Seeing this, she chuckled as she watched him fend off the fairies. It was only after another five minutes that the fairies finally back off and disappeared that Trey breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to them, "Phew, that takes care of the fairies. Everyone okay?"
"How swift you were, Trey. You could've taken even more time, you know." Rook praised him as he managed to keep the corner of the tent firmly under his grasp without wiping away the beasts of sweat coming down his forehead.
"Says the guy who's sweating bullets. Sorry I took so long." Trey apologized as he got back into the water and grabbed his corner again, "Okay, I've got my rope! Pull on my cue... Now!"
With one massive heave, the tent was pulled in revealing a giant ten feet catfish as the water rushed away from the sides!
"Ooo!" Grim cried out with excitement upon seeing the catfish as he rushed onto land, "There it is! It's giant, all right!"
"We've only got it halfway out of the water!" Trey shouted as he struggled to pull the catfish closer to the rocky shores, "Keep pulling!"
"It's putting up quite a fight!" Rook claimed as he struggled, "Very well, a battle it shall have!"
"Everybody get ready to pull together..." Trey loosened a little before he shouted and pulled with great force, "Now!"
"HRAAAGH!"
The tent with the catfish in tow was dragged onto land closer and closer to where Lotus and Yuu stood. Excited, Grim hurried over to the group, but he quickly stopped with a look of surprise as the catfish leapt out of the tent trap and high into the air!
"What?" Trey looked stunned as he was wiping away a bead of sweat just over his eyes, "Did that thing just jump up?"
The catfish had leapt forward towards Grim as Grim screamed making his way back to them in horror on all fours, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stay away, fishie!!!"
However, it was too late as the fish opened its jaws and landed where Grim had been.
"MRAAAAAAAH!!!"
Taking gulps of air, Rook managed to smile in satisfaction upon seeing their catch, "Marvelous! We dragged the catfish out of the water!"
"Yeah, good job," Trey nodded with a puzzled expression, "But, why'd it suddenly lunged for us like that?"
"Um, guys? Where's Grim?" Yuu looked around in bewilderment expecting Grim to be the first to inspect their catch.
"Didn't you all hear a scream just now?" Lotus snickered.
"Good job... My foot!" A muffled voice came out much to their surprise as they could not see the cat anywhere.
"Grim?" Trey looked around in bewilderment, "Where are you?"
Hearing this, Lotus began to laugh out loud at the sight. Rook, curious, followed her gaze and exclaimed in shock, "Look, Grim's legs are sticking out of the catfish's maw!"
"Oh, CRUD." Trey was taken aback in shock before hurrying over and grabbing the jaws, "Don't just stand there, Lotus! I'll get its mouth open. Yuu and Lotus, you pull Grim out."
Having stopped her laughing much to her dismay, she reached over with Yuu and they grabbed a hold of Grim. Trey did a countdown, "On three... One, two, three!"
With as much strength as he could muster, Trey pried open the jaws of the fish as Yuu and Lotus easily pulled Grim out. Once out, Grim immediately gasped for air as he shouted rather teary eyed, "Ugh, took ya long enough! Now, I'm all wet and slimy... That sucked big time."
"Are you okay?" Trey struggled not to laugh as he glanced away, "I definitely didn't expect it to try and eat you."
"MAN! It looked right at me and pounced!" Grim stomped angrily.
"You were certainly right about its voracious appetite." Rook chuckled, "To think it prioritized eating even as it was getting caught."
"And it went after Grim." Trey wore a dry smile, "And, he's way bigger than a pigeon. I'm just glad you're not hurt."
Lotus chuckled, "For a second there, I thought you may as well have turned into a catfish for them."
"Fgna! That wasn't funny!" Grim hissed at her angrily, "Why don't you go stick your head into that thing's mouth?!"
Hearing this, Lotus laughed, "I'd have punched it until it spat me outside or I punched it to death."
"Ugh..." Grim grumbled in dismay, "Forget it. Those do sound like something you would do."
"Ghost!" Yuu called over to the plump ghost as it hurried over to them, "This group has completed the task!"
The ghost examined the fish and nodded with a smile, "The Science Club has completed the challenge! Here's your Vargas badge."
Receiving the red badge with the gold figure of a deer skull on it, Trey thanked the ghost as Grim complained in disgust, "Yech... I smell like shrimp and bugs and grass now."
"Oh, it's not so bad." Rook pointed out with a smile.
"YES IT IS!" Grim shouted angrily.
"Haha, thanks, Grim." Trey patted Grim's slimy head as he tried to console the poor cat, "We couldn't have gotten through that challenge without you. Say, since we caught it, how about we haul it back to camp and cook it up?"
