"Hey man! Why the hell didn't you invite me to your group to pick firewood?" Haruki accused aggressively.
This confrontation followed Kanji's disclosure of the information about Ibuki to Hirata and Kushida, leaving her in their hands.
"I didn't know you were interested in picking sticks," Kanji replied nonchalantly, unaware that the original Kanji had indeed invited Haruki, who had refused.
Seeing his friend exploit the chance to be alone with the girl he had been pursuing, Haruki was, to put it mildly, irritated.
Kanji's half-hearted response only fueled Haruki's anger, making him so agitated that he was practically tearing out his hair.
Just as Haruki was about to give Kanji a piece of his mind, Kanji sighed lightly and handed him the sticks he had been carrying.
He gestured with his eyes toward the center of the camp, where a few stacks of firewood lay haphazardly piled.
"Put them there first, then you can speak."
Interrupting Haruki, who was still preparing to argue, Kanji exclaimed irritably, "IT'S HEAVY! DUMBASS. Take it and move first."
Startled, Haruki quickly took the wood. "OH, S-sorry. M-my bad."
"Stupid..." Kanji muttered under his breath and started walking, with Haruki trailing closely behind.
'Well, all of that was a lie, though.'
Kanji never intended to listen to Haruki's complaints, nor was he actually burdened by the sticks he carried.
At the moment, he was about two and a half times stronger than Haruki.
His sole reason for doing what he did was to deflect this filthy sod and stop him from speaking.
As Kanji slowly covered the distance, he glanced quickly at the two completed tents standing side by side.
'From my memory, I think both of these tents were exclusively for the girls,' Kanji assessed.
'They also brought many things to enhance their comfort, as I recall.'
Knitting his brows subtly, Kanji averted his gaze from that direction and scoffed softly.
In simple terms, he was a bit salty, like an older sibling reluctantly giving up the colorful piece of a birthday cake.
He couldn't help but click his tongue; in the end, he was still displeased with this arrangement, even though he had no intention of complaining.
As a man, he understood and accepted that he could tolerate more than the ladies, and in truth, he wished to be more accommodating.
This was potentially the first time anyone present had ever slept outdoors afterall, so he had no theoretical complaints about yielding something simple, especially to the more delicate sex.
In the end, despite all that was said, there remained a question as to why he would internally complain.
The reason was surprisingly simple.
'I have never slept outdoors before. I have no idea if I can even face the bugs.'
He sighed helplessly and looked around, assessing the structure of the camp and its surroundings in general.
The reflection of mysterious bugs—some with hairs, some with legs, and some with none—jumping and flying around immediately caught his eye.
Halting his steps, he stared at them blankly—like the generational nemesis of his bloodline they were.
Shocked, he couldn't even fathom why the sticks he'd been carrying so comfortably for the past fifteen minutes suddenly felt so much heavier, like Atlas feeling the sky press down upon him with every step.
His eyesight, unbeknownst to him, became so impermanently precise that, without exaggeration, Kanji could vividly count the number of their legs, the antenna like things in their mouths, and even the musky powder coating their tiny body entirely, and glistening their shell.
The gradual sensation of warm, tingly goosebumps slowly roamed his body, starting from his legs and violently prickling his entire skin.
The only reason he hadn't freaked out was his sheer willpower and his fear that a certain someone might notice his character change.
The current Kanji planned to slowly adapt and integrate himself like the old Kanji and enjoy this new life granted to him.
However, it was deeply troubling that he had transmigrated during the first island exam.
As it stood, he had to live with his classmates for a week, during which they might or might not notice his new demeanor, entirely different from before.
Initially, he planned to act like the Kanji from the novel, but recalling the ten minute walk he had with Airi and Ibuki, he felt that was unlikely to pass.
The old Kanji, this soul felt, was too appalling to imitate.
Even when attempted, he always felt a great dissonance between the two.
So, it was not unnatural for anyone else to realize it either, as they had lived with that bum for almost four months now.
Ultimately, he concluded that he should stop imitating the old Kanji, as it brought him a great amount of discomfort.
This does not mean he would act completely opposite to him, however, as that would most definitely be suspicious and likely reveal his change.
Future memory, besides his intellect, was the only thing this soul was proud of, after all.
Although he did plan to change many upcoming events, especially the ending of the original novel.
It is his desire that the plot should resemble the original timeline for a period of time, at least until the end of the zodiac exam.
