January fourth. The bite of winter still hadn't entirely faded.
Shikime Natsu and the rest of Class A rode the school bus out toward the exam site. On the way, Mashima Tomonari announced the contents of this special exam. It was called the Mixed Training Camp, and all three grades of the school would take part in it together, over a span of about a week. During that week, students were to form teams freely with students from other classes; the school itself wouldn't impose any particular restrictions.
Of course, "mixed" didn't mean boys and girls paired up together. It referred to the four classes mixing: students would be split into small groups for the exam, those small groups would then combine with groups from the other grades into larger ones, and the results would be scored according to the curriculum set for this special exam.
This special exam wasn't especially cruel either. As long as a group's score came in above the standard line, the outcome would be one with no expulsions at all.
Shikime Natsu sorted the rules out in his head. Naturally, none of it amounted to much of a trial for him — if anything, this exam was simply a trip to a change of scenery.
"All right. When you get off the bus, please hand your electronic devices over to me. As before, electronics are not permitted during this exam."
Mashima Tomonari let his gaze travel over the students as he spoke, unhurried, just before they filed off. He was taking this exam fairly seriously; he wondered whether these Class A kids could manage once they were separated from Shikime Natsu.
Then again, he suspected the worry was unnecessary. They had all been assigned to Class A on the very first day of school, after all.
Before long the bus rolled to a stop. Shikime Natsu rose from his seat and stepped down with the flow of students.
Ahead lay a cluster of buildings raised against the mountainside — several wooden, Japanese-style structures spread at pleasing intervals along the slope, ringed by dense forest.
The air was fresh, carrying the faint green scent of grass and trees.
Honestly, the place was a good deal nicer than Shikime Natsu had expected.
At the very least, it beat conditions on the Deserted Island by a wide margin.
That said, getting from the drop-off point up to the lodging area meant a long uphill walk.
The path was laid with uneven stone steps and pitched rather steeply — an unmistakable little show of force aimed squarely at students short on stamina.
Shikime Natsu climbed with an easy stride, taking the steps at an unhurried pace while mapping the layout of the grounds with his eyes.
Maybe he'd use the free-activity period later to go exploring.
After a stretch of walking, he noticed the students around him had strung out into separate waves.
The fit ones led the way. Those with less endurance lagged behind, breathing hard, stopping in twos and threes at the roadside to rest.
Shikime Natsu wasn't moving fast. He kept the leisurely rhythm of a stroll, though his gaze flicked back over his shoulder once, so lightly it hardly counted as a glance.
Someone was following him. And frankly, whoever it was had thoroughly amateur tailing skills.
He didn't turn, didn't break stride — the picture of a man who'd noticed nothing at all. He already knew who it was, though. Ibuki Mio. A rare visitor indeed.
What she wanted, trailing after him of her own accord, he had no idea, though it hardly mattered. He kept walking, then shifted his route slightly. Ibuki Mio stayed with him the whole way, neither closing nor falling off, holding a gap of about twenty meters.
Ibuki Mio ducked behind a thick tree trunk, half her head poking out, those blue-violet eyes locked hard on his back, her expression a tangle.
She didn't know why she'd followed him either. She'd only caught a glimpse of him as she got off the bus, and then her feet had started moving as though something had taken hold of them.
By the time she came back to herself, she'd tailed him the entire way up.
That business on the Deserted Island — fine, she admitted she'd never properly settled it with him. But that was no reason to be trailing him now, was it?
Granted, however she framed it, she still owed Shikime Natsu a favor. Exactly how owing someone a favor had turned into stalking them was beyond her.
As she walked, stepping up onto a taller stone stair, her foot slipped out from under her.
A crisp snap rang through the quiet woods, and her face went rigid.
Piercing pain came tearing up out of her right ankle.
"Ngh..."
A stifled cry escaped her. Caught completely off guard, she lost her balance and pitched sideways.
On reflex she grabbed for the tree trunk beside her, but her fingers came away with nothing more than a handful of slick moss, and it held no weight at all.
Just as she braced for the indignity of sprawling on the ground, her eyes met those of the man ahead of her — who had turned around at some point without her noticing.
Shikime Natsu caught her, then set her back on her feet. And in that moment a nameless mortification washed over Ibuki Mio. She'd never expected to be caught tailing him.
There was no one on this stretch of path but the two of them. She wanted to bolt on the spot, but the pain pulsing through her ankle made that flatly impossible.
Seeing that she had no apparent intention of speaking first, Shikime Natsu decided to break the silence himself.
"Ibuki-san, you've been following me for quite a while now. Was there something you wanted?"
At that, an unnatural flush spread over Ibuki Mio's cheeks.
She snapped upright, forcing the pain off her face, and spoke to him through gritted teeth.
"W-Who's following you!"
"This road isn't your property! I walk my way, you walk yours — how does that turn into me following you?!"
She led with sheer unreasonableness. The instant the words were out, she knew she didn't have a leg to stand on, so leaving struck her as the better plan.
But worked up as she was, the moment her foot came down flat on the ground, a far sharper pain exploded out of her ankle.
Her whole face crumpled with it. Her eyes squeezed shut beyond her control, and her lips quivered.
She swayed twice where she stood and nearly went down again.
Watching the girl put on a brave front while clearly in agony, Shikime Natsu let out a quiet sigh.
He took two steps forward and stopped roughly a pace away from her.
"Ibuki-san. Are you all right?"
