Jojo's Pose

　　"I-Isn't it bad to do this... Eavesdropping on Asada-kun's conversation on the phone..."

　　Sticking her head out of the toilet, Itsuki was embarrassed and confused.

　　Nino looked at Shinichi who was getting farther away, and waved her hand.

　　"Then you can go wash your face and brush your teeth. Use the last sink. Don't turn the water too high."

　　Itsuki hesitated, then just as she was about to back away, Ichika grabbed her hand.

　　"Itsuki, don't worry, right now it's a group activity for the quintuplets, and don't do anything bad~"

　　(No, what kind of group activity is eavesdropping...) Yotsuba complained inside.

　　"Is that so…" Her gaze wavered. Under Ichika's persuasion, Itsuki returned to her position by the toilet door.

　　"Asada-kun said it's important to find your own feet in group activities, so I have to keep an eye on everyone, and I can't let your eavesdropping affect Asada-kun's conversation!"

　　Miku complained: "Just like Shinichi... Itsuki would really find a reason..."

　　Itsuki blushed and ignored her.

　　Seeing Shinichi walking further away, and about to return to the cabin, Nino waved her hand and gave an order in a low voice.

　　"Follow him!"

　　So, the quintuplets sneaked out of the toilet, looking for shelter along the way, and started closing in on Shinichi.

Yotsuba on the other end, showed a wry smile.

　　From eavesdropping to following, she always felt that the five of them looked even worse than before...

　　△

　　Shinichi was obsessed with the cell phone, glanced back, then kept moving toward the wooden house.

　　"I guess I'm not bothering you, am I? Sorry for calling so early."

　　Like a cool breeze in the morning, Fumino's cheerful voice sounded in his ears, which made Shinichi feel a little happier for no reason.

[Translator Note: Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu will be using first names from now on]

　　"It's okay, I usually get up at 7 AM, and I'll be busy with forest school later. Now is a rare time to rest."

　　"Ah, then I'll try to speak as quickly as possible so as not to disturb your rest," Said Fumino attentively.

　　Shinichi was silent, his words were only pleasantries, but he didn't expect Fumino to take him seriously

Is it because he has no talent for jokes?

　　After thinking about it, he said clearly.

　　"Nothing is noisy. The meeting time is 8 AM again. I was free before that. You can speak slowly."

　　"Eh? Is that so?" Seemingly confused by his change in words, Fumino leaned back on the bed, and the sound of pillows being squeezed was heard.

　　"Asada-san is on the mountain now, right? I'm really jealous because you can sleep together with a beautiful girl. Two happinesses combined will surely lead to greater happiness…"

　　"Hah?" Shinichi raised his eyebrows

　　Shinichi glanced back again, and found that the five of them were following with crappy tracking and eavesdropping skills.

　　That's great, looks like there's one more thing to cover later at the meeting.

　　Thinking about this, Shinichi decided to leave them and chat with Fumino.

　　"When did you come into contact with otaku culture? I remember you didn't even read JUMP before."

　　"It's just that I haven't read shonen manga, but I've been in contact with shoujo manga or comedy manga." Fumino snorted, "I'm not the kind of literary girl who only reads novels and poetry."

　　"White Album isn't a shoujo manga, right?"

　　"I cross genres!"

　　"What are you proud of…"

　　"Who told someone to play tricks while talking? It makes me lose my mind every time I chatter halfway," Fumino blamed.

　　Shinichi smiled: "I'm sorry, I'll do it again another time."

　　Fumino seemed to have known that he would answer like this, and immediately laughed.

　　She said curiously.

　　"By the way, didn't Asada-san say last time that 'cook JOJO can talk to memes'? I will watch JOJO later. May I ask, what precautions should I take before watching it?"

　　Shinichi thought about Fumino looking at JOJO, then put on JOJO stand.

　　(Tsk, I always feel that the eyes behind me seem more intense.)

　　"If you haven't seen the tough guy style work before, you can start seeing the third Star Fighter animation, and the reception will be even higher."

　　"Actually, if you want to understand the premise, you can just Google it. You don't need to watch anime, it will take a lot of time anyway…"

　　"Because of you…" The next second Fumino blurted out, changing her tone, and said, "You said that anime was really good, so I guess I should try."

　　Shinichi said, "You are very hot-tempered."

　　"Ahhaha, thanks for the compliment~" Fumino smiled.

　　The conversation between the two was interrupted for a while, the atmosphere was awkward, Shinichi ignored the ambiguous feelings.

　　"Furuhashi, you have something serious to discuss with me?"

　　"Ah right, I almost forgot…" Fumino pondered for a moment in doubt, then said, "Auntie didn't contact you yesterday, did she?"

　　"Why did she contact me when she had nothing to do..." Shinichi's eyes widened, "Wait, didn't she say a lot of things that couldn't be explained to you again?"

　　Fumino laughed, apparently in agreement.

Shinichi gritted his teeth "That grandma ity, she's not too young to tease high school girls..."

　　(Isn't this statement a bit strange…) Fumino complained, then said in a casual tone so as not to make things awkward again.

　　"Auntie didn't say anything she just asked if I went with you with Ricchan or something. I guess I'm worried about us? Asada-san don't worry."

　　Of course, there was no way Kazumi was hinting that Fumino should immediately reclaim Shinichi from the girl in the photo.

　　Even though Fumino really wanted to ask how far Shinichi and Itsuki had come and why they seemed so close, but she also knew that she was just a friend, so she couldn't ask.

　　The reason she used to convince herself to be useless now is because her grades are stable and Shinichi will definitely accompany them until they graduate.

　　No matter what, she was just a thin skinned innocent girl! Faced with something like this, what else could Fumino do other than play dumb? Not to mention she still has Rizu to worry about...

　　However, Fumino is very satisfied with the relationship and way of getting along with Shinichi now, and she doesn't plan on going any further for now, and she isn't going to make any changes.

　　"Worries? Is she afraid I'll attack you or something?"

　　Shinichi spoke quietly.

　　"And whether you come with me or not, it has nothing to do with her, right? Whose mother is she…"

　　"Yes, yours…"

　　"…Furuhashi, your consoling tone makes me very displeased, please explain to me your current state of mind."

　　"Huh~"

　　Outside the cabin, the five people eavesdropping on the door panel looked at each other with serious expressions.

　　Ichika: The sound insulation of the wooden doors is really good...

　　Nino: I can't hear at all. Is there something wrong with someone's head with a good sound insulation design?

　　Miku: Listen carefully, you can still hear something... Shinichi seems really unhappy...

　　Yotsuba: By the way, how long are we going to eavesdrop here? Since we can't hear clearly, go back and wash your face and brush your teeth… Itsuki thinks so too, right?

Itsuki: The wooden door here has been thickened. Unless we lean against the crack in the door, we can probably hear more clearly on the other side of the window than this one... How about we leave?

　　Above, they all communicated with each other with their eyes, without making a sound.

　　Yotsuba sighed, the tacit understanding of the quintuplets being used in this kind of nonsense, she really didn't know whether to say it was appropriate or reckless.