"Hey, why did you suddenly stop walking?" Haruki pulled him out of his trance, his voice still nasty and disgruntled.
"Ay, Haruki?..." Kanji addressed him, continuing his walk, "Where is Ayanokoji-san?"
While he assessed the bugs and their fighting capability, that was not the only thing he did.
He also counted the number of people present, and besides him, Haruki, and Airi, only 32 people were "hanging around," doing nothing particularly impressive.
"What? What did you pay attention to?" Haruki asked skeptically.
"Yeah, yeah, sorry, just tell me, okay?" Kanji shrugged.
Haruki raised his brow but, thinking it was not worth arguing, answered, "...Chabashira-sensei said she has a medical issue and could not come... You, you were the one who asked her."
"Ay?!" Kanji glanced back at Haruki, asking impatiently, "What kind of medical issue?"
"Who knows... Sensei didn't answer... Were you sleep talking, Kanji?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Kanji replied half hearted on the surface. But inside, he was in deep trouble.
'Not good, not good. I don't think Kanji has any points left, did he? I recall he spent most of his points stupidly... How can I enjoy my life like that?!' he screamed internally.
'What to do... What to do... What to do.... I can't extort money from this man, right?' Kanji questioned himself, looking secretly at the still disgruntled Haruki.
'No, he would, of course, be poor, or even poorer than Kanji. Fuck, man! Fuck!'
On autopilot, he shrugged off the woods from his shoulder violently, creating a loud noise and attracting all the attention to himself.
He didn't even realize the disturbance he caused for a few seconds.
In a slight distance from everyone else, Ibuki was sitting lazily down, silently staring at Kanji, as if deeply interested in the boy.
Even Sakura, who was seated slightly further from Ibuki, was startled, tentatively looking at Kanji and trying to figure out what went wrong.
And opposite from where they were, Suzune was also glaring at Kanji, displeasure etched all across her face.
Before, she had been huddling by herself like a little cocoon, wearing a jacket and staring at the settlement calmly.
Until Kanji interrupted her supremely important task of idling.
Yosuke, Ken, Shinohara, Kikyo, Teruhiko, and the other girls standing close to the gently flowing river were also casting surprised glances in his direction.
The instruction manual was in Yosuke's hand. That said, with a swift glance, anyone could notice he was holding it to show everyone present.
With the violent clamor Kanji generated, along with those mentioned, all his other classmates fell silent and shifted their attention toward Kanji, like deer caught in headlights, gazing serenely at the fast moving car that would hit them.
'Awkward...'
In such heavy silence, only one person could speak, and utilizing that capability, he shouted at Kanji.
"Hey, what the hell, man?! You freaked me the fuck out!!!"
—SNAP
"Ah! SORRY, HARUKI," Kanji snapped his finger.
"A BEE WAS FLYING CLOSE TO MY EARS! IT SCARED THE LIVING HELL OUT OF ME, HA HA HA HA." Kanji exclaimed loudly.
"Tch, you're acting hella weird, be careful."
Haruki scolded, also throwing down the stacks he'd carried almost as loudly as Kanji did.
"Sure, sure..." Kanji replied, bending his spine and rearranging the firewood that had been haphazardly piled.
It irritated him to no end.
From the moment he first laid eyes on them, he was afraid his irises might burst from the collateral discomfort.
And soon, ignoring his autistic behavior, his classmates resumed their lounging and filled the surrounding air with their chatter again.
Kanji also finished arranging the sticks in the blink of an eye.
Ignoring some stray attention cast on him, he plopped himself down quickly, preparing to start the campfire.
"I'm going to speak with Sakura chan now, bye Kanji." Haruki siddenly said, in a happy mood, and almost immediately ran off.
Kanji extended his arms, wanting to stop Haruki, but he was a beat late as Haruki was already out of his reach.
Perhaps because of his earlier actions, Kushida was still, from time to time, gazing at him.
The moment Kanji cast his gaze around with a frown, searching for someone to leash Haruki, the two made eye contact.
Truthfully, this soul had Kushida as one of his favorite characters.
But she was also, as a person, someone he would utterly loathe to associate with the most.
'This case is different, though,' Kanji compelled himself and signaled Kushida with his eyes at Haruki.
'She understood, right?'
Seeing his signal, Kushida quickly said something to Hirata and co., who were still having a heated discussion, and left.
