After the long holiday.

When I stepped into the classroom, Iwabuchi-san approached me with a smiling face.

“Thanks for the other day! You helped a lot!”

“I’m glad I could be of use.”

Seeing Iwabuchi-san’s happy expression makes me feel again that going to help at the training camp was the right choice.

Well, at the very end, an outrageous intruder showed up though...

In the end, after teasing me plenty in the bath, Takatsuka-san quickly got changed and went home.

Since it’s Takatsuka-san, I was worried she might trespass into my sleeping space, but maybe she wanted to avoid being discovered by the girls’ basketball members and dragged into trouble.

“Hayama-kun, you were really an excellent manager. If possible, I’d like you to officially become our manager from now on. I even thought that much.”

“Um, I...”

“Right. You were worried about your sisters, so I know it’d be an unreasonable request.”

Iwabuchi-san looked apologetic.

Being acknowledged for my work and asked like this by her is bliss itself, but I still have to value my sisters too.

“Ah, but did you know?”

Iwabuchi-san lowered her voice and leaned closer.

“What’s up?”

With a serious atmosphere unlike her usual bright self, my tension rose too.

“I heard during practice after camp that one of our club girls said when she was walking down the hallway to the restroom, she heard a strange scream like it belonged to a ghost.”

“A strange scream? W-what that’s scary...”

“Apparently, it came from the bath area, but Hayama-kun, you entered the bath later than everyone right? Did anything seem dangerous?”

“Ah...”

“Eh, do you know something?”

“N-no nothing! Umm, when I used the bath, I didn’t notice anything suspicious.”

“I see. Maybe she misheard then. Sorry for scaring you.”

“Haha yeah let’s end the scary story there.”

Soon the bell rang and I returned to my seat almost stumbling along the way.

A scream from the bath at the lodge huh.

A ghost’s doing huh.

That was probably me...

I took a firm stance, refusing to let the intruding Takatsuka-san wash anything but my back but overpowered physically I was restrained and washed... no had my body washed so the voice back then must’ve been it. It was mistaken for the resentful cry of some spirit unable to pass on.

But a scream huh... if it sounded like a scream then maybe my feelings toward Iwabuchi-san stayed protected.