Combust

Breakfast was a nice, warm chicken soup which warmed us up during the cold morning. It was the 2nd day of our 3 day trip. We were given a full day of gathering enough information for our presentations. Walker had sent a message to our group chat to meet at the campus center at 9:30am.

Since he and I were in the same area, we left together. We met up with Ivey, Azuno and Sefilio who had arrived earlier than us. The three of them were arguing about whether the breakfast we had was delicious or not.

10 minutes later, Rei finally arrived, with a camera around her neck.

“Sorry I’m late. I was looking for my camera.”

“Is it really that important?” Walker said, slightly annoyed. He loved to be organized and stick to a schedule. He had planned one the day before the trip.

“Yes it is, having enticing visuals is a must.”

She did have a background in the film industry, so Walker couldn't’ argue against it. We began our walk towards the lake.

Sefilio had come prepared and shared some more snacks with everyone. She was very excited and kept talking to everyone, making sure we were having fun.

I walked with Ivey and Azuno. Ivey was chewing on sour candy and was making the most of the long trek. Azuno was listening to music with his earphones.

The vegetation in the area was pretty unique compared to where I lived. Every plant looked quite different and the sun rays hazed through the gaps within the leaves.

After a couple thousand steps, we had finally reached the spot and it did not disappoint.

Emerging from the bushes, we were met with a site straight out of a painting. A massive lake was smacked in the middle as the shore curved around it. The water was so clear, you could look at the reflections and see perfectly. You could see the mountain ranges vividly behind.

“See Ivey? It was worth it, wasn’t it?”

Sefilio nudged him with her elbow, with a ‘told-you-so’ smile and Ivey kept quiet. Rei began taking pictures with her camera as the rest of us scouted the area, finding any information we could.

I walked over to some nearby information boards about the lake. It talked about how the lake formed its unique shape after a comet fell from the sky and formed a crater that was later filled with water.

Heh… Isn’t that straight out of Your Name?

“Any information we can use?”

Rei popped up behind my shoulder, which gave me a small shudder.

“Uh yeah, there’s like some history about the lake. I’ll take a quick picture of it with my phone. How are the photos looking?”

“Well, any photo will look good when the scenery is like this.”

“We could put you in the picture to make it even more attractive.”

“Eh?”

Her face flushed and eyes widened.

“I mean, you are beautiful. On the screen you draw in the viewers.”

There was nothing to deny about the mask she put on in front of the camera. She could play any character and make them attractive.

She nervously laughed and hid her face behind the camera.

“I didn’t know you had that kind of game…”

“Huh?”

“Nevermind!”

She made me curious. I was going to try to push further but was interrupted by Walker.

“Hey you two! Check this out.”

We headed over to the rest of the group and found that they discovered an area with a barbecue grill.

“Why don’t we have some skewers? I’m pretty sure there’s a local store about 10 minutes away.”

“Sounds good! Nothing beats meat,” Sefilio commented, her eyes lighting up. “I’ll go get the stuff.”

“Alright… Rens, can you go with her?”

“Sure.”

After pulling up the GPS, we set off to find the ingredients. In the short time that I’ve interacted with Sefilio I had got to know her as someone who seemed to be really enjoying every second of her life. But there was one thing I was curious about…

“You’ve known Ivey for a long time?”

“Yeah, he’s always been in my memories since forever. We lived close together so I would always end up growing up with him, and mostly be in the same classes. He was really quiet and didn’t seem friendly but when you actually talked with him, he was really nice.”

“That’s just like how he is now too.”

She chuckled.

“You may be right about that. Sometimes he gets so prickly and acts like a spoiled child… But even then…”

Her voice grew quieter and mumbled something.

“But then…?”

“Even then… I still like him.”

“Really? You like… that cactus guy?”

“Yes… I’ve liked him for a long time. But that stupid, brainless, dense idiot hasn’t noticed at all!”

I hadn’t seen her act like this but nevertheless I found it quite amusing. I usually didn’t have any interest in romance but seeing how she was acting made it interesting. I would never have guessed that Sefilio, the girl who was able to socialize and build relationships with anyone, was having trouble conveying her feelings to Ivey.

“Well… I’ll try to help out if you need me too.”

“I appreciate the thought… But enough about me. What about you? Do you like anyone?”

“No.”

I haven’t felt a type of connection towards someone before. Movies and books describe love as some feeling that strikes your heart and makes you feel like you're having a good dream. But I could never recall feeling like that.

The thought of seeing Rei at the entrance ceremony flashed through my mind but I dismissed the idea of that being love. I was just admiring her beauty, like a fan. It was nothing more.

But usually that’s how it starts…

We reached the local town and it had a warm ambience. Locals roamed the streets and wore healthy smiles. It felt straight out of a fairy tale.

“I think that's the grocery store there.”

After a few minutes of walking, we found the store. At the front was some information about the land so I took a quick photo of it on my phone.

We went inside and bought the ingredients. We decided to buy some meat, onions, and vegetables to make a nice savory snack. In addition, we bought some fresh fruit. As Sefilio had quoted, “There’s nothing like some fruit on a nice lake.”

After paying, I carried the bags of groceries and we left to reunite with the group.

“Oho~! You’ve got some game there.”

“What do you mean?”

Rei had said the same thing too.

“Carrying the stuff. That’s pretty chivalrous of you. You’d earn lots of points for that. You could’ve swayed my heart~!”