The first activity of the day was called orienteering. All elementary school students had to follow a prescribed route through checkpoints and retrieve a flag placed in advance in a temple halfway up the mountain.
Hoshino Hinata: "Ryo-oniichan! Let's charge! Our team will definitely be the fastest."
Himesaka Noa: "Eh, that would be tiring."
Uchiha Ryo rubbed Hoshino Hinata's head. "This isn't a competition, just a small activity between your classmates. Rather than sprinting with a map and compass, it's better to enjoy the process of climbing the mountain."
Just as Uchiha Ryo said, what these elementary school students were going to experience was not fierce competition, but a leisurely walk in the mountain forest.
Along the way, Shirosaki Hana walked behind Uchiha Ryo wearing a sun hat. Her stamina wasn't bad, she was just afraid of the heat.
"By the way, although the three of you know me, won't this little friend introduce herself?"
Unlike other teams, Uchiha Ryo's team had only four children plus a cat following behind.
Right behind Shirosaki Hana, an elementary school student who hadn't spoken since joining the team looked up. She looked at Uchiha Ryo curiously, but still had no intention of speaking.
The little girl was slightly taller than Shirosaki Hana. Compared to other children, she had a bit more of an adult air. Her straight black hair reminded Uchiha Ryo of Yukinoshita, and her clothes looked particularly elegant among the elementary school students.
To be honest, Uchiha Ryo felt that this little girl was a mix of Shirosaki Hana and Yukinoshita. Very cute, easy to attract attention, but giving people a cold feeling.
"Rumi, this is Hana-chan's brother. Isn't he handsome!"
Social butterfly Hoshino Hinata ran to the back and grabbed the girl's hand. "This is Tsurumi Rumi, our classmate. Her learning ability is super strong, and she has been number one in the grade for a long time!"
Uchiha Ryo smiled. "Then, Rumi, can I call you that?"
Tsurumi Rumi nodded. "Since you are Shirosaki-san's brother, whatever."
[System has detected a capturable target]
[Capturable Target Name: Tsurumi Rumi]
[Current Tsurumi Rumi Affinity: 1]
This dog system hasn't shown up for a long time, finally a new target. Speaking of which, why do I feel like I haven't seen the system for a long time? Where is your enthusiasm?
[Affinity increase, G-Point acquisition and other notifications have been automatically set to Do Not Disturb. If the host needs it, it can be turned on at any time.]
Forget it then. Otherwise, hearing whose affinity increased from time to time, or whose affinity Enyun-chan went over to farm, my brain would feel a bit noisy.
Himesaka Noa: "Ryo-oniichan, it's so beautiful here. Let's take a picture."
Noa raised the digital camera hanging around her neck, and Hinata quickly greeted Hana and Rumi. Uchiha Ryo took the camera and took pictures of them.
While Uchiha Ryo was taking pictures, Yukinoshita also walked up from behind with five elementary school students.
"You really treat this as a tour."
Uchiha Ryo: "Or else? We can't really treat it as work. Since Hiratsuka-sensei didn't say anything, let's just pretend we're here to play."
Yukinoshita nodded, then followed Uchiha Ryo's team up the mountain.
"Yukino, look at her.... doesn't she look a lot like you?"
Suddenly, Uchiha Ryo, walking at the back, tapped Yukinoshita and pointed at Tsurumi Rumi.
"She...."
Yukinoshita should have also noticed the little girl who was out of place with others. However, this wasn't anything strange.
In every school and even every class, there are always people who don't fit in. They may be naturally withdrawn in character, or it may be due to some external factors.
But with Hoshino Hinata and the others in the class, it was strange that Tsurumi Rumi was still alone.
"I heard Rumi is number one in her grade, and her looks are also among the cutest in elementary school, but even with Hinata and the others, she has an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity."
Yukinoshita looked at Rumi. "I don't think it's anything. A person who always follows behind everyone or stays in a corner is the one with the problem. A genius who simply doesn't want to communicate with others might just be too outstanding."
After leaving the woods, there was an open area. The deserted temple halfway up the mountain was the finish line of the orienteering. They had to take the colored flag placed in the temple and finally go down the mountain to the starting point.
Standing in front of the temple, Hoshino Hinata quickly took out the flag from inside, while Uchiha Ryo stood in the center of the temple, looking at the broken Jizo Bodhisattva statue.
"Ryo-oniichan, I got the flag."
"Oh, then let's go down the mountain. I heard today's lunch is free kaiseki cuisine. This elementary school is quite rich."
Yukinoshita: "...I heard from Hiratsuka-sensei that because of the principal, all expenses this time are paid by Shuchiin."
That's fine then. But Shuchiin is really extravagant, booking a high-end inn and kaiseki cuisine just to take kids out to play.
Bringing the group of elementary school students back to the inn, this hot spring inn opened on the edge of the Chiba Forest was not big. It was said that after Shuchiin booked a full fifteen rooms, only three were left for passers-by.
In the dining hall of the inn, Uchiha Ryo and the other high school students sat together, while Hiratsuka Shizuka drank with the three elementary school homeroom teachers.
At the dinner table, Yukinoshita suddenly mentioned the withdrawn child, Tsurumi Rumi. She planned to get in touch with her. If possible.... Yukinoshita hoped she could help her.
Because of some kind of resonance? After all, everyone present except Yukinoshita could be described as extroverted.
Whether it was the part-time job emperor Shirogane Miyuki, the dirty joke emperor Amakusa Shino, and Fujiwara Chika and Chitanda who didn't need much evaluation, they had absolutely never experienced loneliness at school.
Maybe Shirogane Miyuki had it when he first arrived at Shuchiin, but because he immediately met Uchiha Ryo, he got along well in class.
Just like Stand users always attract each other, in the vast crowd, those lonely people can often see similarly lonely figures.
Uchiha Ryo: "However, it seems this trip isn't just us."
Shirogane Miyuki looked at the long table not far away. "Should be a group of middle school students. Don't worry about it. When I passed by just now, I heard them talking about rumors of youkai appearing on the mountain. What a chuunibyou age...."
Chitanda: "Youkai?!"
Fujiwara Chika: "Rumors?!"
Yukinoshita looked at the two and asked helplessly. "What are you two.... going to do?"
Fujiwara Chika took out a detective hat from her bag. "Where there are rumors, there is discovery. Great Detective Chika makes her debut!"
Chitanda: "Legends of youkai, somehow, make people curious."
After speaking, the two got up and ran towards the group of middle school students.
Uchiha Ryo: ".....You guys continue eating. I'll go watch them. Really, don't they understand that curiosity killed the cat?"
"Meow!"
Uchiha Ryo turned around and patted Enyun-chan. "Not talking about you. Then you come along too."