Looking at the mushroom that was forcefully shoved into his hands, Kudo's eye twitched violently.
"You bastard, are you trying to use me as a test subject!?"
(;?＿?)
"Ahem, how could that be! We've all studied survival manuals thoroughly. This is just a token of apology."
Shiro averted his gaze guiltily. He would never admit that he was scared of misidentifying the mushroom.
Besides, the mushroom was thoroughly cooked—there's no way it could be poisonous!
Yep! It's just an apology!
"Like hell I'd believe you!" Kudo saw right through his expression and immediately stabbed the mushroom back into the skewer.
"If that's the case, then eat that stuff over there."
Iori pointed to some yam beans. No matter what, they wouldn't let a fellow survivor go hungry.
"No need for you to tell me, I was gonna eat those anyway…"
Kudo said with a bit of tsundere flair, his opinion of the three improving slightly. They really didn't have to care about him…
Once everyone had picked what they wanted to eat, they clapped their hands together.
"Itadakimasu!" ×4
Nom~!
"So good!"
"Delicious!"
"This is freaking amazing!"
"Disgusting!"
Σ_(´Д`」∠) gag!
Breaking the mood, Kudo immediately vomited to the side.
There's no way that was a yam bean. It tasted exactly like goat droppings!
(ಠ益ಠ)
Seeing Kudo's miserable state, the three—Shiro, Iori, and Kohei—flashed smug expressions.
"Ahahaha, didn't I say so?"
"It's just a fun little thing!"
"Yam beans are harvested from September to November. In summer, they're bitter and hard~"
"Well, now this is the only thing left!"
Shiro handed over a bottle of wild whiskey. If they let him throw up again, the smell would be unbearable.
"Damn it!"
Staring at the strong liquor, Kudo gritted his teeth and drank straight from the bottle.
"Whoa!"
"Now that's bold!"
"You've got guts—real man style!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
At that moment, they really did feel like friends—drinking together, goofing around together~
"(ˉ﹃ˉ) hic~"
Because it was high-proof wild whiskey, and Kudo wasn't used to strong alcohol, he was now swaying unsteadily.
He looked like he was barely holding on.
"You're really no good at this, senpai. Have you even had drinking parties before?"
Shiro said with disdain—hell, even Chisa could outdrink him.
"Hic… You think… hic… our drinking parties were like your booze-head club? Ours were normal parties…"
"Normal parties?"
Shiro scratched his head in confusion and turned to Iori and Kohei. "Were our drinking parties abnormal?"
"Totally normal."
"Isn't that just what parties are like?"
Iori and Kohei were equally puzzled. Clearly, the three of them had rarely attended any other types of parties…
(¬_¬)
"You three are beyond saving."
Kudo took another swig. These guys had completely turned into carbon copies of PAB members.
It's their stomachs now—next year it'll be their figures. He had to make sure his tennis club juniors stayed away from these three weirdos.
Still confused, the trio decided to just stop thinking about it. After all, they did enjoy their current drinking parties.
"By the way, there's something I've never understood."
Shiro looked at the drunken Kudo and asked, "Why did you back down so easily back then?"
"Back then?"
"Yeah, during the daytime game."
"You're clearly a scumbag who plays around with women…"
"Yet you just backed off so obediently—it's super suspicious!"
Iori and Kohei also looked at him in confusion. They knew why the seniors had rejected the situation.
But they couldn't figure out why Kudo had given up so quickly.
Back then, he was all stubborn and clingy about staying. Then after one word from the seniors, he just gave up?
It couldn't be because he was scared of their muscles, right…
(°Д°;)
"None of your damn business…"
When had he ever played around with women!? That was just normal pursuit! The real womanizer was probably that squinty-eyed bastard next to them!
Glug glug glug~
Annoyed, Kudo tried to drown his feelings in alcohol.
"Bwuah~ hic~"
As the alcohol hit, Kudo's eyes grew unfocused, and a touch of sadness crept into his expression.
"I was just being considerate of Tokita and the others."
"Huh?" ×3
The trio stared at him blankly. Was this guy spouting drunken nonsense?
Considerate of the seniors?
"What do you mean?"
"You actually cared about those two guys?"
"That's as unnecessary as buying a couple's seat for Yamamoto."
