Adolescent Adam

“Listen, Mutsuki.”

“Yes?”

“I am your bodyguard. And an incredibly skilled one at that.”

“True.”

“So I will protect you while doing my very best not to violate your freedom. That is my job.”

“That’s right.’

“Hanging out with a FeTUS member and a demon is insane, but I will go with you because it is my job. Humans are skilled at playing, resting, and other forms of self-indulgence, so this should help relieve some stress. Your stress.”

“Right.”

“So…”

“Ah ha ha ha? C’mon, Mutsuki, hurry up.”

“Yes, yes. The luggage is kind of heavy.”

“God, you’re slow… Ohhhh, wow! This is the campground!?”

Ange had been excited for the entire time on the train and then bus, but she sounded most excited now.

After a 30 minute walk up a concrete mountain road from the bus stop, they arrived at their destination.

Hi-no-Hoka Valley Riverside Park.

A giant rectangular sign was attached to a large tree trunk.

This was the campground at which they had reserved a cabin. A tree-lined walking path led to the management lodge and a clear river flowed behind it. There were seven cabins on the riverside and four of them appeared to be filled. With Mutsuki’s group, five would be filled. That was a decent number of guests.

“Wahah! What a pretty river. I never knew the human world had places like this.”

“Ah ha ha. Wait, Ange-chan. I’m going too~”

Ange and Saya were already running down toward the river.

Left behind, Mutsuki, Sakae, Lucia, and Machina shrugged and headed toward the cabin. Sakae got their key from the management lodge and they searched for their cabin number.

When they arrived, Ange and Saya returned after enjoying the cool river water.

They unlocked the door and stepped inside.

“Wow~~~~~~~~”

Five voices (everyone but Machina) spoke in impressed unison.

“It’s so small.”

Machina nodded in agreement with them all.

It was indeed large enough for six, just as the advertisement had said, and it was clean for a mountain cabin, but it was still smaller than they had expected.

The bathroom was right inside the front entrance and a small mirror greeted anyone who entered. There was a room on either side and each room had a single small table, a bench for three, three stacked luggage racks, and a triple bunk bed.

Students never had much money and you got what you paid for.

Hi-no-Hoka City was at the base of the Nomugi Ridge on the Nagano side of the border between the Nagano and Gifu Prefectures.

The region had long been known for its silk work, but the lights had long since gone out in the factories. Recently, it was only a little-known spot for the outdoorsy type.

The weather there was similar to in Karuizawa, a common summer destination on the east end of Nagano, so it was nice and cool during the summer.

The city had once tried to model itself after Karuizawa and remake itself as a spot for bourgeois villas, but they had lost badly to Karuizawa which had inns along the Nakasendo. However, they had still earned more tax money thank to some people with strange tastes buying land there, so they had moved on to building new campgrounds.

All of the campgrounds were very cheap because the area was only being whispered of between outdoorsy people.

It was the perfect spot for some students who simply wanted to go camping.

At first, Sakae had invited only Mutsuki because he had wanted to have some fun over summer break, but Lucia and Saya had leaped at the chance and then Machina and Ange had been invited too. In the end, they had a total of six.

That was the perfect number of people. It made finding a cabin easier and it allowed them to divide up the luggage better.

It was also a good number for deepening friendships between people who did not often speak together.

“Wow~? It’s cold…the water’s so cold~? C’mon in, Ange-chan.”

“Uuh~… This river isn’t very deep, is it?”

They first needed to get the beds in order and make sure they had brought everything with them, but children were not going to act like adults when they went to the mountains alone.

They set their luggage down and were out in the river almost immediately.

Saya had been unable to resist the flowing stream and took her shoes off. She tugged Ange over and the naturally terrible swimmer nervously stepped in.

Ange wore a simple but stylish outfit of a pink camisole and hot pants. Her arms and legs did not normally stand out much because of how short she was, but one’s eye was drawn to how slender they were and how long her legs looked sticking out from the jeans shorts.

She was only interested in functionality, so it was unusual seeing her choosing anything besides her shirt and spats.

The stylishness was a sign of how much she had been looking forward to this camping trip, so Mutsuki smiled as he watched her enter the river.

“The air here is so nice. It’s been so long since I’ve breathed air this wonderful.”

Lucia seemed to be enjoying himself even if he was calmer than those two girls. He climbed up onto a truck-sized rock (the biggest in the river) and took deep breaths.

The behavior was not that odd for the otherworldly boy, but it was true the mountain air was nice and fresh.

“Now, then! It looks like you all want to goof off, but as the man of responsibility, I’ll catch enough food for all of us.”

Sakae walked upstream with some fishing equipment.

