(July 3, continued)
"Kentaro, we should still let Hisashi stay with us in our cabin... It's not very nice to make him sleep outside..." I say as I dive head first into the battle.

"Akiara says it's alright~ Gin hasn't said one word of complaint~ It's two against one for the decision to let me stay or not~ So looks like you'll have to let me stay, Kentaro~" Hisashi said, pleased.

Kentaro looked even more red from anger. I pray to any and all gods. If there's a god, please let me be reincarnated into a better family after my death... I'll be a good boy in my next life...

To my surprise though, Kentaro's redness slowly disappeared as he tried to calm down instead of exploding everywhere. I won't die?? Hallelujah!! Praise the lord! I believe in God today!

"Grr... Fine... Whatever..." Kentaro walked off to his usual table and sat at the edge by the wall, away from us.

"You'll have a full cabin with me~ Please take care of me from now on~" Hisashi smiled at me and Gin. Then he went to his usual seat at his usual table.

I looked at Gin and he looked at me. Then Ana came out of the kitchen, our lunch in her hands. She set a plate down for Hisashi and for Kentaro. Then she went to get two more.

I went to my usual seat. Then I noticed Gin followed me. He hesitated.

"May I...sit with you...?" he asked, now not being able to look at me. And he so boldly gave me puppy eyes earlier...

Ana came out with our plates. She paused, seeing where we'll each sit so she can put the plate in front of us. I didn't want to get any closer to these boys, but now I feel like I have to let him sit with me.

"Sure..." I say. I sit down, making room for wherever he wants to sit. He sits next to me on my right. Great... He couldn't have sat across from me...?

Ana sets down our plates, gives me an apologetic look for earlier, and goes back to the kitchen.

As I look down at the delicious sandwiches, this time a different kind than the ones I had a bit ago, I remember that I didn't eat breakfast. Now that the anxiety and chaos with Matsu has somewhat faded, my appetite is coming back. I eagerly grab a sandwich and take a bite. How can a sandwich taste so good?? Ana is a god... Yes, Ana will be the god I pray to from now on. I guess I can forgive her for neglecting Matsu until now... I mean, Yuuma technically neglected him with her, so it's not solely her fault... All is well as long as Matsu recovers.

As I'm chowing down, I realize Gin hasn't started eating yet. I notice his hesitation. I see the mask over his mouth. I think... He's worried about eating because he has to pull his mask down... And he's sitting next to me... He can usually hide in his corner and no one will see him with his mask off. But he's on a different side of the room where Hisashi and Kentaro are now in view. If he eats here, someone will definitely see. I'll of course be able to see too.

If he's just going to sit there awkwardly, not tasting the delicious food, I guess there's no choice but to try and help him out... He could sit across from me so Hisashi and Kentaro can't see. But then I'd have an especially easy way to see... I need to find out how to shield Gin from view so no one can see him. Hm... Eh, I'd rather not think too hard about this.

I decide to gently grab Gin's head and move him so his chin is on my shoulder. That way I can't see, and no one else can, right? Then how will he eat like this...?

"Akiara...??" he says, startled.

"Oh, sorry... I just thought if you turned this way, no one would see you when you eat, not even me," I explain.

He's quiet for a moment. Maybe I shouldn't have grabbed him like this... I let go. He slowly turns his head to meet my eyes, head downturned.

"I see... That... makes sense..." he says, looking away. He grabs a sandwich and turns around. I look away so he can eat. Was his face a bit pink...? Whatever, now I can finish eating without worrying about anything.

As soon as Gin starts eating, I realize just how fast he can be. He's finished with his first sandwich and onto the next one just as I finish my first one. Then he finishes that second one even faster and grabs the last one. How?? Can he teach me?? I try to stuff my second sandwich in my mouth but now my jaw hurts from chewing all of it at once.

Then I feel him bump his head into my shoulder and rest it there. I freeze. What is he doing...? Shit, none of this is supposed to happen... He's not supposed to sit next to me... He's not supposed to lay his head on me... He's just tempting me now... Can I take this as him liking me in a certain way...? Or maybe he just likes being affectionate with those he's comfortable with. He seems most comfortable with me, after all... I've ruined everything if that's the case though. I can't tell him to get off... I do like it... And I don't want to be rude...

When we're done with lunch, and Gin has gotten off of me without saying a word about it, we're all at a loss for what to do with our free time. Yuuma let us have the rest of the day off. Even if I have found the routine annoying at times, it's kept us busy. Now I don't know what to do at this boring camp. Yuuma is taking care of Matsu so I probably can't sit there with him... He'd probably tell me to leave and do something else. But what is there to even do...?

