NTR Kousuke

Chapter 22

Yesterday, I heard that Airi-senpai and Sahori-senpai parted ways.

Considering my own situation, I thought it might be a reference, but I realized that relationships between men and women are all different.

Even someone as flawed as Sahori-senpai must have been deeply loved by her,

Airi: "I thought his selfishness and big talk were cute, and even his sloppy and careless personality was fine as long as I stayed on top of things, right!"

Seriously, is she a bodhisattva?

She has a tendency to fall for bad guys, so Airi-senpai should be a bit more careful.

Hopefully, the next one will be a decent, sincere man.

Even a bodhisattva like her gave up on him, so cheating is absolutely unforgivable!

Anyway, this morning I was at a cram school near the terminal station for summer classes, and I arrived at the meeting spot behind Hokushou High School 30 minutes early.

The training camp dormitory is a 10-minute walk from the school grounds.

To be precise, it's a dormitory for students in the sports department with a boarding system, along with the training camp facility.

There's a small gymnasium and a mini field there, but basically, we do sports at the high school.

From now on, we'll mainly be buying groceries and starting the task of stocking the training camp kitchen.

Airi-senpai's family is providing a car for us, but it's still a lot of back-and-forth between the supermarket and the car, and the car and the training camp kitchen—plus heavy lifting!

With the third-years gone, there are still nearly 30 club members to feed and prepare for... just thinking about it is exhausting.

As I was thinking about this, Tomonaga-san arrived.

Tomonaga-san was dressed in a cool short-sleeve top and baggy pants, an outfit easy to move in as instructed.

Tomonaga: "Kousuke-kun, thanks for your hard work."

I was the one who called her. Shopping takes a lot of energy, and since she'll be joining the training camp as an assistant manager starting tomorrow, it's good for her to do this kind of work too.

Since she had the morning off and probably just did some walking, Tomonaga-san had a gentle, kind smile.

Tomonaga: "...? What's wrong, Kousuke-kun?"

"...Tomonaga-san, have your cheeks gotten a bit sharper...?"

Tomonaga: "Really?! Are you serious?"

Tomonaga-san checked herself with her smartphone camera, changing angles, but she didn't seem to notice it herself. Still, she looked really happy.

That's right, seeing results must make her even happier!

As I watched Tomonaga-san giggling with a smile, Airi-senpai arrived 10 minutes early.

Airi-senpai looked like a summer young lady with a stylish hat, a white dress, and sandals.

...Isn't this supposed to be heavy lifting for shopping?

Airi: "Kousuke-kun, you're early. Sorry to keep you waiting♪ ...Tomonaga-san too?"

Huh? That kind of look?

Kousuke: "I thought it'd be heavy work, and since she'll be helping with manager duties, I called her. Was that unnecessary?"

Airi: "...Hmm, no, we need her. We need her. Why did I wear something so frilly... ugh!"

It's like she just woke up or something, with that kind of reaction.

The car behind... a big van! With this, we might not need to make multiple trips.

Huh? It's not someone from her family? A helper, maybe. She really is a young lady.

I can't quite imagine cooking for nearly 30 people, but Airi-senpai, who has experience from last year, says the basketball club has notes passed down with rough estimates of portions.

Like how many kilos of rice weren't enough, or there was too much curry.

Based on that, we calculate the portions, make a bit extra, and prepare more side dishes just in case. If there's leftovers, there are plenty of mouths to eat them.

The kitchen at the training camp reminds me of a school cafeteria setup.

Now, if we push it, the van can fit eight people, so we head to a nearby large supermarket. A small supermarket definitely couldn't handle this amount.

At worst, we can restock, but thinking about enough for 30 people for three days, it's a massive amount!

For meat, vegetables, and fish beyond what's already ordered, we split up to compare prices and buy as cheaply as possible, then carry it to the car! Plus, there's a huge amount of stuff like tofu or things for hot pots!

Especially on the first day, we're hosting a joint practice with nearby high schools, and lunch is on us! For the managers, tomorrow is a big challenge right off the bat!

Airi: "That's why tomorrow we're starting with curry right away."

Tomonaga: "Curry right from the start, huh...?"

Airi: "Hehe♪ It's chicken breast curry♪"

Tomonaga: "Eek!!"

Airi: "Just kidding, just kidding! But we'll be making a massive amount of cheap chicken curry. Be ready, okay?"

I can't imagine that kind of chaos with Airi-senpai's gentle vibe.

I listen with interest while silently carrying stuff to the car.

There's no way we could carry all this to the training camp by hand, right?

Ingredients for tomorrow's lunch chicken curry, and for the evening hot pot.

And for the next morning's... like this, we load the car to the brim—literally to the brim—with three days' worth of food, and head to the training camp.

Tomonaga-san and I handle the back-and-forth between the training camp and the car.

Airi-senpai arranged for the car, so she's checking the purchased items.

She may seem like a young lady, but Airi-senpai handles general affairs efficiently.

Tomonaga-san is also working hard carrying things and supporting Airi-senpai.

And I'm on heavy lifting duty!

Airi-senpai is explaining things to Tomonaga-san.

Airi: "Last year, I paid a lot of attention to things like reducing salt, balancing nutrition, and subtle flavors... but you know, teenage boys in their growth spurt? They don't care about that stuff."

She had a resigned expression.

Airi: "Most boys don't care about smoothies, health foods, or elaborate dishes! They'll eat three bowls of rice with just barbecue sauce, salt and pepper, or a bit of garlic! Last year, the one-plate breakfast I planned was outdone by a senior's plan for a casual meat, vegetable, fish, and meat hot pot on the second night. Meat twice? Even in summer, the boys devoured it with rice, made porridge, or added udon... I was shocked."

Training camp sure is tough.

But I'm glad Tomonaga-san and Airi-senpai seem to get along so well.