She forced her eyes open. A thin film of tears had already gathered over the blue-violet, but she glared at him all the same and bit out her answer.
"I'm fine! Quit sticking your nose in!"
Shikime Natsu took in the state of her, let his gaze drift to the camp buildings faintly visible in the distance, then brought it back to her.
"Ibuki-san, the training curriculum starts tomorrow. If you stay in that condition, it'll affect you quite a bit, don't you think?"
It was true, and it was also stating the obvious. Nobody twists an ankle and walks away unaffected.
Something wavered in her eyes at the words.
While she was still wrestling with herself, Shikime Natsu stepped forward again and sat down on a large flat rock beside her.
He patted the spot next to him, looked up at her, and said it casually.
"Sit here."
Ibuki Mio blinked, then eyed him with open wariness.
"W-What are you planning to do?"
Shikime Natsu laughed at that.
"Relax. I'm not some wild beast. I'm not going to eat you."
"Your ankle's sprained. If it doesn't get treated now, you won't be able to walk tomorrow, let alone take part in any training curriculum."
"Sit down here. I'll get it back in shape for you."
Her expression grew more complicated still. Her lips parted on a reflexive refusal — she'd been caught red-handed following him, and now she was supposed to accept his help on top of that? If word ever got out, she'd die of shame.
But just as the refusal was about to leave her mouth, Shikime Natsu added one more line.
"Don't overthink it. Call it me deciding to help you. Same as on the Deserted Island — I do have the knack for it."
He looked at her, a gentle amusement warming those pale golden eyes.
The words brought the Deserted Island back to her: he really did have a remarkable touch. Still she wavered, and only after a while did a small huff escape her nose. Then, teeth clenched, she sat down on the rock beside him.
About a fist's width of space separated them. She lowered herself stiffly, turning her head away, pointedly refusing to look in his direction, while emotions too tangled for even her to sort through churned behind the blue-violet.
She had never forgotten that day. In the time after the Deserted Island, it wasn't as though the thought had never crossed her mind — finding a chance to thank him, or to settle that debt.
But every time she spotted Shikime Natsu on campus, other girls were clustered around him. Getting him alone was all but impossible.
So the right moment never came. And what irritated and confused her far more was that, after all of it, she'd started dreaming.
Ordinary dreams would have been one thing. Yet of all people, it was Shikime Natsu who kept turning up in them — and in those dreams the two of them weren't nearly as prickly with each other as they were now.
In the dreams she was considerably more honest, while he seemed hardly any different from the way he was in reality.
She refused to admit it even to herself, but she genuinely enjoyed those exchanges with him in the dreams.
In class, after all, she was used to keeping to herself. Even when Shiina Hiyori tried to strike up a conversation with her, she turned her down.
As for why she turned her down — mostly, it came down to embarrassment.
Ibuki Mio was still lost in the mess of her own thoughts when a warm hand closed around her ankle.
She snapped back to the present, jolting as though shocked, and nearly sprang off the rock.
"W-What do you think you're doing?!"
Shikime Natsu had dropped into a crouch in front of her, one hand lightly cradling her injured right ankle.
He raised his head, took in her startled, furious face, and explained in a level voice.
"Treating your sprain."
She started to say something, but he had already bent his head, his fingers beginning to press gently around her ankle.
Uncomfortable as she still felt, she had to admit that his method carried a comfort she couldn't put into words.
And she could feel it — her ankle really was mending, and at a pace she could sense moment by moment.
She stayed quiet for a while, then spoke slowly.
"Thanks. And... for that time on the Deserted Island, too."
Her voice came out far smaller than before, stiff with an awkwardness she couldn't smooth away.
She kept her gaze aimed anywhere but at him as she said it, though the tips of her ears had quietly flushed a faint red.
The corner of Shikime Natsu's mouth curved at the thanks.
His hands never stopped. He only glanced up at her and answered easily.
"Don't mention it."
And with the last press of his finger, the pain was entirely gone — exactly like that time on the Deserted Island.
Not that she remembered how badly that one had hurt. People only ever keep the pain they're feeling right now.
Still, she got to her feet in disbelief and tested the ankle. There really wasn't the slightest discomfort. Fully healed.
Her gaze settled on Shikime Natsu. This guy's massage technique really was uncanny — how on earth did he manage it?
Back when she'd returned from the island, she'd tried pressing a few spots on her own body and found nothing changed at all. It was as if only Shikime Natsu could produce that effect.
Shikime Natsu smiled at the astonishment on her face.
"There, that takes care of that. I'll be on my way, then."
With that he gave her a careless wave, turned, and set off.
He'd gone only a few steps, however, when something seemed to occur to him, and he stopped.
He didn't turn around. He merely tilted his face a fraction and spoke in a tone edged with mischief.
"Oh, and Ibuki-san — if you feel like following me, just follow me. There'd be nothing wrong with being as frank as you are in the dreams."
Ibuki Mio went rigid on the spot. Her pupils shrank slightly, those blue-violet eyes fixed hard on that smiling profile.
Had Shikime Natsu just said the dreams?
"Hold on. What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
A flicker of panic surfaced in her eyes; she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Just what it sounds like. When I'm asleep, I sometimes wander into other people's dreams."
That blunt admission stripped away what was left of her composure. He'd come right out and said it?
Which meant that everything she'd shared with the Shikime Natsu of those dreams had actually happened?
Unbelievable!
Having said his piece, Shikime Natsu simply walked on.
"Wait — explain yourself properly!"
Ibuki Mio hurried after him.
____
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