Although we ended up running significantly behind schedule, we managed to successfully complete all our assigned tasks.
As a precaution, a teacher had Katsurama lean on his shoulder and walked him to a point along the trekking course accessible by vehicle, allowing him to head back to the lodge ahead of the rest of us.
Needless to say, he glared at me the moment I crossed the finish line.
Dinner preparation took place by group in the outdoor cooking area.
Tonight's menu was curry.
Eating curry while taking in the natural scenery was hard to beat.
In fact, it was the single thing I had been looking forward to during this entire trip.
With Katsurama reduced to a useless ornament because of his injury, the rest of us got straight to cooking.
As Hiiragi and Shinonome chopped ingredients with practiced hands, their knives clattering rhythmically against the cutting boards, Masanori nodded in admiration.
"Wow, you're both really good at this."
Hiiragi puffed out her chest with pride.
"Heheh, I'm working hard on my bridal training for my darling, after all! I even make my own bento every single day, you know?"
"Ahaha, your boyfriend's a lucky guy, Sakura."
Glancing up at Masanori as he said that, Shinonome murmured quietly.
"I... help out with the cooking at home."
"Oh, that's great of you. I've never cooked once in my life, so I couldn't pull that off."
"I-It's really nothing special."
"I'll just stay out of the way and wash the dishes so I don't mess anything up. Mind if I take the spot next to you?"
"...Sure."
Her face flushing, Shinonome quickly looked down, but the moment she caught me watching her with a lukewarm stare, she shot a sharp glare right back at me.
Even Katsurama, sitting there like a decorative statue, glared at me as if I were his sworn enemy.
As far as you're concerned, you should be resenting Masanori, not me...
She plays the sweet girl for Masanori, but when it comes to me, she's fiercely defiant to the bitter end.
Assigned to salad duty, I ended up slicing vegetables alongside Amanatsu.
Gripping her kitchen knife like a hammer, Amanatsu took a series of suspiciously nervous, deep breaths before bringing the blade down before I could even stop her.
With a violent thud that rattled the cutting board, the blade slammed down.
"...Amanatsu, what are you doing?"
"N-No, wait!"
Amanatsu flusteredly held up an entirely unscathed cabbage.
"Right, it's like the knife refused to cut something unworthy at the very last second!"
"What is your knife, the Zantetsuken?"
I couldn't believe she had actually planned on making me a bento with skills like that.
Amanatsu's head drooped in defeat.
"I'm bad with kitchen knives, but my aim in FPS games is really good. Seriously, it is."
She's hopeless.
She's the kind of person who should never, under any circumstances, be allowed near a blade.
"Let me see that."
Snatching the knife from her, I gave her a quick rundown on how to hold the handle properly. Slicing cabbage doesn't require brute force. If anything, forcing it only crushes the crisp, fresh leaves and turns them into a soggy mess.
The trick is to hold it lightly and cut with a pulling motion.
To keep this clumsy girl from picking up any bad habits, I deliberately maintained a slow, steady pace as I shredded the cabbage.
"Try doing it like this."
My cabbage retained its crisp texture, falling away into neat, fine strips.
This way, the crunch wouldn't be ruined, and it would taste great.
"...Hatsukade-kun, you know how to cook too, huh."
"When I eat alone at home, I just don't want to eat terrible food, so I ended up getting better at it."
"Even your reasons are just so Hatsukade-kun..."
After that, I finished slicing all the vegetables while keeping a watchful eye on her so she wouldn't hurt herself.
For now, I made a silent vow to stop Amanatsu with everything I had if she ever tried to make me a bento.
The curry turned out delicious.
Setting aside how unpleasant it was to eat around Hiiragi, the taste itself left nothing to be desired.
A curry roux packed with corporate ingenuity is truly a magnificent thing.
Once the cleanup was finished, we were given some free time.
I leaned my back against a splendid beech tree in the open square and cracked open a book.
Lifting my gaze slightly, I saw a few students passing by, whispering and snickering at me from a distance.
They were probably thinking something petty, like how pathetic it was that I was still a loner even on a school trip.
Watching their backs as they walked away, I casually tuned in to my surroundings.
Carried on the cool evening breeze rustling through the foliage, the excited chatter of students reached me from afar.
"Hey, Arima's apparently gonna confess during the fireworks tonight!"
"Whoa, talk about guts. Man, I want a girlfriend too—"
Why do people chase romance so desperately?
No, maybe it was wrong of me to dismiss it out of hand.
Before my childhood friend betrayed me, I'm sure the old me was just like them.
Back then, I had genuinely hoped for a happy future by her side.
Yet even without what happened, even if we had dated normally, we might have broken up eventually anyway.
That's just the nature of romance.
At the end of the day, it's nothing more than a passing phase of youth.