When they had been trying to decide between a mountain camping trip or a beach trip, that angler had chosen the mountains because it was easier to catch fish in a river.

The others smiled bitterly and Mutsuki walked over to Machina who was kneeling on the riverside.

He only ever saw her in her uniform, but she too was wearing a stylish outfit. It was primarily a sleeveless blouse and a skirt, but knee socks hid her legs and she had a tie around her neck.

Had she also chosen a special outfit because she had been looking forward to the trip?

“I’m glad you could come too, Ibekusa-san. …Is the water too cold?”

“No.”

Machina was playing with the water.

The water drops on her fingertips spread across her entire palm and the chill of the water was dulled by her body heat.

She was acting like a baby feeling the waves when first seeing the ocean.

“It’s a lot of fun.”

“I see.”

Had she never seen a stream before? Mutsuki tilted his head, but he distinctly remembered seeing a beautiful rose garden in FeTUS headquarters.

And as he thought…

“Mutsuki-kun, catch me~~~ Boom!”

“Eh? Wah, wah!”

Lucia took a running start and jumped from the large stone.

He nearly tackled Mutsuki who panicked but found the boy was as light as a feather. Catching him proved easy.

After he was lowered to the ground, Lucia laughed in delight.

“This place is great~ Anywhere is fine when I’m with you, Mutsuki-kun, but this place is the best.”

“It is?”

He was apparently in a good mood.

His cute face looked especially young today.

Mutsuki – as well as any guy or girl – found his smile attractive.

“Ohhhhh! We take our eyes off you for two seconds and you start flirting!”

He had apparently attracted the attention of Saya who was looking at them and blushing.

Unsure what she meant by “flirting”, Mutsuki tilted his head. After a moment more of giving them a sticky look, the girl regained her bright expression.

“Well, whatever. C’mon in, you two. The cool water feels great. You too Ma~chi-nya~n.”

She waved over.

Lucia obediently splashed on in. Mutsuki and Machina both nodded, Mutsuki rolled up his long pants, and Machina removed her knee socks.

And…

“Oh, this is just in the way. Strip!”

“Wahhhh! O-oh.”

Saya shouted an overly-literal sound effect and removed her skirt.

Mutsuki had been crouched down, so her deliciously plump thighs had appeared right at eye level. He panicked, but then he realized this was not a problem.

She had been wearing a sporty two-piece swimsuit below her clothes.

Didn’t this happen once before? he thought with a sigh.

“C’mon, c’mon. Let’s all get in. C’mon, Machi-nyan, Satowa-kun, and Fujita-kun.”

“S-sure.”

Since she was ready, she pulled the other three into the river with her.

Mutsuki blushed a little when she grabbed his hand.

She did not seem completely out of his league like Ange or Machina and she lacked Lucia’s devilish charm, but Saya was still one of the top ten most attractive girls in their year. Of course his heart was going to be pounding when she suddenly showed him her thighs and grabbed his hand.

But unlike shy Mutsuki, she could get along with anyone.

“Deryah!”

“Hwahp!”

Saya kicked water right into his face.

She cackled and the boy felt some of the shyness and tension leave him.

“Tei!”

“Oops! Heh heh! You can’t hit me~?”

He splashed back even though she was a girl, but she dodged it.

And when it flew past her…

“Uuh… It’s only up to my legs, but I still can’t relax in the water… Kyahn!”

It hit Ange right in the face.

The terrible simmer had been nervous enough already, so the water to the face only increased the fear. She uttered a cute scream.

And after a pause…

“Mutsukiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”

“Wah, wah, wah. I-I’m sorry!”

He felt she should not get so mad when they were only playing around, but the look on her face forced him to flee. She apparently could not forgive herself for screaming so cutely. She blushed and charged at him to punch him.

“You stupid Mutsu-…ahyan!”

But another splash caught her in the face.

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha! ‘Ahyan’! Did you hear that, Mutsuki-kun!? ‘Ahyan’~?”

Lucia doubled over in laughter.

“Get your ass over here, Satowaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

Ange was so angry that Mutsuki feared she would use her angelic power, but she only scooped up some water.

And the boy gave a coldly confident smile as the water flew his way.

“Like that’ll hit me, stupid. Water is my field of-…wahp.”

He easily dodged it…but Saya’s splash from the side scored a direct hit.

“Ah ha ha ha? You’re a little overconfident, Satowa-kun~”

“Now you’ve done it~!”

Lucia struck back. Saya was unable to dodge, but she laughed happily as the water dripped from her clothes.

The three of them started a three-way splashing war.

“Phew, at least I’m safe.”

Mutsuki watched them from a short distance away.

