“Alright! Everyone, please get off the bus in an orderly fashion. The apartments are two people per room. Come here to get your room keys.”
The bus stopped in front of a hot spring inn, and the lead teacher greeted the students.
There were two teachers leading the trip. One was a female teacher from another class. Nakano Yu wasn't very familiar with her. The other was Nakano Yu's homeroom teacher, a temperamental old woman who was also a bit of a fighter—a woman in her late 20s named Hiratsuka Shizuka.
It seemed that Hiratsuka Shizuka had taken a leave of absence. Apparently, she was hit by a car that ran a red light on her way to school. Thankfully, she was fine and was back to work after recovering.
The one who was calling out to the students to get their keys was Hiratsuka Shizuka, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt and jeans, holding a megaphone.
The other teacher was negotiating with the inn.
The inn wasn't very large, and there were quite a few students coming. Although they had made arrangements beforehand, there were still some details to iron out.
After getting off the bus, Nakano Yu glanced towards the mountaintop, faintly seeing the outline of a building. That was probably where the oni's base, the Mei-jyo Temple, was located.
He hoped that the oni wouldn't come looking for trouble.
With that thought in mind, Nakano Yu walked towards the inn's entrance.
He hadn't gone far when a voice called out from behind:
“Wait! Nakano-kun! Please wait for me!”
Hearing the voice, Nakano Yu turned around. He saw Kyouko Kasuga rushing towards him, holding a bunch of keys.
Even though they weren't at school, Kyouko Kasuga was still wearing the school's uniform. Her long black hair was tied in a ponytail for convenience, making her look quite capable. The way her chest surged as she ran made it hard for Nakano Yu to look away.
With quick and eager steps, Kyouko Kasuga soon arrived beside the young man.
“Whew~ Aren't you going to get your key, Nakano-kun?”
She panted lightly, waving the keys in front of Nakano Yu, and asked.
Hearing this, Nakano Yu shook his head with a smile. He glanced at the long queue of students getting their keys and said:
“There are quite a few people right now. I'll go later when the line has thinned out a bit.”
“I see. Well, Nakano-kun, do you want to go to our room to rest for a while? You won't be able to get in without a key, right?”
After getting his answer, Kyouko Kasuga nodded thoughtfully, as if she had thought of something. Her face turned red, and she invited Nakano Yu shyly.
“Go to Kyouko-san's room? Hmm...”
Faced with Kyouko Kasuga's invitation, Nakano Yu considered it for a moment. He couldn't get into his room right now, and seeing the long queue, it wouldn't be gone for a while. It wasn't a bad idea to rest in Kyouko Kasuga's room for a while.
As he was about to agree to Kyouko Kasuga's invitation, the energetic call of Yotsuba reached his ears, prompting the boy and girl to turn their heads:
“Yu!!!”
Seeing the five sisters walking towards him, Nakano Yu responded to Yotsuba with a smile:
“Yotsuba, did you get your keys?”
“Of course! I got Itaru-san and Miku-san's keys too! By the way, what's your room number, Yu? Mine is 315! Itaru-san and Itsuki-san are in one room, Nino-san and Miku-san are in another, I wonder who my roommate will be!”
Yotsuba giggled as she walked forward and naturally hooked her arm around Nakano Yu's, her voice full of anticipation.
Hearing Yotsuba's words, Kyouko Kasuga beside him was taken aback. She hurriedly checked her keys and saw that there was a tag attached to them, and it said 【215】—the room number Yotsuba mentioned!
“Um, that, I think I'm also room 215.”
Kyouko Kasuga said, her voice slightly hesitant. Upon hearing this, Yotsuba quickly let go of Nakano Yu's arm, turned her head, and enthusiastically took Kyouko Kasuga's hand, chatting with the girl:
“Wow! What a coincidence! No, we should call each other roommates now! Hello, roommate, my name is Nakano Yotsuba. I'm a student in Class C.”
“Y-you, hello, my name is Kyouko Kasuga. Class A. I'm... Yu's friend.”
It seemed as if she was intimidated by Yotsuba's enthusiasm. Kyouko Kasuga's speech was a bit stuttering. As she spoke, she glanced at the young man who was chatting with Itaru-san nearby. Seeing that the young man didn't mind her calling him by his name, Kyouko Kasuga felt a little relieved.
After chatting with the five sisters for a while, Yotsuba took Kyouko Kasuga to see their room first. Seeing the two girls so excited, Nakano Yu didn't follow them but returned to his room with Itaru-san instead.
The room was decorated in a traditional style, with tatami mats and a small cabinet. On top of the cabinet was a small television set, looking rather old.
Besides that, there was also a small table in the room, and a cabinet nearby contained the futon and pillows they would use to sleep on.
Overall, it wasn't luxurious, but the room was spacious. In other schools, they wouldn't even think of putting two people in such a large room, maybe they could even squeeze four or five people in here.
After taking a general look at the room's decorations, Nakano Yu was about to go inside and sit down when Itaru-san rushed in first. Before Itsuki could react, she closed the door.
Nakano Yu exchanged glances with Itsuki, wondering what Itaru-san was up to, when she suddenly opened the door again. Immediately, the girl's voice, laced with a playful teasing and a hint of charm, reached them:
“Welcome back! Dinner is ready, and the bathwater is hot. Yu, do you want to... eat first? Take a bath first? Or...”
Looking at Itaru-san's slightly flushed cheeks, Nakano Yu couldn't help but think, if Itaru-san wasn't wearing her school uniform right now, but a maid outfit instead, it would be even better!
“Eat, eat! I choose eat!”
Seeing Itaru-san like this, Itsuki didn't seem surprised, but naturally took on the joke Itaru-san threw out. Then, she walked around Itaru-san and entered the room.
“Then I'll go to sleep.”
Coming to his senses, Nakano Yu waved his hand, leaving behind a sentence, and walked around Itaru-san and entered the room.
“Hey?! Am I that unattractive?!”
Seeing their reaction so indifferent, Itaru-san was incredibly surprised, looking as if her self-esteem had been hit.
“Yes, yes, Itaru-san, please turn on the air conditioner.”
Because it was tatami mats, Nakano Yu lay down comfortably, and even ordered Itaru-san to turn on the air conditioner.
Hearing this, Itaru-san immediately put away her wounded expression and scolded Nakano Yu:
“Yu! How mean! I was being so shy when I said those things! You just react like this?!”
“Yeah, yeah, okay, next time, Itaru-san, tell me what kind of reaction you want. Turn on the air conditioner first.”
Nakano Yu nodded, his attitude couldn't be more perfunctory.
Seeing this, although Itaru-san was speechless, she still found the air conditioner remote and turned it on.
Just as Nakano Yu lay on the tatami mat and was about to rest for a while before going to Hiratsuka Shizuka to get his key, another person—no, should I say, a monster—was in a completely different situation from Nakano Yu!
On a high-speed train, the wind howled. A hulking, green-skinned humanoid monster was desperately clinging to the train. Even the strong wind was blowing him so distorted.
The humanoid monster was named Aoda-bō, one of the famous yokai in Japan. He was a terrifying yokai of legend with immense strength. The reason he was here was because the young master of his Nura clan, Nura Rikuo, was on a so-called yokai training trip with his classmates.
Of course, Aoda-bō didn't quite understand why these humans were so interested in yokai. He didn't care either.
All Aoda-bō knew was that he would always follow Nura Rikuo!
“Young master! Whether it's scaling mountains or going through fire, I, Aoda-bō, will always follow you!!!”
...
The last chapter for today! Please vote and leave comments~