"Well, should we head back now?" Kanji asked.
It was after they had rested for quite a while.
"...Yeah."
"Ah ha ha... Oh, damn, I forgot we need to retrace our steps," he admitted with a sheepish grin.
Airi looked at him in surprise but nodded coyly as she stood up and brushed the dust off her clothes.
Kanji checked his wristwatch and announced, "1:40."
Then he casually picked up the dry wood they'd collected, including half of what Airi was supposed to carry, and hoisted it onto his shoulder very naturally.
"It's in a gentleman's nature to show off in front of the ladies~," he teased her lightly, gesturing for Airi to walk beside him.
Meanwhile, Airi was unsure of what to say or do.
On one hand, she thought, 'Should I pick up more?' and on the other, 'But if I do, Ike kun would just carry more for no reason.'
She, in her own timid way was caught in her own internal conflict.
"Sakura?"
"Oh, yeah," she mumbled, deciding to walk beside him as he had told her to.
"Good girl..."
Hearing his soft whisper, Airi's cheeks couldn't help but become a little rosy.
She was pleased, but she didn't exactly know how to expressed herself, so she decided to keep quiet about it, lowering her head slightly.
But her hesitance never leave her alone fully.
Kanji subtly glance at her sideways, studying her slightly anxious, slightly rosy expression.
'Introverted people, when forced into a certain groups often feared to disappoint their teammates in order to avoid repercussions, the consequences may not even be something another may bat an eye on such settings.
But for the already timid persons they were, just receiving a few more seconds of attention than their daily dose is something utterly terrible.
Often in such cases, the stigma of someone who have no used is labelled upon them naturally, by either their teammates or themselves.
My Sakura probably felt that way too huh?'
There was no concrete basis for his guess, but he was almost certain that was the reason she was so concerned.
To the troubled Airi, Kanji averted his eyes and simply stated, "We can always make multiple trips, so don't be so concerned unnecessarily."
Nodding, Airi shifter her gaze at Kanji, just a moment after kanji removed his.
'Ike kun would look better with a different hairstyle, right?' She mused with a blush. 'Also... he's been acting weirdly.'
Indeed, he had been, 'but it isn't unpleasant either,' she thought.
Especially when he patiently spoke with her and stood up for her in the class.
Though he was occasionally playful and acted like a pervert, teasing her in a way that often flustered the pure rabbit that reside in her chest, Kanji knew when to stop in his own flimsy manner.
Airi also realized it was his attempt to make her feel close or comfortable with him.
To give off the idea that he was comfortable enough with her.
Though it was debatable whether or not that attempt actually worked.
In any case, after Airi had gained a bad reputation for refusing to help the class during their calamity, he was the only person who came to speak with her.
Well, not actually the only one.
There was Kushida, Yamauchi, Hirata and Ike, but Airi didn't like the attention they brought to her very much.
Among them, she especially was repulsed by Yamauchi and the energy he'd brought.
It was the truth that he often came and stood up for her, and it was unfortunate that Airi didn't like being in his vicinity.
The boy, according to her simple understanding was that, he resembles a snake.
That is, he prioritizes how he appeared to Airi instead of actually resolving things.
Often times, because of thus, he made her life even more difficult in the process to look good.
Because she didn't speak often, Airi was generally good at reading expressions and their nuances, so it wasn't terribly difficult for her to see what Yamauchi was really after.
She could see how timid he was around most classmates, but to her, he was overbearing and unpleasant.
Yamauchi made her uncomfortable, often, if not all the time.
He behaved as if Airi was indebted to him, even though she'd never request for his protection.
He acted on his own initiative and demanded reparation for things he was never tasked to do.
It was unpleasant.
Before, she felt nothing for Yamauchi, but, as mentioned, Airi was good at reading people and their intents.
So, her initial indifference was simple enough to turn into the feeling of dislike.
Although she wasn't sure if "hate" was too strong a word to describe her feelings for Yamauchi, but what she was certain, was that, the euphony she feels for the boy had nothing positive in them.
He was, simply put, disingenuous.
The person who put a collar on such a Yamauchi was this utterly ordinary boy walking beside her.
The boy wasn't strikingly beautiful, but he wasn't the most repugnant, appalling, awfully pungent creature either, as his reputation might have suggested.
Unlike Yamauchi, who stood up for her to gain something, Kanji did so simply because he wanted to.
But he wasn't much good at arguing, so often he attacked those he argued with personally.
Considering all this, it wasn't that terribly odd for Sakura Airi to become romantically attached to Ike Kanji.
To her alone, he was dazzlingly attractive.
"By the way, Sakura san," Kanji broke the silence while Airi was lost in her thoughts.
"Wha-what is it?..." She was a bit flustered.
'Maybe Ike Kun can read minds? what should I do? What to do? What to do? Maybe he thinks I'm a dirty girl? No I'm not like that...'
Her thoughts ran wildly, until Kanji add a few more words.
"Your... Ah, shit, I forgot... Spectacles, was it?..." He trailed off, "Anyway, those things, they have no power, right?"
"...Yes... You noticed?" she stammered, and sigh lightly.
She even realized how silly her thoughts were, but she couldn't risk it after all, forgive her.
But suddenly, her minds jolted awake, 'Ah, we held eye contact for a long time,' she thought, the tint of scarlet hue upon her cheeks become even more flourish.
"..."
Kanji, on the other hand, thought, 'What the hell is wrong with this girl?'
He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Sakura san, you're not inflicted with some kind of disease, are you?"
He was genuinely worried. 'Because, how the hell is it normal for a person to blush this suddenly? The speed at which her face heated up is completely abnormal.'
"N-no, I, I mean, I am not sure."
Unconvinced, he locked his eyes on her face and analyzed, 'Also, how could you ever trust Ike Kanji, of all people, to be alone with in the forest?
Of course, he was better than Yamauchi, but that was a single person compared to the entire class.
Even as a man, I would never be alone with Ike.'
He reproached Airi in his mind.
"That said..." he murmured softly to himself, 'Do I smell?'
It was a valid question because, from his memory, it wouldn't be weird if Ike, Yamauchi, and the professor, whose name he had forgotten, had been awfully pungent 24/7.
Processing all of this, he raised his free arm and took a whiff to make sure.
But again, he couldn't be entirely sure because the brain, given enough exposure to a certain filth, often adapts to live alongside the said awful odor for better efficiency.
He frowned slightly, pondering this.