Lucia was having fun in the water and the anger in Ange’s face was clearly softening.

It was a strange sight.

Not only were angels and demons fated enemies, but Ange had a short temper and Lucia loved to provoke her. They could not have been more incompatible and they always got into a fight when they met. And yet…

“…Here.”

“Oh, thanks, Ibekusa-san.”

Machina held out a handkerchief as she too quietly watched. The splash from Saya had stained his clothes, so she was lending it to him.

“————”

But then Machina silently stepped back.

“Don’t think you’re safe, you two.”

A surprise attack from Saya flew their way.

Machina had avoided it, but Mutsuki and the borrowed handkerchief were soaked.

The girl laughed as she embraced Machina from behind after the girl’s excellent dodge of the surprise attack.

“Join us, Machi-nyan. We’re out camping, so you need to release the youth inside you.”

“Ah.”

She pushed on Machina’s back and carried her to Ange and Lucia’s battlefield.

Even if Machina was not into it, the angel and demon were too fired up to care. They splashed water on her and Saya who was still embracing her.

“…”

Machina was hit right in the face while restrained.

She did not react much, but…

“Understood.”

“Fweh?”

“I should follow your suggestion to take part in this camping trip.”

“Bhyan!”

An amazingly large splash struck Saya in the face and she fell onto her butt. She was wearing a swimsuit, but her shirt was soaked too.

“Now you’ve done it~”

Completely fired up, she ignored the rules of the splash battle and tackled Machina while soaking wet. The human water bomb left Machina soaked too.

That girl who barely interacted with anyone had been sent to other side in no time.

Mutsuki’s eyes widened, but their local agent of chaos would not give him any further peace.

“C’mon, c’mon. Don’t let your guard down, Mutsuki-kun~”

“Wait, Kurikara-sa-…”

Now that she was soaking wet, she had changed her mode of attack. She embraced him.

The boy panicked more due to her body pressing against him than due to the water.

Just as her plump appearance suggested, her body was soft and weighty. She was very different from slim Ange and the others. The weight of a teenage girl set his heart racing.

Saya laughed like it did not bother her.

“…Ha ha.”

Her laughter was contagious and he was unsure what to do about his heated cheeks.

“C’mon, let’s go, Mutsuki-kun.”

“Sure.”

As he joined the fun, he did not even notice that she had started calling him “Mutsuki-kun” instead of “Fujita-kun”.

They had barbecue for dinner.

There was a grill outside the cabin and the campground sold charcoal and firewood.

Sakae had been in charge of supplying food. On the way there he had said, “We can have fish and meat for dinner. The meat is cheap, but let’s cook up some freshly caught fish and eat it~ It’ll be great~”, but he had caught absolutely nothing.

“Okay! As the barbecue master, I’ll cook it all up, so you eat it all up. Cooking meat is a job for a man’s man!”

Even so, the barbecue was fun.

Sakae stuck blocks of meat on skewers and lined them up on the grill. All he did was cook it, so flavoring and dividing up the meat fell to Mutsuki, the future kitchen worker.

“Hot, hot.”

“Are oo ohay, Anhe-han? You should blow on it first.”

“Mm~? It’s been so long since I had meat to eat~?”

The others were in charge of eating. They must have been hungry after playing in the river because the meat vanished into their mouths as soon as it was cooked.

“Mutsuki. This is too hot. Fix it.”

“Yes, yes. The ones over here will be cooler.”

Ange had apparently taken one from the center of the grill. She tearfully held back a barely-eaten skewer, so Mutsuki smiled bitterly and handed her one from the edge of the grill.

“Hm…munch, munch.”

“Well?”

“Yeah, I can eat this one…hot.”

“Heh heh. Don’t let your guard down…chomp.”

“! Wait! You’re eating that?”

“Why not? There are plenty of new ones, so eat those.”

“Well…you can if you want…”

He ate the one she had returned for being too hot. The girl watched him with a complicated look on her face, but she looked away with a slight blush when he finally finished.

Mutsuki was not particularly bothered and he moved back to Sakae to add new meat to the skewer.

He peeked inside the bag containing all the food for their camping trip.

“Um…wow. There’s nothing but cup noodles and meat in here. Sakae, didn’t you buy any vegetables?”

“Who needs veggies! We are the growing teenagers, so we only need meat! Eating veggies at a barbecue is just plain wrong!”

“That’s not a balanced diet.”

Mutsuki regretted not checking the food before leaving.

“Don’t be like that, BFF. There’s nothing wrong with doing this every once in a while.”

“Well, as long as it’s only every once in a while. By the way, what’s for breakfast and lunch tomorrow?”

“You saw all those cup noodles, right?”

