ReruoIzayoi
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Chapter 69: The First Meeting of Two Socially Awkward Girls
🕑 Added 2025-04-26 08:09:01 +0000 UTC"Also, because Koenji Rokusuke withdrew from the exam due to illness, your class has already been deducted 30 points!"
Chabashira Sae said with a smile. She had known about this for a while, but she hadn't planned to bring it up unless someone asked.
"What?!"
"That bastard Koenji!"
"This is so annoying, so annoying!"
Complaints filled the air in the class, while Saiki Kusuo secretly used his clairvoyance to check on Koenji Rokusuke. The guy wasn't sick at all—he was enjoying a top-tier spa on the cruise ship.
'This guy...'
Saiki Kusuo's eyebrow twitched slightly. Koenji's current behavior was exactly what Saiki had wanted to do earlier, but now not only could he not do it, his responsibilities were only increasing.
'Your drinks won't be cold for the entire summer vacation.'
Saiki Kusuo cursed Koenji Rokusuo in his mind.
Although Koenji's actions had sparked strong dissatisfaction among the other students, there was nothing they could do about him now. They had to focus on dealing with the exam on the island.
By the time it was completely dark, everyone had returned to their tents to rest one after another. Earlier, considering the living conditions of the entire class, Hirata Yosuke had ultimately decided to arrange two tents for the boys as well.
The weather was stuffy, and the tents were cramped, making them hot and uncomfortable. However, the fatigue from the day quickly sent everyone into a deep sleep.
After confirming that everyone around him was asleep, Saiki Kusuo used his teleportation ability to return home. The first thing he did was turn on the air conditioning.
......
Early the next morning, Saiki Kusuo returned to the tent before anyone woke up.
"Saiki... You're already awake?"
Seeing that Saiki Kusuo was already up, Hirata Yosuke spoke in a tired voice.
"Yeah, just woke up."
Saiki Kusuo replied.
"This environment makes it really hard to sleep well..."
Hirata Yosuke also sat up, shaking his head helplessly.
"The tent is too hot, and there's no mattress or pillow... My back is killing me."
After Hirata Yosuke woke up, the other students in the class also began to rise.
The exhaustion from the previous day had sent them to sleep quickly, but the harsh environment had prevented them from getting proper rest.
'Sorry, I spent last night in a comfortable, air-conditioned room.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself.
......
After everyone had finished washing up, Chabashira Sae gathered everyone for roll call, and then they were free to go about their activities.
Hirata Yosuke assigned tasks to everyone. Some were sent to pick fruit, others to fish, some were responsible for upgrading the campsite, and others were sent to scout the other classes. However, he didn't force anyone; he based the assignments on each person's skills and preferences.
Saiki Kusuo had originally planned to do nothing and just rest at the campsite, but after seeing Yamauchi Haruki staying behind to get closer to the girls, he resolutely chose to go out and found Hirata Yosuke.
"Saiki, are you going out too?"
Hirata Yosuke asked in surprise. After receiving Saiki Kusuo's confirmation, he handed him an extra fishing tool from the campsite.
"Ike and the others have already gone fishing. Saiki, do you know how to fish?"
'Fishing? I haven't really tried it before, but with telekinesis, I should be able to catch quite a few.'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself. Compared to staying with someone like Yamauchi Haruki, going out to fish seemed like a much better option. So without much hesitation, he took the tools from Hirata Yosuke and headed to the river.
However, just as Saiki Kusuo stepped out of the campsite, he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Sakura Airi was following him.
"Sakura?"
Saiki Kusuo looked at her in confusion.
"Um... I was thinking... if I could... help you a little..."
Sakura Airi's gaze met Saiki Kusuo's for a moment before she quickly looked down at the ground, still looking flustered.
"Also... there are too many people at the campsite... It's a bit uncomfortable staying there..."
Hearing Sakura Airi's words, Saiki Kusuo didn't say anything and simply allowed her to follow him.
Saiki Kusuo found a spot by the river and sat down on a rock. Sakura Airi had no choice but to sit beside him.
'With Sakura here, I can't openly use my abilities... I'll just have to pretend for now!'
Saiki Kusuo thought to himself while using his clairvoyance to locate Ike Kanji. He observed Ike's fishing movements and noticed that Ike's bucket already had several fish in it.
'I didn't expect Ike to know how to fish. It seems out of the three idiots, only Yamauchi has no special skills... Ike's fishing skills seem pretty good. I'll just catch slightly fewer fish than him.'
Saiki Kusuo stopped using his clairvoyance and began to imitate Ike's movements to start fishing.
'Saiki-kun... knows how to fish?'
Seeing Saiki Kusuo's actions, Sakura Airi was slightly surprised.
At the same time, Saiki Kusuo used his telekinesis to make a nearby fish approach—
"It's biting!"
Sakura Airi, seeing Saiki Kusuo's fishing rod suddenly dip, quickly picked up a net to help him catch the fish.
But as soon as she took a few steps, her nervousness made her stumble. She lost her balance and fell toward the river.
'!'
At that moment, Sakura Airi's body, which had been falling forward, suddenly stopped mid-air. Saiki Kusuo quickly reached out and steadied her.
