Episode 81

The next day.

We learned Kumamon’s true identity from the firefighters who arrived early in the morning.

It turned out that Kumamon was a moon bear that had escaped from Chiba Zoo two days earlier, having fled its enclosure while the keeper was momentarily away.

Considering that, we understood why it was extremely sensitive when we first met.

It must have been furious, being starved for two days and then startled by Satoru mistaking me for him and suddenly shouting.

Bears are often described as animals with incredible patience, but it seems that doesn’t matter when they’re hungry.

Anyway, thanks to Sasha’s on-the-spot taming, Kumamon returned to the zoo without any injuries, bidding a tearful farewell to the students.

“Goodbye, Kumamon.”

Grrrrrr!

“Don’t cry. A man shouldn’t cry over such things.”

Although they spent only one night together, Sasha seemed to have grown quite fond of it.

I couldn’t properly say goodbye as it whined and tried to avoid me, but well, maybe I’ll see it if I visit Chiba Zoo later.

Anyway, the second day of the school trip dawned.

Yesterday, the courage test ended abruptly due to the moon bear’s appearance, but tonight a campfire was scheduled.

Because of this, the boys in our class seemed a bit edgy.

Well, to be precise, it was probably all the second-year boys who came to the field school.

While eating a budae-jjigae flavored cup ramen I bought from a Korean market for breakfast, I mentioned this, and Satoru clenched his wooden chopsticks in anger.

“You, surrounded by girls, wouldn’t understand! The sorrow of singles whose girlfriend-less period equals their age!”

“No, I’m single too.”

“Stop joking! You liar!”

Satoru gestured angrily, but I felt a bit aggrieved, too.

Honestly, how many girls my age would like this face and this body?

If there were, they must have a very peculiar taste.

Rika and Karen were just normal friends, and I honestly didn’t know what Sasha was thinking.

She confessed out of the blue on her first day of transfer, but never showed any favor after that.

So, I interpreted it as her just playing a prank.

As a celebration of our safe reunion after the fight with Ivan.

Anyway, while the two of us were bickering, Sakamoto, who had just returned to the tent with a towel on his head, asked,

“Aren’t you two going to bathe? The shower is empty now.”

“Oh, I’ll go after finishing this.”

After responding, I slurped the broth of the budae-jjigae flavored cup ramen I was holding.

Typically, Japanese cup noodles were mostly soy sauce or salt-based.

So, when I craved spicy ramen, I used to go to a nearby Korean market to buy Korean cup noodles.

Given my preference for spicy kimchi and cup noodles, it seemed I was born a true Korean at heart.

After quickly finishing the remaining cup noodles, I put the used wooden chopsticks and empty containers into a disposable bag and decided to go to the shower with Satoru.

The campsite had simple shower facilities, accommodating about 20 people in total.

Therefore, students had to take turns showering, but Satoru and I, disliking the crowd, deliberately waited for the shower to be empty.

Entering the shower with our underwear and t-shirts to change into, we saw simple shower facilities reminiscent of those in the military.

We placed our clothes in the dressing room baskets and entered the shower with our toiletries.

“…It’s big.”

“Huh? Indeed.”

“No, not that.”

“????”

I was about to ask what he meant, but Satoru had already entered a shower stall.

I went into a vacant stall and turned on the water.

Swoosh!

The water pressure seemed decent, pouring refreshingly over my head.

I was spacing out under the water when…

“Wow! It’s completely empty!”

“It’s so spacious!”

“Hey! Let’s go together!”

The trio of bald boys barged into the shower.

They rushed in like adolescent kids, each with a towel slung over their shoulders.

One could slip and get hurt, but I was past the age to point that out, and it seemed pointless to warn about something that hadn’t happened yet, so I let it be.

After being under the water for a while, my damp hair was in the perfect state for shampooing, so I squeezed out a coin-sized amount and lathered it up.

As I was vigorously washing my foamy hair, suddenly, something hit the shower partition behind me.

“Ah! Sorry…?”

Unable to open my eyes because of the shampoo, I spoke while turning my back.

“Whoever you are, be careful. The floor is slippery.”

“Yes!”

The voice sounded unusually disciplined.

Nevertheless, it seemed they realized their mistake, so I said no more.

After rinsing the foam from my hair with cold water and washing up a bit, I saw the trio of bald boys quietly showering in the opposite stall.

Satisfied with what I saw, I nodded and headed to the changing room to get dressed.

“Phew…”

Kou Murasaki, one of the trio nicknamed ‘baldies’ by Kim Yu-seong, let out a sigh of relief as the presence behind him vanished, releasing his tension.

It felt like he had aged ten years at that moment.

All because he was messing around with the other two guys and almost ‘crossed the Jordan River’.

Here’s how it all started.

It was fine until they entered the almost empty shower room, but it seemed there was leftover soap foam on the floor.

Excitedly running, Murasaki slipped on it, fortunately grabbing a partition in front of him to prevent a head injury, but unfortunately, inside that partition was Kim Yu-seong, the strongest man in the academy.

Having spent about three months in the same class, Murasaki knew that Kim Yu-seong was more gentle than his fearsome reputation suggested, but last night during the courage test, when Kim burst out wearing a red oni mask, he almost wet his pants.

The destructive power of Kim’s deep, unique voice was beyond imagination.

And with his large size, the intimidation he provided was even greater.

Up to this point, everything was okay.

All he needed to do was offer a direct apology to Kim Yu-seong.

“Ah! Sorry…?”

So, Murasaki lifted his head to apologize, but at that moment…

He found himself staring directly into the eyes of a ‘yacha’.

“Uh!”

No, it was a mistake.

His overly developed back muscles had created the illusion of a ‘yaksha’s’ face. ¹

However, the overlap of the red oni mask he had seen the night before and the muscles etched on his back reignited his forgotten fear.

Shivering uncontrollably, his hands and feet began to tremble wildly.

In that state, Murasaki heard a stern warning from Kim Yu-seong, who was showering.

“Whoever you are, be careful. The floor is slippery.”

“Yes!”

Murasaki, responding loudly, managed to control his trembling body and hurried into the opposite shower room.

His two friends, who had been watching, asked if he was okay, but Murasaki didn’t respond and quickly turned on the water.

Even as steaming hot water cascaded over his head, the chill he felt lingered for a long time.

Murasaki realized something very clearly.

Only a strong individual like Kim Yu-seong could dominate the academy.

After showering and feeling refreshed, I noticed the stares from those around me were odd.

I realized it was because, unlike usual, I was wearing only a thin T-shirt that accentuated the contours of my body.

Feeling inexplicably shy, I hunched my body, and Mr. Matsuda, who was also in a short-sleeved tee like me, glanced at my body and quickly headed toward the dormitory.

It seemed he ran off, perhaps to avoid comparison.

Actually, Mr. Matsuda’s physique was quite impressive among ordinary people.

After drying my hair with a towel in the tent, I stepped outside just as the teachers were summoning everyone to gather in front of the campground.

It appeared the girls from the neighboring tent had already left, so Sakamoto, Satoru, and I made our way to the stage at a leisurely pace.

“Now, today’s schedule is to visit the Chiba Marine Ecology Park, have lunch at a nearby restaurant, and then return in the afternoon for a treasure hunt and campfire.”

The schedule was as previously announced.

Today’s schedule seemed more substantial than yesterday’s, which was somewhat relieving.

Had we been scheduled for environmental cleanup activities again today, there surely would have been complaints among the students.

“Alright, let’s get going, so everyone, please get on the bus!”

Following the teacher’s instructions, the second-year students began boarding the tour bus one by one.

It finally felt like we were on a real field trip.