manga artist Kirito

Page 88

I'm so angry...

Well, it was also slightly awkward.

Kiritani-san is now completely embarrassed to speak.

Uh, you're asking what the current situation is?

Ah, of course these guys chose Yang Nai's proposal, foolishly leaving the perfectly good hotel and insisting on taking tents and stuff for a picnic nearby.

As for opinions, Kiritani-kun doesn't have much to say, since the point of going out to have fun is to have a good time.

But why do you have to drag me out when I'm doing outdoor sports?

"Outdoor sports? You actually have the nerve to call that outdoor sports? Have you no shame?" Akane Kosaka grinned, her gaze towards Kiritani-kun subtly suggestive. "If running around in a game can be considered outdoor sports, then am I doing exercises that exceed human limits every day?"

"Hey, hey, this guy plays video games every day, did you hear that?!" Kiritani-kun seized the opportunity and rushed in. "With someone like Suika staying up all night every other day, if you don't keep a close eye on her rest time, Shizuka-sensei, she might just die of overwork one day!"

"What qualifications do you have to speak against me?"

"Just because Teacher Xiaojing asked you to wake me up while I was still catching up on sleep."

"That's to ensure sufficient sleep. Insufficient sleep can be bad for a woman's skin."

"Would you, an old watermelon, care about something like this?"

"Say 'old watermelon' again!"

"Old watermelon!"

Then, the two rolled up their sleeves, seemingly ready to fight.

Asuna and Haruno watched the two interact with smiles, but they both knew that Kirito and Akane were just pretending to sit there to avoid what might happen next...

"Shut up! Kiritani-kun, you go and gather firewood with Mikasa right now. Akane, come and help whittle bamboo skewers. Don't think I don't know what you two are up to. Hurry up!" Shizuka, who had already seen through everything, waved her fist and naturally assigned tasks.

Having their little schemes exposed, Kiritani and Akane had no choice but to reluctantly follow the plan, though they still harbored some resentment.

"There's charcoal available for purchase nearby, yet they insist on going to collect it..."

"Yes, there are bamboo skewers right nearby, but they still insist on peeling them by hand..."

"Has Jingjing lost her mind?"

"I feel like if we keep talking, we'll be the ones who lose our minds."

Noticing Jing's face gradually darkening, the two pretending to be serious had to immediately separate and begin their work with expressions of cherishing each other.

…………

"Hmph! This kind of trivial matter is a piece of cake!"

With a cigarette dangling from her lips and a small wooden stick twirling in her hand, wisps of smoke rising from below—yes, that's right, Jing Ke'ai was demonstrating how to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, and she had achieved great success.

"Wow, Hiratsuka-sensei seems to be very good at starting a fire by friction!" Suguha, who was squatting in front of the bucket washing the ingredients, showed a little surprise. She had tried to start a fire by friction before when the dojo went to the field for training. However, Suguha had tried for a long time but could not get a fire going, so she had to hand it over to Kirito-kun.

But there isn't anyone as popular as Teacher Xiaojing who really made a splash.

"Back when we were still in school..." Jing Ke sighed softly, as if she had remembered something. "Work like starting a fire and gathering firewood was done by me and Xiao Qian, while those... those two-timing couples would pair up and do those easy jobs that didn't take much time at all, and they were so slow!"

A wisp of black aura emanated from her body, and the mature saintess Hiratsuka Shizuka unconsciously increased the force in her hands. Then, with a snap, the wooden stick broke...

"Um... Xiaojing, calm down. This isn't a university picnic, and please don't bring up things that could cause trouble." Akane Kosaka was clearly also thinking about those unpleasant memories. Her knife trembled slightly, and the perfectly shaved bamboo skewer instantly snapped in two. "Let me tell you, Xiaojing, those two who were inseparable back then actually broke up five years ago—and besides, none of them have gotten back together since."

"That's great~ That's great~" Jing Ke nodded with a very interesting expression as she bit the cigarette filter.

