"The punishment will usually be sitting out of a fun activity and not being allowed a reward at the awards ceremony. Sometimes I may ask you to do extra work, more than the others have to. If Teacher Teshima is here, I'll have you sit with her alone and go over lessons for longer than the others. The punishments won't be fun," Yuuma emphasizes. Hisashi sounded intrigued so he probably wanted to make sure he didn't get in trouble on purpose, thinking the punishment would actually be fun to him.
Hisashi frowns and looks disappointed. I want to give Yuuma a thumbs up for keeping the pervert in check. Hopefully he won't misbehave.
"Anything else I need to clarify?" Yuuma asks. No one else speaks up. "Then I'll give a tour of the camp and introduce two others to you."
We all stand up to get ready for the tour. Yuuma explains that the building we're in right now is the cafeteria. We'll always meet here for our meals and most of the other activities. Basically, you'll want to get nice and comfortable here because we'll spend most of our time here.
Yuuma tells us that the door at the back, to the right of the counter, is the door to the kitchen. Chef Ana makes all our meals there. Yuuma opens the door and asks Ana to come out. There's a clattering noise and it sounds like she's in a rush to situate herself. When she's done, she comes out of the kitchen with a bright smile.
She has her pink hair up in a bun, has light purple eyes, and wears what I would call a waiter's outfit. It's not frilly and girly, but looks more like professional attire for the kitchen. She gives off an air of prestige because of it. Except, she almost sounded clumsy as she hurried to get ready to greet us.
"Hello, I'm sure Yuuma already told you but, I'm Ana! I'm the chef for this camp! I hope you'll enjoy my meals! All of my meals are delicious, so don't worry! But I guess that's more up to you guys to decide when you taste them... Also, I'd like to get a list of any allergies you guys might have. Don't want anyone getting sick or needing an EpiPen! But if you do actually need an EpiPen, we have some for your safety," Ana says, quickly adding the last thing.
It looks like she's trying hard not to say anything wrong. It's not working too well for my first impression of her. She obviously doesn't seem like a bad person though. We probably won't have to talk much with each other anyway, right?
"Yes, we do have a record of everyone's allergies, but it would be good to confirm with all of you now," Yuuma says. "Does anyone have any allergies we should be aware of?"
"I'm not allergic to anything~" Hisashi says.
"No. Just a little allergic to grass and pollen..." Kentaro puts his hands in his pockets and shrugs.
Gin shakes his head. I smile and say I don't have any allergies either. We all look at Matsu next. He notices the attention this time.
"Hm?" he says.
"Do you have any allergies, Matsu?" Yuuma asks again.
"M-Matsu can eat anything!" He looks proud. Did he stutter...? That's kind of cute— No, that's not even important. What am I thinking right now?
"Guess that means I can make anything for dinner then! Thanks, everyone!" Ana says. She's such a bright person compared to Yuuma... I didn't know what I was expecting when we first met her, but I guess it wasn't this.
"Thank you, Ana. We'll continue with the tour now," Yuuma says. Ana takes her leave and goes back into the kitchen to prepare the dinner she mentioned.
We leave the cafeteria. The sun is out again and everything looks brighter, although it's already starting to set. In front of us is a big tree in the center of branching pathways. Yuuma explains that each pathway leads to a cabin. It's a big area so there are many cabins. The cabin to the left when you leave the cafeteria is Yuuma's cabin. Ana and another person, who Yuuma still needs to introduce us to, stays there as well. The rest of the cabins are empty, ready for us criminals to occupy.
"I actually only had two cabins prepared," Yuuma corrects my thoughts. "Those two cabins across from here will be yours. First, let me introduce you to someone else."
Next to the cafeteria on the left, between the cafeteria and Yuuma's cabin, is a smaller building. Yuuma leads us to it and opens the door. Inside is a woman who is startled. She quickly turns around, the sunlight shining on her round glasses for a moment, blocking the view of her eyes. Her eyebrows are furrowed and look concerned. Her mouth is twisted in concern too. She has dark gray hair in two buns at the bottom of her hair. She wears a blue police uniform and has black gloves that go to her elbows.
"Tamiyo. I wanted to introduce everyone to you for a moment," Yuuma explains.
"O-Oh..." the woman says. She doesn't look any less concerned. Now I can see she has dark purple eyes. "Excuse me, I just didn't expect you so soon..."
"No, I should apologize. I shouldn't have startled you like this."
After a moment of greeting each other, the woman finally came out of the building. Apparently that's the laundry room. I see two machines for both a washer and a dryer, and a table to the side.
The woman introduces herself to us. "Hello... My name is Tamiyo... I'm in charge of the laundry at the camp. Give me your dirty clothes and bedsheets, and I'll get them cleaned." She looks pretty nervous. It isn't that she's afraid of us since we're criminals, is it...? I can't help but feel she's afraid of something. Maybe you'd think it's the tall Yuuma next to her, but that doesn't seem like it at all. They seemed pretty comfortable with each other when they greeted each other.
So far it seems like everyone is taller than me. Hisashi and Matsu are taller than I expected, Kentaro is pretty tall himself, don't get me started on Yuuma again, and Ana is tall too but she's still shorter than Yuuma. Tamiyo seems about my size, and I know Gin definitely is about the same height as me, even if a tiny bit shorter. I was cursed to be 5'4" when any other guy is usually a giant... I don't have a height complex, okay!? It's just annoying when other guys are so much taller than me...