"Lunch?! Nyaha! Count me in!" Grim cheered as he followed after Rook and the group hurriedly.
"Ah, Grim!" Yuu called out. However, Grim was already too far ahead with the club members. He sighed in dismay as he began to follow after the group. Yet, he was soon interrupted by a small voice whispering behind him. He paused and glanced back.
"It's quite strange that you came to find me out in the open, Trey-senpai."
It was Lotus? He made his way back and noticed the pair talking as he quickly ducked behind a nearby tree.
"Is it?" Trey wore a dry smile before.
Lotus chuckled, "Do I seem foolish enough to pull off something out in the open?"
"What are you talking about?" Trey looked to her as she laughed.
"Nothing... Just gotta say..." She gestured over to the caves and smirked, "Perhaps, you should've asked Vil for more advice on acting."
With that, she left him and made her way back to the camp. Yuu remained quiet as Trey took a deep sigh then fell back down as he looked up seemingly nervous. Yuu frowned before going to Trey and reached out his hand.
"Yuu!" Trey looked to him in surprise, "Ah, just now..."
"You got yourself involved with Lotus too, then?"
"That..." Trey hesitated with a troubled look.
"Lotus doesn't mean harm... Is what I want to say." Yuu took a deep breath and wore a similar trouble look, "I'm sorry that I couldn't step in."
"No." Trey took his hand and got up, "It was probably better that you didn't get involved. However, you seemed to have been well aware of his behavior."
"You mean when he always leaves out at night to do something suspicious or how he is actually the next club leader of the Science club yet hides his achievements behind my back?"
Trey looked to him in surprise as he hummed curiously, "So, you knew all along."
"Not as much as I hoped." Yuu frowned as he continued, "Perhaps this time would be a better time than most. However, even if I take one step forward."
"He takes another step back, right?" Trey responded with a nod, "Do you plan to stop him?"
Yuu grimaced, "Even if I try to intervene now, I'm afraid it may make him take even more drastic actions, but I'm certain, if I wait for the time I can intervene, I won't be here by then."
"That's right... You aren't from this world." Trey frowned, "You're going to return home at some point, but why can't you intervene now?"
"Since he left you alone, then you probably know the answer or can come to it yourself." Yuu shook his head, "Each night he sneaks out of the dorm, and each day, he returns covered in bandages. If it was off campus, then I'd have called the headmaster, but he never talks with anyone about his troubles and he never leaves the campus. Otherwise, the ghosts would've already been on alert."
"However, you can't sit aside and let it pass." Trey frowned, "If that were to happen..."
Yuu knew instantly what he was referring to. He nodded, "I understand. However, I won't be able to tackle this alone. Not when someone on campus has been attacking him and caused him so much injury. I don't know if you have noticed, Trey-senpai. However, Lotus is a skilled fighter. He is fast and flexible when he moves. Even Coach Vargas commends his strength and speed. So, why is it that he is always returning to the dorm harmed so badly that he is covered in bandages? Lotus is also very close with the professors and the other dorm leaders. However, not one person has noticed this. It has only been me."
"Only you?" Trey hummed in deep thoughts, "However, it's already been a few months now. There has to be someone who has noticed. So, why haven't anyone reported this to the staffs? No, unless..."
"Unless he can actually use magic?" Yuu finished with a frown, "I think so too..."
Trey frowned as his thoughts had been confirmed before he continued, "Talking about things here will not be a good idea."
"It should be all right." Yuu frowned, "Because, if it hadn't, he wouldn't have talked to you the way he did earlier, right?"
Trey thought for a bit and frowned. It was true now that he thought about it. He opened his mouth, "Last night, Rook had left the tent so I followed after him. I wasn't sure where he was going, but I knew that he should have known I was following him. He has good senses, after all. However, I didn't know what he was doing and, when I was about to ask, I found him staring at something from afar. Lotus was chatting with Malleus over something and seemed to get along quite well. I didn't understand what they were talking about, but Malleus probably mentioned something and Lotus glanced in our direction. When he smiled, I knew that we were somehow caught even though we were so far away and hiding. You know Rook isn't someone who would show his emotions that easily, but, last night, he quickly told me to run and pretend that I saw nothing. I didn't quite understood the situation or why we needed to escape, but he split up from me after that. When I looked back I saw that Lotus had captured Rook and he was standing on the tree top holding his neck with one hand. Rook couldn't even fight back at all, which was very strange. When I returned, I had gone to hide in my tent and act as though I had never left at all just as Rook said. This morning, I saw that he was back, but he did not recall anything that happened the night before. I wondered if it had been all just a dream, but my boots still has mud from the trek last night. So, it couldn't have been a dream, then."