There are plenty of other enjoyable things in life.
And countless people end up carrying lifelong regrets because of romance.
To me, it seemed like a game far too fraught with danger for immature high schoolers to be playing.
After washing away the day's sweat in the lodge's large communal bath, I changed into my track suit.
I felt like crawling straight into my futon to read until I fell asleep, but since the fireworks were part of the itinerary, I had no choice.
Reluctantly heading back to the square, I received handheld fireworks from Shinonome, the lifestyle coordinator, who was handing them out to each group.
While we were technically supposed to stay within our assigned groups, almost nobody followed the rule, and the teachers seemed content to turn a blind eye so long as everyone was having a good time.
Beside me, Amanatsu was struggling with a lighter, clicking it repeatedly without catching a flame.
Tilting her head, she peered closely at the firework that stubbornly refused to ignite.
I took hold of the hand she was holding the firework with.
"It'll be dangerous if it catches fire while you're looking at it like that. Be more careful."
Supporting her hand, I angled the tip downward.
Her face flushing red, Amanatsu looked up at me through her lashes.
"Y-Yeah. Thank you, Hatsukade-kun."
"..."
Brushing off her feverish gaze, I lit the candle included in the firework package.
"Here. This is safer."
"Then let's light them together."
"Sure."
Holding the paper tip over the flame, the gunpowder ignited with a sharp, crackling pop.
I watched the vivid sparks blaze brightly against the night.
"Hehehe, it's so pretty. I really wanted to do fireworks with you, Hatsukade-kun."
"Is that so? Glad to hear it."
I stole a glance at Amanatsu's profile, illuminated by the glow of the sparks.
Her face, relaxing into a joyful smile, was immaculately made up.
Even so, what exactly drove her to choose to stay by my side?
I had already made it abundantly clear that I had no intention of reciprocating her feelings.
As the fireworks drew to a close, all that remained were the sparklers.
It was right then.
"Just give me a break already!"
A sharp voice cut through the air.
Turning toward the sound, I saw Shinonome, who had screamed, and Katsurama, who was visibly flustered and cowering before her.
The atmosphere was instantly charged with tension.
Glaring furiously at Katsurama, Shinonome violently dragged her fingers through her hair and yelled.
"What is your problem?! Always following me around everywhere!"
"S-Shii-chan, what's wrong?!"
"Don't play dumb! You know full well how much I hate it!"
"I just wanted to do fireworks with you, Shii-chan—"
The pleasant atmosphere vanished in an instant.
The students who had been laughing and enjoying the fireworks fell silent, their eyes fixed on the two of them.
However, completely consumed by rage, Shinonome didn't even notice.
"I told you not to come near me! So why do you keep following me around?!"
"B-Because..."
"You saw that I like Masanori-kun and got rejected by him, didn't you?! You know there's no way we could ever be together! It's already hard enough for me just being in that classroom, but every single time, you treat me like I'm special and meddle in my business, making things ten times worse! Please, just stop it already!"
"Wait!"
As Shinonome turned to run, Katsurama grabbed her arm, causing her to cry out in pain.
"Let go of me!"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
Not a single person was enjoying the fireworks anymore.
Finally registering the heavy silence settling over the square, Shinonome glanced around at the crowd before letting out a pathetic "Ah," her mouth hanging slightly open.
"What are you two doing?!"
Sensing the disturbance, a male teacher stepped in to separate them with a sharp reprimand.
"What on earth happened here?"
Her face pale, she trembled faintly, unable to answer.
Katsurama chose to remain silent as well.
Just then, a girl stepped forward from a group of students and raised her hand.
"Sensei, I saw the whole thing. Katsurama-kun was just looking out for Shinonome-san because she looked lonely and by herself, but it seems like Shinonome-san was in a bad mood and totally snapped at him."
When the girl delivered her account with a chillingly deadpan expression, the teacher placed a steadying hand on Katsurama's shoulder.
"Is that true, Katsurama?"
"...Um... yes."
The quiet giggles of the other girls reached my ears.
"What about you, Shinonome?"
"..."
Ignoring the teacher completely, she looked away.
The teacher's brows furrowed with concern, his tone calm and measured.
"I'll hear both your sides individually. For now, you two head back to the lodge and wait. I'll go get the other teachers, so come with me."
Once they were out of sight, the tension snapped, and a wave of disgruntled muttering rippled through the crowd.
"Tch, Shinonome again? How many times is she gonna ruin the mood when everyone's just trying to have fun?"
"Man, I was just about to confess, but the vibe is totally dead now."
Hearing the boys' complaints, the group of girls from earlier chimed in, approaching with practiced expressions of victimhood.
"Right? The whole class has been so gloomy lately because of Shinonome-san."
"I mean, the moment she pulled that fake confession, we all knew her personality was trash anyway."