For some inexplicable reason, the atmosphere in the older group started to become strange, and Suguha, who was originally planning to interject, wisely shut her mouth.

"So, it's completely unnecessary, right? Hiratsuka-sensei should have brought a lighter." Looking at the cigarette Shizuka-sensei was holding, Yukino Yukinoshita placed the skewered meat on the shelf next to her. "Isn't starting a fire by friction a waste of time?"

“Um… Xiaojing isn’t drilling into wood, I think it’s more about sentimentality. She’s not trying to get fire, it’s more like she’s reminiscing!” Kato Megumi, who is more skilled at handling ingredients, was naturally assigned to the same group as Asuna and Yukino Yukinoshita.

Yes, although Yukinoshita is a young lady from a wealthy family, she is surprisingly skilled in handling ingredients and cooking. At least here... only Asuna and Kato Megumi can compare to her.

By the way, Ms. Shizuka's cooking is actually great too. The reason the noodles I made for Kiritani and the others last time were so dry was simply because I added a little too much dough and cooked them a little too long... Besides, Ms. Shizuka's favorite food is noodles, so that was just an accident, hahaha...

"Well, we're here for a picnic anyway. If we really needed to use the restroom, then no one would have suggested it. Dinner is provided at the hotel, you know!" Asuna skillfully prepared various ingredients. "So, whatever you want, just have fun."

"But... the ingredients seem to be mostly meat? And these noodles..." Kato Megumi looked expressionlessly at the pile of unprocessed ingredients beside her, feeling quite sentimental. "Why would someone buy noodles on a picnic?"

"The ingredients were supposedly purchased by Hiratsuka-sensei and Haruno-senpai..." Asuna opened her mouth slightly, wanting to complain, but she really didn't know where to begin.

Yukino Yukinoshita concluded, "Hiratsuka-sensei's favorite thing is ramen, so he probably... just bought it on a whim."

"Ah, that..." Haruno, who was washing vegetables next to Suguha, looked up slightly, "As for the noodles, it was definitely Shizuka who bought them, but I heard that..."

"Shut up, Haruno!" Hiratsuka Shizuka interrupted immediately, her gaze slightly unfriendly. "There are some things that can't be said, especially for a lady!"

Lady...not bad?

"Well, never mind, Leaf, let's continue our previous topic." Haruno lowered her head listlessly, intending to continue learning about Kirigaya-kun's sister complex from Suguha.

"Oh, okay." Suguha nodded slightly, then thought for a moment and slowly said, "My brother, well, since he was little..."

"Wait a minute, where's Mashiro? I can't see her anywhere." Asuna turned her head and looked around, but couldn't find Shiina Mashiro. She immediately started to panic.

"Oh, it seems Shiina went to collect firewood with Kazuto and Mikasa-senpai." After washing the small knife she used for cutting meat with water and wiping it dry, Ms. Kato said calmly.

"Oh! So it was Kazuto. That really startled me; I thought Mashiro was lost." Asuna immediately breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was Shiina Mashiro. If she really had gotten lost, finding her in such a vast forest would have been incredibly difficult…

…………

“Going to school… I just don’t think that word suits you at all.”

He grabbed a branch and whipped it against the tree branches, knocking the dry branches off immediately. Kiritani tilted his head and looked at Mikasa, who was slowly picking them up, and pursed his lips slightly.

Mikasa glanced at him, her displeasure evident. "Pay attention to yourself. At least I used to be a student too."

"I'm just stating the facts. It's really hard to imagine you going to school." Kirigaya shrugged, then picked up a branch that had fallen to his feet. "I thought you'd just stay in the dojo and never come out."

"Are you dreaming? I just went out to visit... to visit... that dojo."

"Has he forgotten even the name of that dojo because so much time has passed? How pathetic, Mikasa!"

"I just didn't think it was anything to worry about, so I didn't bother to write it down." Mikasa looked at Kiritani-kun as if it were a matter of course, looking at this friend who had practically grown up with her. "Of course, if you were with me, wouldn't it always be you who would remember these trivial things?"

