Fragile relationship

Before the test of courage started, every high school student that took part in this camp went to the room to try on the costumes for tonight's test of courage.

"What's with these cheap costumes?" Yumiko was speechless.

Everyone was the same since even if the school had prepared the costumes for the test of courage, those costumes weren't good. They were all ugly and old and weren't intended to be used to scare people at all.

Still, somehow he also understood that the target they had to scare was an elementary school student. They were a group of children, and if they scared them too much, this group of children might cry and complain, which might cause a big problem.

Hearing his explanation, they nodded and felt it was reasonable before they started to check all the costumes on the box.

Shishio didn't join. Instead, he looked at Ebina, who took the combination of shrine maiden and magical girl costume in a daze. He wasn't sure what to say, but he could see her looking at him with a smile.

"Do you want to see me with this costume?" Ebina asked.

Shishio was honest, so he nodded.

"Then, wait for a moment~! I will change!" Ebina ran to the changing room.

The rest of the girls were also the same, and they also started to pick their costumes one by one.

"You're not going to wear a costume?" Hikigaya asked.

Shishio looked at Hikigaya and said, "No, but your costume suits you well, Senpai. The zombie make-up is Hollywood-tier."

"...Sometimes, I want to beat you."

"Thanks."

"...That's not a compliment." Hikigaya let out a long sigh.

"Oga-kun, can we talk?"

When the girls came out of the changing room, Hayama suddenly took the initiative to talk with him.

Shishio wanted to appreciate the girls in different types of costumes, but he knew this matter had to come first. "Sure. Is it about Rumi-chan?"

"Yes." Hayama nodded. "I think Rumi-chan might need to discuss this problem with everyone."

"......." Everyone was speechless.

Shishio didn't even need to refute Hayama, but the other girls took the initiative to refute Hayama.

"But she'll get bashed by everyone if she does that."

"Then, how about talking to them one by one?" Hayama was slightly flustered when he asked this question.

"That wouldn't make a difference." Ebina looked at Hayama and said, "They might play nice on the stop, but behind her back, nothing will change. Girls are much scarier than you think, Hayato-kun."

"......." Hayama.

"For real?! That's super scary!" Yumiko was surprised.

"......." Shishio looked at Yumiko in silence, then said, "Hayama-senpai, if you don't want to do this plan, then I won't force you." He thought Hayama didn't want to participate in this plan, so he didn't force him.

"No, I will do it." Hayama somehow became stubborn.

"Really?" Shishio stared at Hayama in doubt.

"Yes, please allow me to take on this role." Hayama knew he didn't have any choices, so he tried to do it by himself. He glanced at Yukinoshita for a moment before he looked away, and somehow he understood why they were so close.

"Is that so? But we will need three people, so Tobe-senpai, Yumiko-senpai, can you help too?" Shishio looked at Tobe and Yumiko.

"Sure, leave this to me!" Tobe answered readily. After all, he still remembered Shishio's words last night, and punishing the evil for good was like what a hero did, which made him feel excited.

"We-Well, I don't really mind..." Yumiko muttered while swirling the end of her hair.

"Thank you." Shishio nodded, then looked at Hayama again. "I have to thank you too, Senpai."

"No, it's okay." Hayama felt conflicted, then said, "But I still believe that they're good girls inside."

"That's good." Shishio merely smiled when he saw Hayama's naivety. He didn't care about Hayama, nor did he care about it. However, if this guy wanted to take the first seat to see how fragile a human relationship was, he would give it to him without hesitation.

Shishio didn't look at Hayama again and told them the details of how they were going to implement this plan.

Their plan had been set, and everything would start at the test of courage at night.

Still, he looked at Yui, who seemed serious while wearing skimpy clothes, feeling she might resemble her mother.

"Hmm?" Yui titled her head.

Shishio stopped, looking in Yui's direction, and thought that Rumi might curse him after he did this.

---

Night.

As the sunset and the moon rose, everyone started the test of courage.

Few groups had started the test of courage and screamed happily instead of in fear.

Unlike the others, Komachi had the job of welcoming everyone to enter the route of the test of courage. She stood at the entrance while looking at the group of children.

"All right. The next team to leave will be this one!"

"Kyaaa~!"

A group of little girls screamed in high tension.

The members of this group were Rumi and the girls who had isolated her. When Komachi told them it was their turn to enter, they entered without hesitation.

Unlike Rumi, who kept her mouth shut and maintained a slight distance from everyone, the other girls huddled together while looking around curiously. They walked for a moment before they saw Totsuka, who was dressed as a sorcerer.

