tao: WOAH!! STOP, PLEASE!!

Yukikaze: Heh… Well, I’m heading on ahead. Watch your big brother’s example and grow up well…!

Chihiro: Yukipaso passed Tao…!

Liguang: However—

Kafka: They’re lined back up again!

Yukikaze: Mmrgh…!

Tao: Haha… So that’s the trick. The closer you are to the river, the smaller the stones are.

So it’s a bit off track, but way easier to walk a little farther from the bank…!
 

Yukikaze & Tao: UUOOOO!! (※ They are walking.)

Daniel: They’re gettin’ really worked up over walking.

Sakujiro: AND NOW!! WE HAVE A PHOTO FINISH ON OUR HANDS!!

Akuta: Who won?!

Netaro: Did you make sure to puff out your chest when reaching the tape?? Like a sage grouse doing courtship rituals!

Nayuki: I’ll open up the VAR.

Yukikaze & Tao: *pant*...

Chief: Let’s see… The final verdict is…

Everyone: *swallow*…

Sakujiro: Too close to call!

What an extraordinary finish. This round shall be a tie.

Kuguri: A tie? Well that’s disappointing.

Yukikaze: I put my all into it, so I have no regrets. GG, right?

Tao: Great match! I woulda lost for sure if you didn’t have that handicap.

Ten: So from three battles, we got one win for Team Ocean, one win for Team Air, and one time. What are you gonna do about the prize?

Chief: Whichever team won was going to get access to a new area, so for this round, both teams can use it!

Muneuji: Use? What sort of area is it…?

Chief: Tada! A hot spring!!

Everyone: A… hot spring…?!
 

WOOHOO!!!!!
 

 

───

Chihiro: So we all got a chance to soak together, but the spring could only fit so many of us…

Kinari: I suggest we converse amongst ourselves while we wait.

Muneuji: How did Team Ocean fare on the first night?

Kiroku: Well… we did this and that… and such and such…

Akuta: FOR REALZ?! Attacks from giant clams and shore crabs?! That sounds SICK!

Ushio: What part of that is “sick”? It was like a never-ending heart attack…

Nagi: It wasn’t that bad.

Ryui: You shoulda been more worried.

Toi: But Nagi-kun was so cool then!

Tao: Woah~ So you actually tried the canned food?

Raito: Yeah. It was… an eye-opening experience.

Yodaka: Netaro enjoyed them quite a bit.

Netaro: I had five of them!

Yodaka: Haha, thank goodness you stopped at that. We’d be in trouble if we ran out of them on the first day.

Nanaki: I wonder how long it’s been since we went to a hot spring together, Kugu-nii. The baths at the dorm can’t compare to this.

Kuguri: Oh, do you still have all your badges, Nanaki?

A mischievous little pixie seems to have made away with some of ours. Perhaps you should key a close eye on them.

Nanaki: Huh… What do you mean?

───

Kafka: … So we ended up with a couple of our badges missing.

Renga: Y-Your badges…?! H-Huh… T-T-That’s too bad.

Yukikaze: Maybe it’s not just mere coincidence that Akuta lost one of his badges then.

Renga: ……

Kafka: Toi had the darkness call to him…

Ten: Ah, ya mean his divination.

Kafka: And we found out that all our badges are apparently in an area neither of the teams have been to yet.

Renga: ……

Liguang: Oi, idiot.

Renga: W-What…?

Liguang: … You’re acting more suspicious by the second.

Renga: H-How?!

Ten: Now that’s strange. Usually you flip your lid whenever he calls you an idiot. You don’t care about that today?

Renga: Huh?! Ah…!

Liguang: You keep going silent, and your eyes are shifting around… If you know something, then spit it out already.

Renga: I-I don’t! Not a thing…

Nothing about a strange little bear with a red pom-pom on its head—
 

Bear Cub: ……

Yukikaze: A strange little bear…

Ten: With a pom-pom…

Kafka: On its head?

Renga: Ah, hey…!!

Bear Cub: !!
 

 

Renga: (?! Did it just stand up and run…?! Is there something wrong with my eyes…?)

Liguang: … Was it just going through our clothes?

Ten: Ah~ looks like it. We’re down some badges.

Yukikaze: So was that bear the thief taking all the badges…?

Kafka: Let’s go after it! We gotta tell the others about this too…!

 

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