Inside the campsite, the elementary school students formed a large circle around the huge central bonfire, singing and dancing. They celebrated the successful conclusion of the test of courage and extolled the deepened friendships among them from this experience.
It was unknown how much of it was genuine and how much was fake.
In any case, the girls in Rumi's small group were likely faking it. Because just now, even when they were dancing the folk dance in a circle, they didn't hold hands with each other.
After all, they had just experienced the 'easter egg' gameplay of the test of courage. It could almost be said that it had unreservedly torn away their fig leaves, exposing their true original relationships bare. Obtaining this kind of result now was only natural.
But one point had to be admitted: Shinra had completely failed this time.
After this incident, he clearly realized that Rumi could not make friends. At least, she wouldn't be able to make true friends in the short term.
Even the possibility of making superficial friends had been thoroughly extinguished by the 'secret of humanity' directed by Shinra himself.
It was hard to imagine Rumi taking the initiative to make friends again anytime soon after witnessing such a ridiculous farce.
So, in a sense, Shinra had buried himself.
On the contrary, before Yukino had even managed to do anything, Rumi had already adapted to being alone... Okay, it wasn't that she did nothing. At least she made Rumi recognize reality and provided assistance for Shinra's subsequent plans.
She didn't exactly win just by lying down.
"It's just that, this way, she probably won't want to make friends again for a short while."
Yukino sat down beside Shinra, carrying a water bucket in one hand and a plastic bag containing candles, a lighter, and sparklers in the other.
"Yeah, you won this time." Shinra didn't feel particularly strongly when he said this; he had already prepared to lose before the competition.
He looked at the sparkler Yukino handed him. Besides, honestly, had he lost?
Probably not.
Yukino shook her head upon hearing this and said, "I didn't win."
Although the result made it seem like she had won, Yukino felt she hadn't played a crucial role in achieving that result. Therefore, it couldn't be considered her accomplishment, and the fruits of this victory naturally shouldn't belong to her.
"Didn't we already establish the criteria for judging the winner and loser of the competition earlier? The current situation is obvious. For a considerably long and foreseeable future, Rumi will likely be accompanied by 'loneliness', and even she herself is already mentally prepared."
"According to the previously defined win-loss conditions, the winner of this match is you, without a doubt."
The moment Yukino declined, Shinra knew he had already achieved a 'victory' in substance. Now, to seize an even greater fruit of victory, he had to make Yukino accept this win.
It was rather amusing: the winner was declining, while the loser had to find ways to make her admit victory. A situation like this could probably only happen between the two of them.
"I didn't play a decisive role..."
"In the real world, the process only gains weight once there is a result. And in a competition, as long as there are no violations during the process, the result outweighs everything."
"Are you saying the result is more important than the process?"
"At least it is right now... Yukino, you don't actually want to discuss a philosophical topic like process versus result with me, do you?"
Hearing this, Yukino seemed as if some thought had been poked. She took a candle from the plastic bag, lit it with the lighter, and then retorted sophistically:
"I just wanted to say that what you said earlier was sophistry."
"How is it sophistry? Looking at the result, you did win. As for the process... ultimately, that stuff can't be quantified. Who can guarantee that your action of shattering Rumi's unrealistic fantasies didn't play a decisive role in her current growth?"
Shinra placed the tip of the sparkler onto the candle's small flame. Before long, the end began to 'sizzle' and emit colorful sparks.
It's quite pretty.
The elementary school students nearby who hadn't dispersed yet were all attracted by the fireworks. But unfortunately, without adult supervision, children are forbidden from playing with fireworks. Not even sparklers!
So they can only watch us play.
Hehehe...
"Aren't you afraid I'll make you wear a maid outfit?"
Shinra's waving sparkler paused. Then, this guy put on a bashful expression and said, "It's not impossible... but only you alone can watch."
Yukino couldn't help but imagine the sight of Shinra changing into a maid outfit and acting bashful in front of her... She instantly shuddered.
Very well, the maid outfit is a PASS.
Yukino expressionlessly lit the sparkler in her own hand. She had only wanted to get a little revenge on Shinra, but she didn't want to drag herself into it.