"Huh!? It's not like we often go out together to visit those dojos." Kirigaya-kun twitched the corner of his mouth. There probably weren't more than two real examples, since after that incident, Kirigaya-kun wasn't as enthusiastic about kendo anymore.

Mikasa said calmly, "There will be opportunities in the future."

"There's no chance. I'd be bored to go out with you to cause trouble for other dojos. Besides, there aren't many dojos in Chiba that we haven't bothered." Muttering to himself, Kirigaya threw away the twig in his hand. "We've gathered enough firewood, we should go back... Ah, Mashiro, that's a cicada shell. Stop playing with it, let's go."

"Oh..." Shiina Mashiro poked the cicada shell with the twig until it fell off, then threw away the twig and moved closer to Kiritani-kun.

Ah, it's so good that they didn't pick it up and eat it...

"By the way, since it rained yesterday, is this firewood really okay?"

"Just put it next to the fire to warm it up first, and it will be fine. Even if you don't do that, at most it will just produce more smoke."

Holding a brightly colored mushroom, Shiina Mashiro presented it to Kiritani-kun, "Kazuto, mushroom..."

When a pervert jumped off a building and was taken to the hospital, he was shouting "mushroom"—what does that represent?

Damn, this is poisonous!

"Throw it away, let's go back now."

"Don't people eat it?"

"This stuff is poisonous, thank you."

P.S.: I always feel that in some aspects my attributes overlap with those of Remi next door, so I decided to give myself an attribute... well, you know.

Please feed them, please~

216

【NO.213 Straight Punch】

"Asuna, cicada...shell."

"What... Mashiro, what do you intend to do with this?"

"Stop talking, this child was just about to feed me poisonous mushrooms."

"Hey, do you really think there are poisonous mushrooms in this kind of mountain forest? This place... can still be considered a tourist area, after all!"

"You know it's a tourist area and you still come here for a picnic? I bet all the nutrients in your brain have been sucked out by those two lumps in your chest! Please, have some mercy and don't expose your lack of intelligence."

"But you can have a picnic here, and someone comes to clean it every now and then... Wait a minute, you're saying I'm brainless? I'm the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family, and I'm a top student, okay?!"

"Then let me ask you, do you know how pigs die?"

"Pigs... will die when they're slaughtered!"

"It was stupidity that killed it, sow!"

"You male dog..."

The scene of gathering firewood gradually evolved from a harmonious one into a dialogue between a high-IQ individual and someone whose IQ had been forcibly lowered.

Yukino Yukinoshita looked at the girl's adorable face and couldn't believe that this was actually her older sister...

"Thank you for your hard work, Mikasa-senpai and Kazuto-kun~!" After wiping the water off her hands, Asuna calmly took the cicada shell from Shiina Mashiro's hand and threw it into the fire. Then she handed tissues to Kiritani-kun and Mikasa to wipe their sweat before pulling the pouting Shiina Mashiro to wash her hands.

...Something's not quite right. Logically, shouldn't Asuna be gently wiping my sweat and feeding these guys a cold dose of dog food? Why did she just hand me a tissue?

Turning her head to look at Mikasa, who was patting her clothes that might have gotten dusty, she immediately caught Mikasa's attention. "What, do you want me to wipe your sweat?"

"Haha, no thanks, this isn't really your job. I'll wipe it for you, that's fine." Kiritani forced a smile. I don't want to get punched by you suddenly.

Mikasa calmly handed over the tissues and looked at Kiritani-kun, saying, "Alright, come and wipe my sweat."

The slightest bit of attention was directed at Akane Kosaka, Shizuka Hiratsuka, and even Haruno and Megumi Kato, all of whom looked over with subtle expressions. As for Asuna... it was far more than just subtle expressions.

The only ones who remained calm enough were Shiina Mashiro and Yukino Yukinoshita, who were unaware of the situation.