"Please refer to Tamiyo as Officer Tamiyo," Yuuma says. "She's a trusted officer who volunteered to help with the camp. Don't look down on her in any way." Of course, I was planning on keeping my thoughts to myself anyway.
Tamiyo already looks ready to leave even though we just met. Yuuma lets her go though. Not like there's anything else to say. As we turn around to leave, I see a small outhouse-looking building. It's to the right of the cafeteria and across from the laundry room.
"What's that?" I ask, pointing at it.
"That's a small supply closet. It has a mop, a broom, a bucket, things like that. It's not too important at this very moment, but we may use the things inside for cleaning occasionally," Yuuma explains.
We move on. When leaving the cafeteria and facing the tree, the entrance to the camp is to the right. Yuuma points out that to the left, across from the entrance, is a pathway that leads to a lake. It's not very important either but may be used sometimes. We walk around the tree and to the two cabins across from it. I notice now that there are several officers lining up around the camp. They look like a wall of men who won't let us slip past, even if it kills them. I don't plan on killing anyone though...
We enter one cabin. It's a spacious building with too much space. You could probably fit four bunk beds inside, but there are only two. There are many windows that let a lot of light in. To the back of the cabin is a door. Yuuma tells us that that's the bathroom. He also says the other cabins are identical to this one. He explains that there are only two bunk beds since there are too few of us. We don't need more than two of them in each cabin.
That basically concludes the tour. The camp has many trees inside the boundary line, and a whole forest outside the line. Officers mark the boundary line for, as Yuuma explains it, "our safety." He also mentions that the officers have a cabin for themselves that isn't a part of the camp, and that is instead for their breaks and rotation. Officers will monitor the camp during the day and there's less of them than usual compared to at night. At night, they'll use flashlights and patrol to make sure no one tries to escape in the darkness. Seems like tight security. We criminals could be unpredictable, so it's understandable. I personally don't want to jeopardize my time here and end up in prison instead.
Yuuma leaves us to choose who stays in each cabin. Although, our luggage was put in certain cabins and we had to find them. It looks like my luggage is in the cabin with Kentaro and Gin's. Hisashi and Matsu's are in the other one. We decided to keep the arrangements like that since there's no real reason to change it. We don't know each other at all, so it doesn't matter who we stay with. We'll all be together in the cafeteria most of the time anyway.
Gin and Kentaro are quick to choose their bunk beds. They each choose the bottom bunk, Gin on the left, Kentaro on the right. So now I have to choose who I want to bunk with. I have to choose the top though. What, we can't have a discussion about this? No rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets the top and bottom? I want to yell about this injustice, but I keep my mouth shut. It'll only be a year. The top bunk is actually pretty rad so there's no need to complain, right?
I have no idea who to bunk with. It doesn't matter, but I have to make a choice. Gin is quiet, but maybe a little too quiet. I feel like it'd be awkward to bump into each other every time we climb into our beds. Especially if he can't even make eye contact with me. Kentaro is still intimidating. He seems like he could be cool though. I doubt there'd be any awkwardness with him. I've decided then: I'll be on the top bunk of Kentaro's bed.
I take my bag of luggage up on my bed. I unzip it and look inside. I'm disappointed. I packed a bunch of stuff; my clothes, odd trinkets that I stole, and a stuffed animal from my childhood. Everything was taken out except for my clothes when the officers searched my bag. Did they think my stuff was somehow dangerous? It wasn't. Even the stuffed animal, how the hell is that dangerous? Why can't I take it with me? I seriously don't understand.
Maybe a stuffed animal at my age, 18, is a little weird though. It's just a sentimental item for me. I debated on bringing it or not. In the end, I stuffed it into my bag and headed to the police station. It might actually be good that I wasn't allowed to bring it. I said it's a sentimental item, but that doesn't mean it only holds happy memories. It holds memories regarding an old friend... I really should forget about him by now. Right, seeing that stuffed animal will only remind me of him. Good riddance.
Once we're done with deciding on our cabins and beds, Yuuma wants us back at the cafeteria. When we get there, we take our same seats from the beginning. Ana rushes out with plates in her hands. She gives a plate to each of us, me being the last. It already smells amazing. There's a sweetness to the scent. I see that the meal is grilled chicken with a sweet sauce poured over it. I cut into it and take a bite. It's like the flavor explodes in my mouth. The chicken is juicy and the sweet sauce is a perfect addition to it. It seems like a sweet barbecue sauce. I almost can't get enough of it and I shovel the whole meal into my mouth.
I finish eating and am almost embarrassed. Then I look around and see that the others are doing the same. Oh yeah, doesn't Gin have to take his mask off to eat? I'm curious to see what he looks like without it... But when I look, he's done eating too and I missed my chance. Curse you, delicious chicken... I notice that Ana is smiling proudly before gathering the empty plates and going back into the kitchen.
The sun has already completely set and our first day is over. It wasn't a complete day, and it was just an introduction to the camp and our time here, but it felt fulfilling. I don't necessarily want to be here, but perhaps I'm a tiny bit excited to see how the year goes. There are quite a few interesting people here. I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about them. Although, I don't care that much. Hopefully we won't have to get too close to each other. Just enough to make it through the entire year. I'll do my best to finish my sentence and get out of this camp for criminals.
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