It's too searing to the eyes.
Given his obsession with maid outfits, Yukino had reason to suspect that he had actually wanted to wear one for a long time. He just lacked a good reason and wanted to use her hand to achieve his ulterior motive.
However, seeing that Shinra was even willing to cross-dress, Yukino understood that she absolutely had to win this time.
"Prepare to be given a hard time by me." Yukino said to Shinra with a straight face.
Shinra, however, wasn't scared at all and replied with a smile, "I'm willing to accept the consequences of the bet."
Yukino: ...
I feel like this guy isn't taking my threat seriously at all, as if he's certain I won't really give him a hard time.
—And I really won't.
Because when Shinra won the competition before, he used the condition on going to the Chiba Zoo together to see pandas. He was clearly going easy on me.
And now that I've won, I can't really embarrass him, can I?
Wouldn't that make me an ungrateful villain!
Although it wasn't explicitly said, since Shinra gave me a hand, as repayment, I definitely have to give him a hand too.
Yukino has never been inferior to others in her life; she always repays kindness and exacts vengeance!
"Here, this is for you."
"What is this?"
"Photos."
Shinra was concise. The photos Rumi had taken earlier had been developed by him using the camp's printing room.
Because he was a volunteer, the printing room didn't charge him. They even helped print two extra copies after seeing it was a group photo.
They were nice people.
Additionally, Shinra also saw many photos of small birds inside Rumi's camera. Then he looked at the camera brand—○kon.
It suddenly seemed perfectly reasonable.
She's gotten into 'bird shooting' (photography) at such a young age.
Oh well, shooting birds is better than shooting people. What if someone suddenly accused her of 'covert shooting' (peeping)? Wouldn't that be a disaster?
Oh, Rumi is T0 (Tier 0), and a minor T0 at that. Never mind then.
Thinking about it carefully, his behavior at the Tokyo cat and dog market earlier was quite dangerous. Luckily, the other person was Yukino, who was magnanimous enough. Otherwise, he would have definitely ended up at the police station eating a pork cutlet bowl.
Hiring a lawyer would have been useless!
"Thank you for sparing my life."
"?"
Yukino didn't understand what this guy Shinra was suddenly saying, but she didn't think too much about it and instead focused her attention on the group photo he gave her.
There wasn't just one photo of them together; several had been taken in succession.
Her own expression also changed continuously. From the initial astonishment when Shinra pulled her over for a photo, to the prim and proper smile after composing herself, and finally, the bashfulness after realizing the two were too close—the entire process was faithfully recorded by the camera.
They turned out pretty well...
"I'll keep the photos." Yukino said calmly. She was worried that if Shinra had the photos, her older sister might see them.
"Okay." Shinra nodded in agreement.
It's not like this is the only copy he has anyway.
You can never have too many backups.
He even saved these photos to cloud storage. He wasn't afraid of losing them at all; he could just find a photo shop to print them out anytime he wanted.
"...You don't have backups, do you?" Seeing Shinra agree so readily without any hesitation, Yukino immediately became wary and asked with narrowed eyes.
"The printing room saw it was a group photo, so they printed a few extra copies for me."
Shinra didn't hide it and said it directly.
Yukino: ...As expected.
"What's wrong?"
This guy is asking even though he already knows!
"Nothing. I was just thinking that a maid outfit feels a bit too conservative. How about trying a bunny girl outfit?" Yukino threatened with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
That one won't do. He really has one of those at home.
Even knowing Yukino wasn't aware of Mai's existence, Shinra still couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine when she mentioned 'bunny girl'.
Is it sweat? No... I knew an attack that doesn't even count as a probe couldn't possibly make me sweat.
Shinra tossed the burnt-out sparkler into the nearby water bucket. He stood up, stretched, and discreetly pulled up his pants.
Not wet!
However, the summer highland night was indeed a bit damp. Blown by the wind passing through the forest, it really was a little cold.
At this time, the music in the center of the camp square had stopped, and the elementary school students' folk dance had ended. Next was dismissal time.