Amanatsu's face contorted uncomfortably.
At least to my eyes, she and Shinonome had seemed to reconcile reasonably well when we went shopping for trekking gear.
Yet no matter how well the two of them made up, it wasn't going to fix the way everyone else viewed Shinonome.
"Come on, everyone, let's calm down! I'm sure Shii-chan had her reasons. Let's not dwell on that and just enjoy the rest of the fireworks!"
When Hiiragi stepped in with her usual bright smile, the boys sheepishly grinned and readily agreed, easily swayed by her cheerful tone.
Shut down completely, the other girls forced dry smiles and slunk away.
◇
The atmosphere for the remainder of the overnight field trip was utterly miserable.
I didn't know what kind of discussion took place among the teachers, but it was officially decided that Shinonome and Katsurama had apologized to each other and made amends, meaning they remained in the same group right up to the end.
Well, judging from how Shinonome looked when she was led away, she probably hadn't said a single word in her own defense. That was just like her, stubborn and overly proud. She probably thought that even confiding in someone was beneath her.
On the bus ride back, a stifling air hung exclusively around Shinonome.
If Hiiragi and Amanatsu hadn't gone out of their way to speak to her, I doubt she would have opened her mouth once.
Naturally, once things deteriorated to this point, time alone wasn't going to fix it anytime soon.
Even into the week following the overnight field trip, Shinonome's terrible reputation continued to haunt the classroom.
Just going about my day, snide whispers and gossip about her reached my ears several times every afternoon.
The reason the resentment ran so deep was likely because her reputation had been so high to begin with.
What was it again... the class's "healing presence," right?
I didn't know who had coined the phrase, but the sheer speed of their collective turnabout was something to behold.
Hiiragi fought desperately to help her integrate back into the class, but to me, it felt entirely pointless.
Setting Katsurama's meddling aside, tracing the issue back to its source, the ultimate culprit was undoubtedly Shinonome herself.
No matter how much the people around her tried to help, in the end, it was her own problem to resolve.
And with Shinonome maintaining that prickly attitude, nothing was ever going to change.
She took isolation to the extreme, acting as though she were severing all ties with the world around her.
Her conversations with Hiiragi and Amanatsu dwindled noticeably as well.
And most surprising of all, Katsurama was still occasionally trying to talk to her.
He acted like the bigger person, putting on a saintly act and claiming he didn't hold a grudge anymore.
That, in turn, only served to elevate Katsurama's standing among our peers, creating an environment where people praised him for being so mature after everything she had said.
What an absolute farce...
On Friday, when I headed to my usual vending machine in the courtyard, Shinonome was sitting alone on a bench.
Ignoring her, I was in the middle of buying my usual can of coffee when a dark, sullen voice reached me.
"Well? Are you satisfied now?"
Popping the tab, I took a sip and tilted my head.
"With what?"
"You can tell just by looking. The world really works the way it's supposed to, doesn't it? Everything I did came right back around to bite me. You think I'm pathetic too, don't you?"
Her words were so absurd that I was genuinely dumbfounded.
Stepping in front of her, I slowly savored the bitterness of the coffee.
"I don't think it's enough, honestly. I've told you this plenty of times, but you still haven't apologized to me."
Exhaling a dry breath, Shinonome curled her lips into a bitter smirk, her eyes dull and lifeless.
"That's so like you, Hatsukade. Merciless right to the bitter end. But too bad for you, because you're never getting that chance."
Standing up from the bench, she spoke as she brushed past me.
"I'm talking to my dad tomorrow, and I'm transferring schools. I'm taking off starting next week, too. I can't stay in a place like this anymore. You must be thrilled."
Watching her back as she walked away, I tossed the empty can into the recycling bin.
◇
The next day, with nothing in particular to do, I was lounging on the sofa at home.
Every now and then, at random, quiet moments like this, the memories would resurface.
What my childhood friend did to me.
And what I did back to her in return.
Honestly, I didn't have a single regret about cutting ties with that girl.
That was how furious I had been, and she never once apologized to me right up to the end.
Because of that fake confession stunt in middle school, I had become the laughingstock of the entire class.
However, once I held every single person involved accountable and silenced them, all that accumulated malice shifted onto my childhood friend.
Self-serving hypocrites exist everywhere.
Just as the video of my fake confession stopped circulating on social media, a video of her crying pathetically apparently went viral in its place.
I didn't lift a finger.
I had no reason to forgive her.
Why should I, the victim, have to reach out a helping hand?
Still... if she had offered an honest, genuine apology back then, maybe things could have turned out differently.
Taking a sip of my coffee, the bitterness settled heavily in my empty stomach.
Glancing up, I checked the digital clock on the wall.
—Saturday, 2:41 PM.
Maybe I'll go grab some ramen.