'Yare yare, that was close. Good thing I used telekinesis to catch her in time.'
In that instant, Saiki Kusuo had used his telekinesis to stop Sakura Airi's fall. To avoid exposing his powers, he had to hold the fishing rod with one hand and Sakura Airi's hand with the other.
'Tripping on flat ground? So Sakura has a clumsy side too?'
Saiki Kusuo began to realize that bringing Sakura Airi along might have been a mistake. He slowly let go of her hand once she regained her balance.
"I-I'm so, so sorry!"
Sakura Airi's face turned red, and her body trembled slightly from embarrassment.
'I... I'm just causing trouble... I can't bother Saiki-kun anymore...'
"I-I'll go get the fish!"
Sakura Airi bit her lip, remembering what she was supposed to do, and quickly reached out with the net to scoop up the fish—
The fish wasn't big, and the net was large enough, but Sakura Airi's hands were shaking from nervousness. She was so flustered that she couldn't manage to catch the fish.
'Ugh, I feel dizzy, I'm going to throw up, ugh...'
Saiki Kusuo could clearly hear the thoughts.
They belonged to the fish.
Saiki Kusuo was completely exasperated now, but he had no choice. He used his powers again, and the fish leaped out of the water and landed in the net.
"I-I did it!"
Sakura Airi was delighted and carefully placed the fish into the bucket.
"Saiki-kun, you're amazing! You caught a fish right away!"
Sakura Airi turned to Saiki Kusuo and praised his fishing skills.
"Just luck."
Saiki Kusuo was now slightly regretting coming out to fish.
"Saiki, Saiki-kun?"
Just then, another voice came from behind. Before the voice even reached him, Saiki Kusuo had already used his telepathy to identify the person.
Shiina Hiyori.
At that moment, Shiina Hiyori was standing behind Saiki Kusuo, looking at him and Sakura Airi with a surprised expression. After a few seconds of silence, she finally spoke.
"Saiki-kun... You know how to fish?"
"Yeah."
Saiki Kusuo could only nod. He hadn't expected Shiina Hiyori to show up here.
Earlier in the morning, he had used his clairvoyance to observe the movements of the other classes. Ryuen Kakeru's Class D hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy. They were just spending points freely on snacks and drinks by the shore, as if they were on vacation.
If possible, Saiki Kusuo would have liked to temporarily join Class D.
"Shiina, what are you doing here?"
Saiki Kusuo asked, though he already knew the answer thanks to his telepathy.
Class D as a whole hadn't made any major moves. Their plan was to enjoy themselves today before collectively withdrawing and returning to the cruise ship.
Shiina Hiyori had simply wanted to check on Saiki Kusuo, so she had come near Class C's campsite. However, she hadn't expected to find Saiki Kusuo fishing by the river.
"I just wanted to see how you and your class were doing. But don't worry, I'm not here to steal information."
Her gaze shifted and soon landed on Sakura Airi, whose eyes also inadvertently met Shiina's.
Their eyes met—and then, as if by tacit understanding, they both looked away at the same time.
'This person seems very close to Saiki-kun... She must be his classmate... Should I greet her...?'
'I haven't seen this person before... Which class is she from... She seems familiar with Saiki-kun... Is she Saiki-kun's friend...? What should I do...? I don't know how to talk to her...'
The two girls' thoughts were somewhat similar, but because of each other's presence, neither of them spoke up. An awkward silence hung between the three of them.
'Two socially awkward people meeting each other...?'
Saiki Kusuo sighed inwardly. If these two had met in any other situation, they probably wouldn't have said a word to each other.
'But...'
'Why am I here right now...? Both of their gazes are fixed on me, the one fishing...'
'This is so awkward... So uncomfortable... Someone say something...'
Saiki Kusuo's mind raced. After thinking for a few seconds, he finally spoke.
"Shiina, how's your class doing?"
"Everyone seems to be enjoying this trip. Ryuen and the others are planning to play on the island for a while before returning to the ship. I don't know much else—but it seems like Ryuen and Ibuki had a big argument yesterday."
Shiina Hiyori said with a smile.
She wasn't lying. Ryuen Kakeru hadn't shared his specific plans with Shiina Hiyori. Although Ryuen recognized Shiina's abilities, her non-confrontational nature meant she wouldn't contribute much to the exam, so Ryuen hadn't told her his plans.
However, Shiina Hiyori was very intelligent and had pretty much figured out Ryuen's scheme.
"Is Ibuki... in your class now?"
"Yeah."
Saiki Kusuo nodded.
"Your classmates are very kind, but in this exam, the classes are enemies. Although I don't want to damage the relationships between classes, I still hope you can be a bit careful, Saiki-kun."
Shiina Hiyori said with a smile. On one hand, she considered Saiki Kusuo a close friend, but on the other, she was a student of Class D, so she could only give him this much of a hint.
"I understand."
"Oh, Saiki-kun."
At that moment, Shiina Hiyori took out a novel from her bag.
"Ryuen said we could spend points freely, so I rented this novel to pass the time. But our class will probably return to the ship soon. If... you're interested, you can read this too!"
"Thank you."
Saiki Kusuo took the book Shiina Hiyori handed to him.
