1+1=2

“So where exactly are we going?”

“Hm? To my room.”

What?

Just us? That’s just like…

I wasn’t too sure what exactly was going on but I put my assumptions aside. She and I had only just met recently. Nothing crazy was going to happen.

I followed her towards another villa and she opened the door. What awaited us was a group of people sitting in a circle, with lots of drinks and snacks. Western music filled the room.

“Oh? Welcome Rens!”

Ayase had waved out to me. With her was Mona and Ivey. I sat in between the two.

“Seems like you’re having fun,” I said as I poured myself a drink.

“He was the one who was begging you to come. I guess he can’t handle being surrounded by only girls,” Mona said, jokingly.

Ivey gave her a death stare, which made her laugh even more.

“Oh wow, Ivey, am I that special to you? You should have told me. You’re such a tsundere~!”

I sided with Mona and joined in on the teasing. It wasn’t too often that I had a comrade who also took a liking to it.

“Alright alright, how about another round of Uno?” Sefilio said, clapping her hands. She handed out cards.

The round began, and it didn’t take too long for Mona to clear all her cards. She smiled triumphantly. I had heard she had won the previous 3 rounds.

Ayase followed behind her, and was slightly annoyed that she couldn’t come first.

“And that’s a +2 for you,” Sefilio said, placing her card down.

Ivey picked up his cards, not saying a word. When his turn came around, he put a reverse and smiled.

“I think you know what’s coming.”

Sefilio, slightly confused, placed her card down. Mona peeked at his cards and her hands covered her mouth to hide her laughter. Sefilio finally realized what was coming.

“Sefi, I’m sorry but… you’re screwed.”

Sefilio looked towards me with her eyes, pleading if I had a reverse. I did but there’s no chance I’m taking Ivey’s attack. I placed my card.

Ivey dramatically placed down 6 +4 cards in a row. That was 24 cards in total she had to pick up.

“What…H-How…?”

It was a devastating blow. Her soul had left her body, struck in awe at what just happened.

“I don’t even care about winning. I saved up all my cards, just for this moment. Serves you right.”

“What did I even do to you?”

He laughed and shook his head.

“Nothing. It’s just fun messing with you.”

The game ultimately ended in Sefilio’s loss, after Ivey mercilessly destroyed her. She sighed.

“Ugh… What’s my punishment?”

Punishment? I had no idea that there was a punishment for the loser.

“Hm… how about… Go invite another guy. Make the numbers even.”

“Fine…”

Sefilio left the room in search of another candidate. While we waited we began to talk about our projects and our groups. Ayase and Mona had been paired together and had chosen the local town nearby. I couldn’t help but notice the snack station and decided to indulge in the snacks available. They had countless selections of candy and chips.

“I can’t believe you’re choosing salt and vinegar over sour cream and onion.”

Ivey had begun pouring some sour cream onto his plate.

“So what’s the deal with you and Sefilio? Childhood friends?”

“You could say that. She was just someone who lives near me.”

“I’m back! I stole Acise from another group.”

Acise waved and sat down. He was a well built man and was quite tall. He had short blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was from another class.

“Do you know him?”

Ivey shook his head.

“No… He must be a new friend. I don’t remember Sefilio hanging around someone like him.”

We joined in for another round of Uno, and Acise was quite funny. He had a bright sense of humor and was very social. He even showed an interest in manga and anime. The other girls also seemed to be comfortable around him, and even laughed at his sarcastic flirty antics.

It had reached about 8pm when Ivey wanted to leave. I decided to join him. We said our goodbyes to our new friends and walked back through the camp site.

“That was quite fun. I’m glad you invited me.”

“Yeah…”

“Is something the matter Ivey? We could’ve stayed longer y’know.”

“No its just… Forget it. I’m just being dumb.”

He was clearly a bit troubled by something, but I decided to let it go. He didn’t want to talk about it at the moment.

“Well we still have some time. Want to head to the games room?”

“Sure.”

We took a turn and headed for the communal area. It was empty inside, but the lights were still on. The room had many activities such as a pool, air hockey, foosball and table tennis. Lots of couches and beanbags filled the room. There were even retro arcade machines along the walls.

Ivey flopped himself down onto the couch.

“So comfy…”

“If you fall asleep, I’m just going to leave you here, okay?”

Back on the bus, he had fallen asleep and it took ages for him to wake up once we had arrived.

“Eh? What are you two doing here?”

“Are they your students?

Mr Baito and another female teacher had walked into the room. They were dressed in robes and were drinking some hot drink.

“Yep, these two boys are mine. Ivey and Rens. Good kids. Rens was the one who I told you about. He likes ghost hunting.”

She smiled and introduced herself to us.

“I’m Miss Su, homeroom teacher of class 1-4. It must be rough having Clau as your teacher. He doesn’t even seem like a teacher. He’s basically another child. We can hear him next door.”

“Hey!”

Our classrooms were side by side since we were class 1-3.

“What are you guys drinking? I smell coffee.”

Ivey’s eyes were glued to their hot drinks. I could tell he wanted to know what they were. On campus there was a vending machine that served cool, lukewarm drinks. It was quite chilly at night. A warm drink was what we needed right now.

“This? It’s hot chocolate. Though Clau over there is drinking coffee like a psychopath.”

“Hey, it taste good.”

Mr Baito sipped on his coffee and exhaled, satisfied by the warmth.

“Where did you get it?”

“Haha, teacher’s perks. Oh, you did say you liked coffee… Too bad so sad~!”

He took another sip to rub it in.

“How about… We’ll play you for something. If we win, you two need to get Rens and I a drink?”

Ivey was determined to get his coffee. His love for coffee was just like an addiction to gambling. He wouldn’t let it go.

Mr Baito laughed.

“Sure why not? How about a game of table tennis. Rosa and I against you and Rens? If you lose… You can do our clean up duty tomorrow.”

And before I knew it, I was playing table tennis with Ivey against the teachers. I had no idea about their skill levels. I wasn’t even sure about my own. It had been a couple of years since I had picked up the stick. In addition, it didn’t look like our odds of winning were good. Ivey didn’t seem sporty in the slightest, compared to our opponents.

Mr Baito had a muscular build and seemed like he was going to cook us for dinner. Miss Su had tied her long brown hair back and yawned. I wasn’t sure whether that was an indication of if she was tired or a “Ah… This is child’s play” yawn.

I’m quite scared.