After breaking up, my ex asked me to win her back

The middle-aged woman helped her father leave.

Kagura Hikaru and Kiryu Hina watched their figures disappear into the distance.

They naturally wouldn't take an old man's ramblings seriously.

But just to be safe, Kagura Hikaru still kept his guard up.

He hadn't expected that a simple outing would lead to such an incident, which cast a slight shadow over his heart.

Turning his head towards Kiryu Hina, he realized she had already left, stepping away quickly.

That girl, she must have been scared.

As her ex-boyfriend, Kagura Hikaru knew all too well about Hina's fear of ghosts; a person who couldn't even watch horror movies would naturally seek the safety of a crowd upon hearing such dubious tales.

Upon reflection, it seemed she really hadn't changed.

Kagura Hikaru followed her to where their classmates were gathered at the bus station.

As they neared the entrance, he saw a middle-aged woman handing out missing child flyers to the passing Ugao High students, her expression earnest.

He took one, which had a picture of a little girl in a deep red dress and her basic information.

The little girl's name was 'Komori Ai,' ten years old, a local elementary school student.

The middle-aged woman explained that five years ago, her daughter disappeared near a camping site in the mountains, and to this day, her life or death remains unknown, not even her remains have been found.

Therefore, whenever there were visitors going up the mountains to camp, she would hand out the missing child flyers.

"If you find any clue, please provide it to me, I implore you!"

The middle-aged woman bowed deeply to them, disregarding her own status as an adult.

Five full years had passed, yet she still hadn't given up hope.

It was truly a touching display of a mother's love.

Kagura Hikaru looked down at the flyer in his hand, his gaze lingering on the little girl named Komori Ai's image.

The girl was quite cute, with smooth long black hair that would not look out of place on an Island Nation doll, the kind someone might impulsively want to kidnap and sell upon seeing her on the street.

But why wear red?

That color could cause all sorts of unnecessary associations.

Kagura Hikaru sighed internally.

It was just a coincidence; he wasn't one to scare himself.

Ghosts and such were nothing but figments of human imagination.

Kiryu Hina comforted herself with the same thought as she held a missing child flyer, forcing a smile.

Half an hour passed, and the teachers gathered the students again, took another roll call to make sure no one was missing, and then they all set off towards the camping site en masse.

The campsite was located on a grassy plain upstream, with an open view that allowed them to see the small town below, and about three hundred meters behind it was a lush green forest.

The school had reserved the mountain campsite exclusively; it was empty for now and available for use until the next day.

Upon seeing the camping site, the energetic high school students immediately whooped and ran into the outdoors, chasing the wind and butterflies with wild abandon as Teacher Yamazaki shouted and chased after them.

Students of that age truly had the spirits of dogs.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

After finally gathering everyone, Teacher Yamazaki and the other teachers started instructing the students on how to set up their tents.

At the same time, the students' tools were distributed, which were the tents and sleeping bags previously placed at the campsite.

The items were all rented, and any damages would have to be compensated for—Teacher Yamazaki reminded them of this.

After the briefing, everyone formed groups of three and began to set up their tents in the chosen spots.

They would probably stick with these groupings for sleeping at night as well.

Kagura Hikaru, Miyamoto Shi, and the Gorilla Vice President formed a team and quickly set up their tent, storing their sleeping bags and luggage inside.

The latter two had no related experience and were completely slacking off; the tent was pretty much set up by Kagura Hikaru alone.

Teacher Yamazaki came over with hands clasped behind his back to check and nodded repeatedly after confirming everything was perfect, then told Kagura Hikaru to go and teach other people how to set up tents.

It's primarily about teaching, Kagura Hikaru didn't need to do it himself.

The forest course was meant to teach students outdoor survival skills, and although this concept was considered outdated, it was always good for them to learn more.

If they ever needed to set up a tent in the future, they would remember how their teacher had taught them now.

Half an hour later, everyone had pretty much got the hang of it, and the teachers in charge of starting the fire and cooking had also made progress, successfully getting the fire going.

The teachers called over a few students who were good at cooking class to help, and they made a large pot of curry rice.

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When the curry rice was almost ready, everyone, attracted by the smell, conscientiously lined up with a pair of chopsticks and a ceramic bowl each.

As the bowls and chopsticks were items brought from home, it wasn't too much of a burden to bring one set per person.

One bowl of curry rice per person, plus some soup or a drink, and that was lunch taken care of.

After finishing their meals, everyone went to the campsite's sink to wash their dishes. Upon returning, Kagura Hikaru, who had planned to play cards with Miyamoto Shi and the others, was unexpectedly stopped by Kiryu Hina.

"Hey high school student over there, you seem to have some free time, can you come over and help?" she asked with a smile.

It was a rare occurrence to be approached by Kiryu Hina twice in one day.

Thinking this, Kagura Hikaru followed her.

Upon arrival, he realized the help team was rather large.

Apart from Teacher Yamazaki and Ayakojo Chiyoko, whom he recognized, the rest were strangers, but they seemed to be acquaintances of Kiryu Hina; they kept glancing at her and striking up conversations from time to time.

"Alright, quiet down and listen to me!" Teacher Yamazaki clapped his hands and called out, before pointing towards a distant mountain peak, "Tomorrow, we're going to have a picnic there. But we need to scout the trail in advance. Let's go check it out together."

It was uncertain whether it was a coincidence or fate.

The mountain Teacher Yamazaki pointed to was the same one where they had encountered the deranged old man who was lost in town.

He looked at Kiryu Hina, who probably also heard about going there for the first time, her expression slightly stiff.

"Everyone got that." Kiryu Hina's smile was as perfect as ever, but to Kagura Hikaru, it seemed a bit forced, "If anyone doesn't want to go, speak up now."

No one agreed, and they all expressed their desire to go.

Thus, a team of about sixteen people set out towards the mountain.

Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko naturally fell to the back of the group.

The two of them, along with most of the people present, didn't know each other very well and were clearly feeling somewhat isolated.

Apart from Teacher Yamazaki, everyone seemed more drawn to Kiryu Hina at the front, and no one talked to them.

After all, they had just been accused of framing Kiryu Hina by exploiting the Society Discussion Meeting; no wonder they weren't popular.

"Why are you here?" Kagura asked.

"That guy called me over," Ayakoji Chiyoko said, tilting her chin up slightly.

The 'that guy' she referred to was undoubtedly Kiryu Hina.

"You actually listened to her?"

"I just wanted to figure out what she was up to," Ayakoji Chiyoko pulled at the corner of her mouth, "But now it seems that she has bitten off more than she can chew."

This mountain was of moderate height, with man-made trails for climbing. With a bit of effort, they could reach the summit in an hour.

But that was for people like Kagura Hikaru and Ayakoji Chiyoko.

As for someone like Kiryu Hina, who had been pampered all her life, never exercised, and was delicate and frail...

Clearly, Ayakoji Chiyoko was also one of those aware of Kiryu Hina's weaknesses.

Kiryu Hina, walking in front, followed the pace of the group at an unhurried speed, casually handling their conversations.

Although she hid it well, anyone paying attention could notice her breathing faster than the others.

By the time they reached the peak, she would likely be sweating profusely.

Ayakoji Chiyoko chatted leisurely with Kagura Hikaru, preparing to watch the spectacle unfold.