Just then, my new god, Ana, comes out of the kitchen. She's smiling with a pile of board games in her arms.

"Here, play some games together! You all look too bored!" she says as she drops them onto Kentaro's table. "Get through today and Yuuma will be back tomorrow with the usual routine!" Then she goes back into the kitchen.

Playing games...with everyone...? Isn't this a recipe for getting close to them?? I'm doomed. But I'm also really bored so a game sounds nice.

Kentaro slides along the bench to sit in front of the games. He looks through them. Gin glances at me as if he's asking what we should do. I stand up and sit across from Kentaro, Gin joining me. Then Hisashi comes over and sits next to Kentaro. Kentaro makes sure there's space between them before finding a game to start with.

"I haven't played 'Sorry!' in a long time," Kentaro says as he picks that one. These boxes all look worn down and beat up. Maybe the Boy Scout camp that was here before us used these.

"That sounds fun," I say.

We set up the game and choose our colors. Hisashi chooses red, Kentaro chooses blue, Gin chooses green, and I'm left with yellow. We casually play. Hisashi seems to be really lucky and Kentaro is doing everything he can to prevent him from winning. Gin and I are being kind to each other and are avoiding moves that will knock each other back to home. Kentaro doesn't care and won't let anyone stand in his way. Despite his attempts, Hisashi still wins miraculously. Hisashi looks smug and Kentaro looks like he wants to pound that face in.

We continue playing to see who takes second place, leaving Hisashi out. Kentaro is still aggressive and actually wins this time. Then Gin and I play for third place. We play a clean game until I make an evil move that sends him back to home and I eventually win.

"Hehe... Sorry, Gin," I apologize but I'm smiling.

Gin doesn't seem to mind though. "It's alright..." He says in his quiet voice. It looks like he's smiling under the mask.

"Grr... Let's try a different game! I'll win first place this time!" Kentaro says, looking through the games again.

"Whatever we play, I will win first~" Hisashi boasts. "I have Lady Luck on my side, after all~"

"Screw Lady Luck!!" Kentaro grabs a game and slams it on the table, loudly organizing it. The game is chutes and ladders.

We played and Hisashi wasn't lying, he won again. Kentaro was furious. He immediately grabbed another game. Hisashi won. Another game. Hisashi won. Another game. Hisashi won. Kentaro was boiling with anger and I wanted to hide under the table. Hisashi was so amused he couldn't help the wide smile on his face. I feel like I should do something or Kentaro might attack him out of anger...

I quickly swipe all the games away. "We should take a break!" I say.

Everyone looks at me. They think about it.

"We could ask Ana for a snack or..." I continue. "We don't have to play games the whole time. I'm sure there's... something else to do..." Or not, because I don't have any idea what else we could do. I felt I should at least stop Kentaro from killing Hisashi.

"You might be right," Hisashi says. "But I have one more game I'd like to play if we're ending it here~"

"Shut up!! I don't want to play your stupid game!!" Kentaro yelled.

"Ah, ah, ah. I haven't even told you what game it is," he put a finger to Kentaro's lips.

Kentaro immediately slaps his hand away. "Whatever it is, I'm not playing. I'm done with this shit." He then folds his arms and turns away from us. He's kinda like a child...

"Well then... Let me explain," Hisashi continued. "The game I want to play is called the King's Game. It's a game that consists of cards with one king and the rest are numbers. The one with the king card gets to give orders to the others with numbers, not knowing who has what number. The king may say something like "number 3, stand up and twirl 10 times" and the one with the number 3 card has to do what was ordered. Doesn't that sound fun?" He beamed after he finished his explanation.

I don't know... Whoever has the king card can order the others to do whatever they want? I worry that if Hisashi has the king card... This won't be as fun as he makes it seem... But I notice Kentaro smirking and he turns back to us.

"If I'm the king, I can really order you however I want?" Kentaro asks.

"Of course. Whatever you want~" Hisashi replies.

"Fine, I'm in."

The two stare at each other and it's like there's sharp electricity between them. I guess... We have to play...?

Hisashi grabs paper, scissors, and a light colored pencil from the cabinet in the side of the counter. He cuts the paper into four cards and writes king on one, 1, 2, and 3 on the others. Then he shuffles them up and hands them out. I look at my card. I got number 1.

"Who has the king?" Hisashi asks. Thank god he doesn't have it.

Kentaro smirks again. "I have it. Hisashi—!"

Hisashi stops Kentaro with his hand. "You have to list off a number and an order. Then whoever has that number will have to do as you said to do."

"Then... What's your number??"

Hisashi smiles. "Not telling."

