"Akiara is with Kentaro, Gin is with me, and Matsu is with Hisashi. Those are the new partnerships. Today's activity is a puzzle. Please work together, you'll probably need to," Yuuma said. Then he sat with Gin after handing out the puzzles.

Hisashi moved to Matsu's table, and I moved to Kentaro's. Now we're all sitting on the right side of the cafeteria. Not that that matters but it's almost comical. I wondered if Kentaro would come to my table, but he didn't move. This bastard... Why do I always have to be the one moving... We all sit across from each other to get different angles of the puzzle because it might help.

I take a look at our puzzle. The picture is of three puppies in a basket. The pieces are already scattered on the table and there's 200 of them. I rarely do puzzles. I haven't tried one for a long time. But I'd say you've always got to start with the border. Those are the easiest pieces to find.

I try to find the edge pieces in the pile. Kentaro catches on to what I'm doing. He helps find the pieces too. Then we try to find the way they go together.

"Wait, I think this goes there," I say when Kentaro tries to attach a piece.

He takes the piece and snaps it into place. "Oh, you're right."

Our conversation continues similar to that. We focus on the puzzle and try to find those pesky edge pieces. We eventually snap the last piece of the border in place.

"We finished the border!" I exclaim.

"Thank god." Kentaro is smiling a little bit as he looks down at the puzzle.

"The real challenge starts now. Are you ready?" I tease.

"I was born ready," Kentaro replies.

We tried to find the pieces to fit inside the border. We stared at the picture for too long, like it would help to stare. We tried our best to find pieces but we were a little at a loss. We got excited every time we found a piece that fit. But then Yuuma said time was up for the activity before we could finish.

"No!! Come on, Counselor Yuuma, a little more time!" I pleaded.

"Yeah, we just need a little more time and we can find where the next piece is!" Kentaro joined me.

"Sorry, boys. That's all the time for the activity we have today. We can pick up again tomorrow." Yuuma said.

"The puzzle will be ruined by then!!" I exclaim.

"I'll make sure that doesn't happen. We'll slide each puzzle onto a board and save it for later. No piece will be ruined," Yuuma reassured us.

We watched, holding our breath, as Yuuma carefully slid each puzzle onto a board. I grabbed Kentaro's sleeve for support when Yuuma got to our puzzle. Kentaro grabbed my hand, also needing support. Once our puzzle was safe, we let go of each other and could breathe again.

"I might have cried if it got ruined..." I say.

"I don't blame you..." Kentaro said.

After that intense bonding activity, we had community service as usual. I realized then that I got too close with Kentaro. I even grabbed his sleeve. And he grabbed my hand... Wait, don't remember it!! What the hell am I doing...? I got too worked up. It's like these bonding activities are actually working. Did I just have to be with the right person...? The activities with Gin totally bombed.

Shit, Kentaro is kinda cool and it was somehow fun trying to complete the puzzle with him... But I vowed not to get close to anyone! Now that I think about it, it might be impossible. We'll all be living closely for a year. We have to talk to each other. We can't go on not interacting with each other, no matter how much I want to.

Kentaro seemed to realize we got a little too riled up too. It was a little awkward between us after that. I hate this awkwardness. Do I want to just be friends to avoid this? Or do I continue to distance myself...?

(June 10)
The next day, Kentaro and I continued the puzzle. We organized the pieces into colors and tried to figure out where they went by that. We made more progress. Then finally, at the very end, we actually completed the puzzle.

"We did it," I said, still not processing the reality.

"We did it," Kentaro repeated, probably feeling the same way.

"We did it!!" I exclaimed, standing up. Sure I may have tried a puzzle a while ago, but I don't remember ever completing one. This might be my first time. This is amazing! I feel so accomplished!

"I was worried we couldn't do it!" Kentaro said, standing up too.

"But we did it!!" I had to rush over to Kentaro and hug him at our success. My body completely moved on its own.

Kentaro was excited and hugged me back. Then we let go and stopped for a second. We stared at each other. We realized what we were doing. I quickly took a step back, looking away. I really hugged him...and he hugged me...and it felt nice... His arms are strong, huh...?

NO NO NO. I can't be feeling like this. I can't get any closer than I already have. Even if I may like him like that, there's no way to know if he feels the same. I really need to control myself and not get so excited. I keep messing up when I do. I'm supposed to keep away from these other criminals. And yet I was just in the arms of one...

Kentaro cleared his throat. "Well, I think this was my first time completing a puzzle. It was fun."

I look back at him. "Yep, I can say the same."

We shared a silent moment, smiling at each other. Then Yuuma congratulated us. He said we could help with the others who hadn't finished their puzzles yet. Yuuma and Gin seemed close to being done. Gin kept snapping the pieces in, focused. Hisashi and Matsu were halfway done. It looks like Matsu steals pieces and stares at them for way too long, and when Hisashi finally realizes he needs that specific piece, he asks for it with a kind smile. The smile almost looks a bit irritated now though. Hisashi might need more help than Gin.

I tried to keep Matsu from taking pieces and made him empty his pockets which held a few. Matsu giggled and I almost found it cute but I kept myself in check. I had to distract Matsu with something else like he's a child. He looked cute gazing out the window, fascinated by the view, so I wasn't complaining. Hisashi could more easily complete the puzzle. It's like he didn't need our help after all.

"It's been a while since I've done a puzzle~" Hisashi said.

"Welcome to the club," Kentaro replied.

"Oh? A club? Are you a part of the club, Kentaro~?" Hisashi asked. Kentaro seemed to feel like something was off about the question because he refused to answer. I'm not sure what he was going to say next, but I also felt it probably wasn't good.

Once all puzzles were completed, Yuuma took pictures of each with a handheld camera. He said he'd get them developed and put them on the walls with names or give them to us if we want. We all were fine with them being put on the wall. By the end of this camp, will the cafeteria walls be covered...? Why is Yuuma displaying our activities like a proud parent...? But if you compare it to that, then this is way different from my parents. It almost feels a little nice... Like he's really paying attention to us and is proud of us... I've never gotten that feeling from my own parents...

The day continued as usual. Then the next day, Yuuma put up the pictures and our names written on them. Kentaro and I looked at our picture, proud. The activities were different for the rest of the week. I couldn't help but have fun with Kentaro during them. Despite our closeness during the activities, we went our own ways after them. I was a bit glad. Maybe Kentaro noticed my hesitation to get close. Or maybe he doesn't want to get too close either.

The week went by and Saturday arrived again.