Giggling toward Kanji, she made an 'OK' sign with her hand and approached Airi, who was quietly sitting by her lonesome self.
'Well... Good enough...' Kanji nodded.
Once Kushida reached Airi, she whispered something that made Airi shyly glance over at Kanji, waving her little hand with a small smile.
Kanji ignored Haruki's belligerent stare. Now that he had peace of mind, he turned his attention away and focused entirely on starting the campfire.
He soon took the matchsticks Yosuke had given him, selected a few smaller sticks, and swiftly ignited the bonfire.
The entire process took less than fifteen minutes. Despite it being his first attempt, it was far easier than he had initially feared.
"With that," he mumbled, standing up.
He looked around again and noticed that he no longer attracted any attention besides a select few.
"Phew..." Kanji sighed lightly, dusting himself off.
'That was terribly uncomfortable.'
Twisting his body and stretching his waist, he stared at Suzune, who still had her attention on him, and mouthed gibberish to her.
It needn't be coherent, because he was sure she would still follow him out of curiosity like a little cat.
He thumped the ground a few times and moved toward Hirata, who had finished his discussion and was now helping the girls settle into their tent.
"AYO, HIRATA!" Kanji Called out.
"Hmm... Oh, what is it, Ike kun?" Hirata shout back from the Tent
There were a few girls, including Shinohara, who wanted to stop Ike from approaching their tent.
To that, he simply stated, "I finished preparing the campfire," pointing, and adding, "Horikita chan wanted some help, so I was wondering if you were willing?" He raised one brow as he speak.
"Eh? She said that to you?" Hirata was suprised, shifting his gaze to Kanji's rear.
He was visibly baffled to see that Suzune was slowly approaching the tent.
"Yup. Come with me," Kanji nodded.
"Uhmmm... Can't you do it alone?" Hirata asked with an awkward smile, looking around.
Understanding his conflict, Kanji stared at Kushida and waved for her and Airi to come over.
"He's still preoccupied; can't you wait for it?" Shinohara intervened, looking at Suzune.
"We can't," Kanji responded calmly, "Besides, he is a guy; he should not be in the girls' tent."
As soon as he finished his statement, even before Shinohara could offer a snarky retort, there was a voice reverberating from inside the tent.
"Hey? What the hell are you saying?"
"Oh, did you not hear it?" Kanji asked, raising an eyebrow.
The absence of malice in his tone and the lack of sarcasm made his words even more irritating.
Before the conflict could intensify, Yosuke intervened again.
"Ike kun, I can finish on my own; can you just wait for a bit?... It won't be long." His smile was worrisome.
"Well, can't—."
"Soooooo... Annoying." The queen bee, who, up until that point, had been resting in her chamber, finally emerged.
Crossing her arms and squinting her eyes, she stared defiantly at Kanji.
"So what's your problem? Can't you even wait?"
"Karuizawa san, it's okay."
"Well, I hope you don't regret it, Hirata." Kanji ignored Kei and simply stated.
Not even waiting for any kind of rebuttal, he turned and took his steps.
Exchanging a few words with Horikita, Kanji snapped his finger a few times and they walked off to the forest.
Horikita appeared exceptionally annoyed as she follows Kanji's lead.
Hirata, at this moment, was deeply conflicted.
His palms were starting to sweat profusely, with a line upon his forehead, he simply could not look away from where the pair disappeared.
"When did Horikita san and Ike become so close?" one girl asked skeptically.
"Who knows," Shinohara responded irritably.
"He's so arrogant," Kei complained, with the fervor of a cat whose nap was disturbed, "Talking to Yosuke kun like that. Uh, geez... so annoying."
That was the last push Yosuke needed before deciding to follow Kanji.
His demeanor and statement were too unsettling to just leave it be.
"Karuizawa san, Shinohara san, I'm going to follow Ike-kun and Horikita san."
While he was talking, Kushida had already reached his side, so he quickly addressed her.
"Kushida-san, please assist them. Horikita san urgently needs assistance." He let out in one breath.
"Umm..." With a smile, Kushida nodded obediently.
While making sure not to draw more attention, Yosuke swiftly ran after the two, not even listening to what his "girlfriend" had to say.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello it's me, I realize this sounds kind of shameless after I had not uploaded for 2 weeks, but give me powerstone.
Also, Aizen vs Itachi, who is a better character in your judgement?