Kentaro looks baffled. Then he's angry. And I want to go hide in the kitchen until this all blows over.

"That's how the game works~ Those with numbers should keep their number secret~ It adds to the fun~" Hisashi says.

"You tricked me..." Kentaro grits his teeth.

"Didn't I say the king has to order a number to do something, not a specific person?"

"Grr..."

Yep, I should definitely run away from this. Should I grab Gin's hand and have him come with me? He doesn't have to get hurt.

"Gah!! Fine, I'll play your idiotic game!!" Kentaro hits his fist on the table. "Number... uh... 1! Punch Hisashi!"

"Oh~ You learned how to still get me~" Hisashi said.

"Are you number 1, bastard??"

I hate the number 1 now. I stand up. "It's me," I show my card.

"Oh..." Kentaro falters. Did he not think about how someone else could be number 1?

Whatever, I wouldn't mind giving Hisashi a punch. I'll punch his arm. I walk over to him. He's smiling at me, content. I hesitate. Then I punch his shoulder with weak strength. I go back to my seat.

"How wonderful~" Hisashi says. "That was a bit weak, but it still felt nice~ I wouldn't mind if you hit harder next time~" He's a pervert. Dammit, he's a pervert!! Now I really wish I didn't have to punch him.

Kentaro doesn't look satisfied at all. Hisashi takes all the cards back, shuffles them, and hands them out again. This time I have number 3. I'm not sure if that's good or not. I don't even know what I'd say if I was the king. But I also don't want to be ordered around again.

"Okay, who's got the king now??" Kentaro exclaims. He doesn't have it this time.

Gin slowly stands. He shows his card. He got the king. Now I'm a little curious as to what he's going to say... Also will everyone else be able to hear him when he gives an order...? No, why am I worrying so much... He can handle things himself...

"What's your order~?" Hisashi kindly asks.

Gin hesitates. He thinks of what to say. Even if he isn't sweating currently because of all his layers, he looks like he's sweating now. I eventually catch him glancing at my card. That little—!

"Um... Number... 3..." Gin starts. I have to be ordered to do something again?? This game isn't fun at all. "Can... give me... a hug... please..." He finishes. Another hug...? Not like I expected him to say something bad, but is that all he can think to say?

"A hug, huh~? Who has number 3~?" Hisashi asks.

I stand up. I turn to Gin. I bow as if I'm a servant bowing to a king. "Then allow me to hug you, your highness..." I gotta make my own fun if I keep getting the short end of the stick.

Gin looks a bit flustered. Then we embrace. But it's a quick hug and Gin quickly sits down again. I sit down too.

"You were really into the role, Akiara~" Hisashi comments.

"He became a king, right? That's just how I have to act before a king," I shrug.

"Now I'd like to be king so you can be my servant~" Hisashi winks. Oh no... What is he planning to make me do?? Now I'm begging to get the king this time.

Hisashi shuffles the cards while I pray inside my mind. Please, god... Please, the almighty god... Please, Ana... Let me be king!!

Hisashi passes out the cards. I hold my breath as I take mine and flip it over. Yes... Yes...!! I'm king!! I immediately jump up and proudly show off my card.

"The servant has become king," I say, smirking.

"Wow~! Congratulations!" Hisashi enthusiastically claps.

"Thank you, thank you." I rub my nose.

"Pfft... What's your order, your highness?" Kentaro asks.

I pause. I didn't think that far. I just didn't want to be ordered to do something again. Now what should I order to whoever is the number I choose? I have no idea. Then a random idea pops into my head and I don't think about it any longer.

"Um... number 2? Say 'woof'?" I say. It's random so I don't care who gets it.

"If you want someone to bark, you can ask me anytime~" Hisashi says. Does that mean he's not number 2? Then I worry Gin might have gotten it so I look at him. He shakes his head. That means...

I look at Kentaro. He looks like he's trembling with anger. Oh no!! My god, Ana, why did you let me anger the beast!?!? I'm going to die!!

"That's..." Kentaro speaks. "Really embarrassing, you know...??" He looks up at me a little bit. His face is red in embarrassment, not anger.

"Well sorry, it's something I randomly thought of! You don't have to do it," I say.

"Nope, he has to! Or he suffers punishment!" Hisashi exclaims.

"Punishment!? That wasn't in the explanation!!" Kentaro yells.

"Now it is~"

"You can't make shit up on the spot!!"

"Come on~ Saying "woof" once isn't bad~ See? I just said it. And so did Akiara when he gave the order. Would you like to say it too, Gin? To make Kentaro feel less embarrassed?" Hisashi asks.