Shinra spotted Rumi's figure. With her were the members of her squad. Unlike when they arrived, their formation was no longer a 4-1 split. Instead, they maintained an extremely subtle distance from each other. You could tell they were a group, but they weren't that close.
Rumi, who had always been lagging at the back, was now walking in the very center of the group. A little ahead of her were Yuka and Hitomi, and behind her were Komori and... Shinra didn't know her name either.
Previously, during the voting, Shinra had chosen to block the other person also because he didn't know her name. Now that things were like this, he had no intention of probing any further.
Hopefully, after this time, everyone will have learned some lessons.
Shinra thought unrealistically. Rumi seemed to sense his gaze and looked up towards Shinra and Yukino.
After hesitating for a moment, Rumi raised her hand and gave a small wave. Can this be considered a greeting?
Seeing this, Yukino also hesitated for a moment, then copied her and waved her hand. Is this a return greeting?
In short, as Rumi passed by them, Shinra was able to hear her say softly, "Thank you."
The voice was really soft and extremely brief. It was only because Shinra's constitution had been enhanced by the system that he was able to catch it.
"This seems pretty good too, doesn't it?"
Speaking of which, this was the first time Shinra had helped someone not because of wish-power points. Honestly, this feeling wasn't bad.
"I hope she can find true friendship in the future." Yukino said with slight emotion.
"I've wanted to say this from the beginning. That child, Rumi, feels a bit like you."
"Hm?"
Yukino was clearly puzzled, tilting her head to look at Shinra. "Like me?"
"Isn't she?"
"I feel she's more like Yuigahama-san."
"...No, no, no, she's definitely more like you, okay!"
"I feel you should go see an eye doctor. Maybe go with Hachiman; if there are more people, you might get a discount."
"Weren't you helping her because you saw your former self in Rumi?"
Hearing this, Yukino furrowed her pretty brows and said almost without thinking, "No. I just saw she needed help, so I helped. Besides, I didn't really help her much. That child moved forward based on her own will."
"Is that so..." Shinra was a bit surprised by Yukino's answer, yet he also felt it was within reason.
What an O. Henry-style ending.
"Then what was your reason for wanting to help her?" Yukino asked in return.
"Of course, it's because I felt she was like the elementary school Yukino." Shinra also answered without thinking.
"L-Like the elementary school me... Wh-What do you mean by that?" Yukino instantly became a little stutterer, blushing and stammering, and she also liked to ask the obvious.
"Didn't you also experience similar treatment back in elementary school? I heard it got pretty messy. As a friend, I thought that perhaps through Rumi, I could let you see a different possibility. But unfortunately, I failed." Shinra said with some regret.
"S-So that's how it was..." Yukino relaxed slightly after hearing the word 'friend', but she also felt an inexplicable wave of disappointment.
...Just friends?
Wait, what am I thinking?
Yukino quickly cleared her head. She also didn't know how to face Shinra, so she simply turned and walked towards Yui, saying as she went, "I stopped caring about what happened in elementary school a long time ago."
That was a lie.
If you really didn't care, why haven't I ever seen you give Hayato a pleasant expression? Your attitude towards Yumiko seems even better than your attitude towards Hayato.
Actually, from a purely bystander's perspective, Hayato didn't do anything wrong back then. He just misjudged human nature. But considering his age at the time, it was quite reasonable.
Aside from the person involved, Yukino, bystanders don't really have any right to criticize Hayato's actions.
But if Shinra had been in Hayato's position at the time, he definitely would have stood by Yukino's side without hesitation.
After all, how could mere elementary school classmates compare to Yukino?
Let's not even mention that their families could be considered old acquaintances; just their individual quality isn't on the same level.
If Yukino is a 5-cost card, then those insects bullying her are probably like the minions in a jungle creep wave. How can they compare?
There's no comparison at all, okay!
One can only say he didn't have his priorities straight.
But then again, if Hayato had really chosen that way back then, the current Yukino likely wouldn't exist.
The golden wish-power commission on her head might never have appeared.
Thinking of this, Shinra suddenly felt that Hayato was actually a pretty good person.
As expected, a person's stance is determined by where their ass sits, while Shinra's stance is determined by wish-power points.