"Once you be-begin, go get a talisman from the shrine deep in the forest."

Totsuka was in charge of telling everyone the rules of this test of courage.

After they listened to his instruction, they started to walk. They were the last group, and unlike them, the rest had returned.

Shishio, Hikigaya, and Yukinoshita hid behind the tree, waiting for Rumi's group to come.

"Is it time?" Yukinoshita asked.

Shishio looked at his phone, and he received a message from Hayama. "It's time."

"Shh... they're coming." Hikigaya reminded the two of them.

They shut their mouths and maintained a quiet atmosphere.

Shishio could see Tobe and Yumiko, who stood next to each other in the dark before he saw Rumi and her group walking in their direction.

The light slowly approached, and Rumi's group met Tobe and Yumiko.

"Oh, it's just these guys!"

They were slightly nervous before, but they sighed in relief when they saw two familiar people.

"They're dressed normally!"

"Lame!"

"This isn't scary at all!"

"You're so dumb even though you're in high school!"

They didn't feel fear. Instead, they felt superior to Yumiko and Tobe and even started to make fun of them.

However...

"Huh?!" Tobe looked at the group angrily. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?!"

"Eh?!"

The group of little girls was startled by this sudden change.

"Hey, don't you think you're acting too cocky?" Yumiko also glared at them. "We're not your friends, you know?"

They even became scared when they saw how serious Yumiko was.

Yumiko approached them without hesitation and asked, "I could have sworn that you called us retarded or something. Which one of you was it?"

They didn't dare to look at Yumiko and lowered their heads.

"Sorry."

This was the only word that came out from one of them.

*Crack!*

Yumiko slammed the trunk of the tree with her heel. "I said I want the smartass to fess up!"

"......" Shishio stared at Yumiko for a moment before he lowered his head since her g-string panties were showing up. He sighed, wondering how this virgin could be so bold. Still, her legs were smooth and slender, which was nice to gaze at.

"You think this is a game?!" Tobe also approached them and glared at them, ready to teach them a lesson anytime.

Yumiko and Tobe stood at the front and behind the group of girls, cutting their escaping route.

"Do it! Do it! It's our job to teach them some basic courtesy!" Yumiko was excited.

"......." Shishio.

"Yo Hayama-san, I can beat them, right?" Tobe asked loudly.

Hayama, who had been stand-by on the side, also started to appear. Unlike his usual sunny smile, he was so cold and emotionless, causing the group of girls to be even more nervous. "Let's do this. Half of you can leave. Half of you will stay."

"Huh?"

They were startled by his words.

"You are all going to decide who is going to stay."

They even became scared and nervous.

"We're sorry!"

One of them started to apologize.

"We don't want your apologies. I said half of you will have to stay here. Choose." Hayama was as cold as ever.

"Hey, did you not hear it? Or do you think you can ignore him?" Yumiko asked with a pretentious voice.

"Hurry up and choose it! We don't have a lot of time! Who is going to stay?!" Tobe shouted while cracking his fists. "Is it you?!" He looked at one of the girls and asked loudly.

The girl closed her eyes, feeling scared before she looked at Rumi. "Tsurumi. You stay back."

"Ye-Yeah."

Rumi looked at everyone in silence and could only clench her little fists. However, she followed and stayed on the side.

In the hiding place, Shishio, Yukinoshita, Hikigaya, and Yui watched this scene silently.

"This is what you want, right?" Hikigaya asked while looking at Shishio.

"Yeah, it's a good punishment, right?"

"...Devil."

"I can't deny that." Shishio sighed and said, "We are a high school. Our age is different. If we enter her fight, it will do nothing but only make it worse. Besides comfort or support, I can't give her much, especially with this limited time. The only thing I can do is mess up the human relationship between those girls, so her problem will disappear since, after this, she isn't going to be the only loner in her school now."

"Well, I agree with you. This is the only way to solve their problem." Hikigaya felt that instead of Shishio, he should be the one to take on this role since, unlike him, he didn't have anyone around him.

"You don't have to look at me like that since I have initiated this plan. I will bear the price," Shishio said calmly.

"...Bastard, don't say something so cool in this situation." Hikigaya felt his lines had been taken somehow.

Shishio only laughed and didn't say anything.

However, Yukinoshita and Yui stared at Shishio's back for a moment, but neither of them said anything, yet they moved closer to him.

"Come on."

On the other hand, Hayama didn't stop and stared at the rest of the girls besides Rumi.

"One down, two to go. Hurry up."

The four girls looked at each other, and they were filled with fear.

Rumi looked at the four of them and was silent without saying anything.

As for what she was thinking, no one knew.