In their minds, the seniors were always at the top of the food chain. It was them who considered, not the other way around.
Kudo looked at the dumbfounded trio and realized—they were still first-years.
Then he shook his head with a nostalgic smile, his voice laced with a hint of emotion.
"You first-years still don't get it. You're in the most carefree phase."
"But us third-years… we're about to retire…"
…
Kudo's words stunned the three into silence.
Retire…
Such a foreign concept to them.
They'd never even considered what things would be like once the seniors were gone.
Would there be fewer drinking parties? Or… would it become really hard to gather at all?
"But isn't there still fourth year?"
Kohei asked. In university, retirement shouldn't be urgent, right?
"There's the thesis and job hunting. I won't have much time left either, so I wanted to be considerate."
"…"
The three fell silent again. For first-years, things like that still felt far off.
Maybe out of reluctance, Kudo took another big gulp. "So… have you guys made any preparations?"
"Preparations for what?"
"The succession activities. Usually second-years handle that, but your club…"
"We don't have any second-years."
"And there are only five first-years in total."
!!!
The realization hit them hard. So that's why something had felt off.
Their club had no second-years!
Which meant—if the seniors retired, they'd go from a ten-plus-member club to just five people?!
"Can't even imagine it."
"PAB's on the road to collapse."
"Maybe we should just rename the club!"
The three conspired—maybe they should just call it the Booze Club?
The risk was high though… Chisa might kill them.
"Ahem…"
With all that alcohol, Kudo finally couldn't take it. He started wobbling dangerously.
"Whether you can imagine it or not… the farewell… is getting closer…"
Thud!
And with that, he collapsed. Seemed like he was ready to sleep under the stars.
Unfortunately for him, the three who drank with him weren't planning to let him off that easily.
Shiro pinched his nose, trying to wake him up. "Don't sleep yet, senpai! Tell us more about the succession stuff!"
"Hah? I'm not even in your diving club, how would I know how you do succession…"
Kudo waved him off, pleading to be spared. All he wanted now was sleep—even if it was in the wilderness.
"Then tell us how your club does it! Doesn't matter!"
"Ours, huh…"
Thinking back to how things went during their own club's succession, a nostalgic glint flashed in Kudo's eyes.
"We spent our time back then on a small island too—beaches, the ocean, bikinis, drinking and singing…"
"Wait a second!"
"…Did you guys forget that you're part of a tennis club?"
"Why not just change your name to the Lewd Club instead?"
Shiro interrupted Kudou's nostalgic story. What did any of that have to do with tennis?
"We didn't forget. In the end, we had a giant cake shaped like a tennis ball."
"..."
So, are they planning to order a cake shaped like a diving suit?
Imagining everyone sharing and eating a diving suit-shaped cake, Shiro suddenly didn't feel like preparing for this handover event anymore.
"No choice. You can't really go wild on a tennis court. As for matches, we've already had too many."
Kudou shrugged helplessly. He did want to host something tennis-related, but everyone was tired of endless tennis. Beaches with hot guys and girls in bikinis sounded way better.
"Too many times…"
Shiro pondered, and an idea for the handover event began to take shape.
"How about we find a spot in the ocean to go diving?"
After all, unlike the tennis club, their club's love for diving wouldn't fade.
"Sounds great!"
"Yeah, it already sounds way better than that dumb tennis club's plan!"
Iori and Kouhei both agreed enthusiastically. They could even throw in a booze party!
"..."
Once again the butt of the joke, Kudou rolled his eyes and laid back down. "As long as you're happy. It's not our club's event anyway."
He closed his eyes, preparing to sleep, wondering what surprise his juniors might have in store for him.
Thinking about it suddenly made him feel a little sentimental.
As Kudou's consciousness started to fade, just as he was about to fall asleep…
"Hey!"
A voice from the hilltop jolted him awake.
Looking up, he saw Tokita and Kotobuki approaching with flashlights.
"So this is where you all ran off to."
"Jeez, you made us search everywhere."
Seeing those two familiar, reliable figures, Shiro and the others instantly got excited.
"Senpai!"
"We're saved!"
"I knew our senpai would come through!"
Watching this lively scene, Kudou rubbed his temples with a smile and muttered, What a noisy club…