Ah, you mean Yezi? She's currently struggling with a thicker piece of firewood and hasn't noticed what's going on here at all.

Kiritani's lips twitched slightly. Could you please not say such things so matter-of-factly? Can you please pay a little attention to the atmosphere at hand?

—Omitted for brevity, Kiritani Kazuto-san, who never paid attention to the atmosphere!

"Huh? What's with that expression? Is it not okay?" Mikasa's expression was almost as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and she was quite surprised by Kirigaya's hesitation. "Before, you would wipe our sweat after training, but now... um, are you shy?"

"Shy my foot!" Kiritani-kun picked up a tissue and covered Mikasa's forehead, casually wiping away the not-so-little sweat, then earnestly muttered, "If you could give me a little more of the shyness that girls have, I'd probably burn incense and pray to the gods, the kind of prayers that come with every meal!"

Mikasa's expression remained unchanged, showing little fluctuation. "You want to see?"

"No need, just thinking about that scene is exciting!" Kiritani-kun really couldn't imagine Mikasa's overwhelming feminine charm, behaving like Asuna... well, in a dress... just imagine it for now, don't overthink it.

Seriously, that was really exciting!

"Really? I thought you'd be really looking forward to it." Mikasa tilted her head as she looked at the hand that had been removed from her forehead, then walked toward Suguha, clearly preparing to go and help.

"Five years ago, I could still have some hope, but now I can't have any hope at all." Kiritani crumpled the tissue into a ball and threw it into the fire. Hiratsuka Shizuka, who was fanning the fire, pursed her lips and quickened her movements. The burning tissue, combined with the already strong firewood, created a wave of heat.

"I see... I get it now." Haruno's voice, as if suddenly realizing something, rang out as she appeared to be standing next to Suguha again, seemingly discussing something interesting.

And when Mikasa, being the action-oriented one, chimes in, it makes Kiritani a little uneasy—he has a feeling that their conversation is subtly going to involve him!

"Kazuto, come help me..." Asuna, who was busy grilling, looked up at Kiritani-kun, who was free, and wanted to call him over to help, but then remembered his housekeeping skills and immediately rejected the idea. "Uh, never mind."

If you get diarrhea after eating it, then what happens afterwards...?

Picnics were out of the question, and we'd have to get back to the hotel, so our three-day, two-night trip was practically over...

Thinking about it that way, cooking is really not something that can be taught to Kiritani-kun, who considers himself a genius...

"Eh...Eh? Wait a minute!" Kiritani-kun's eyes widened slightly, a hint of displeasure in his voice. "Asuna, you don't believe me!"

"Um... there seem to be only two eggs in the ingredients..." Asuna flipped the grilled food, then took out a paper towel, wet it, and wrapped it around the two eggs, her expression extremely serious. "Hey, Kazuto, please!"

"I don't want to be asked to do such trivial things!" Looking at the eggs in his hand, Kiritani-kun twitched the corners of his mouth. Is it really true that I can't handle anything other than eggs?

"The pit...it's dug." Beside her, Shiina Mashiro pointed to the small pit dug next to the fire with a small shovel. "Is this what we use for the embers?"

As she spoke, she pointed to the roaring fire, seemingly anticipating a tangible response before shoveling out embers... for baked eggs.

"...Okay, there's really nothing else I'm good at besides that." He had to admit that, taking care of Shiina Mashiro while cooking eggs was something only he could do right now.

Suguha placed the broken firewood aside, then came over to Asuna's side. "Let me help you."

"Ah, thank you... I was just worried about being too busy." Asuna gave her usual gentle smile. "Then these that were just put up are yours, Yoko."

"Oh, no problem." Suguha paused for a moment, but quickly recovered, her slightly pouting lips—what an affectionate way to address someone...

"Speaking of which, Yukinoshita-san is surprisingly good at cooking. I never expected that~!" Kato Megumi said in a soft and cute voice, using her social skills.