“I thought as much… Oh, I know. Maybe we can find some edible plants growing around here. We could cook them up to make the ramen nice and nutriti-…”

“Stop, stop!”

“Stop, stop!”

As soon as he started saying “nutritious”, Sakae and Ange were quick to nix the idea.

The two of them were very threatening, so they convinced him to not worry about their diet during the camping trip. They forced him to nod in agreement.

He sulked a little and looked around for a drink since his mouth was feeling pretty oily.

“Here.”

“Thanks, Ibekusa-san.”

“Heeeere!”

“Ah ha ha. Thanks, Lucia-kun.”

Tea and soda were passed to him from either side.

He took both, refreshed his mouth with the tea, and took a breather with the soda.

“Are you two having fun?”

He had been a little worried ever since they had decided to do barbecue. He especially thought Machina would be hesitant about all the meat when she normally only ate apples.

“Of course? It’s always fun with you around, Mutsuki-kun.”

He had been worried for nothing. Lucia had been chowing down from the beginning.

“I have never eaten like this before.”

Machina was more reserved, but she was eating the meat little by little.

She always munched on an apple during lunch and this seemed to be her first time eating a wild meal from skewers. The way she started eating from the bottom of the skewer was awkward and cute.

Mutsuki was glad that everyone was enjoying themselves. As he ate his own portion, he wrapped some apples in aluminum foil and placed them on the grill. They were having roast apples for dessert.

Then Saya spoke up while wiping off her mouth which had grown black from eating the burnt parts.

“Heh heh heh heh. I think it’s time for my secret weapon~”

She smiled boldly and reached into a bag she had brought.

Everyone else exchanged a glance as she showed off what she pulled out.

“Look! It’s the ultimate camp condiment that can make any food taste good! I call it…”

“It’s mayonnaise, right?”

“Tah dah! Mayonnaise!! …Wait, how did you know!?”

Sakae and the other four had expected this.

“Of course we knew, Saya. Your lunches at school are always slathered in mayo.”

Ange shrugged because she saw it every day when eating lunch with the girl.

“Uuh… But I like it.”

“That’s why you’re so fa-…ohhh, that was a close one! Don’t throw skewers! You’ll skewer someone! Like me!”

“Hmph.”

The girl violently answered Sakae’s comment and turned around to sulk. She also grabbed some more meat and added mayonnaise.

She frowned, so Mutsuki approached with a bitter smile.

“But I understand. Mayonnaise is delicious. And it’s nutritious.”

“You understand!? I know, right!? Mayonnaise goes great with everything!”

She cheerfully held out the bottle, so Mutsuki accepted his initiation into the mayo-lovers club. She slathered a light yellow cream across the full length of his skewer.

He took a bite and the bit that got on his lips brought an unexpected aroma to his nose.

“Huh? Does this have mustard in it?”

“Yeah, it’s mustard mayo. I’ve been hooked on the stuff lately.”

It had such a powerful flavor that he could no longer taste the meat.

He avoided complaining to be nice, but he could not enjoy this clump of mayonnaise when they were cooking out like this.

“Sakae, we had some white rice, didn’t we?”

He decided to dilute the flavor.

Sakae rummaged through the bag of cup noodles and handed over a pack of instant rice. If hot water was added, the rice would be ready in three minutes.

Which meant…

The management lodge was surprisingly far from the cabin.

Mutsuki walked down the dark path with Saya.

They had the fire and kettle needed to boil water, but they lacked the crucial drinking water. They were on their way to buy some at the lodge.

“Munch, munch… Hm~, maybe normal mayo is better for barbecue.”

“The mustard kind is pretty strong.”

Saya walked alongside him with a skewer in each hand. He had said she did not need to come with him, but she seemed to feel responsible as the one to flavor the skewer.

The evening wind felt nice on his heated skin after the fatty meal.

“Oh, there’s some smoke over there. Maybe that’s the hot spring.”

“Probably.” 𝐟𝘳𝑒𝗲𝘸e𝒃𝘯𝒐𝐯e𝚕.c𝒐𝒎

Saya pointed down at a facility near the lodge that was surrounded with trees and had steam rather than smoke rising from it.

“Heh heh heh~ I’ve really been looking forward to that. I love big baths~”

This was another thing Hi-no-Hoka City was known for: volcanic hot springs connected to hot spring inns in the opposite direction from Karuizawa.

“No peeping~, Mutsuki-kun.”

“I won’t.”

“You say that, but don’t you want to see Machi-nyan’s boobs? I can only describe them as ‘boing boing’~”

“O-oh? Really? I wouldn’t know anything about Ibekusa-san’s chest.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Saya lightly slashed at some nearby grass with her empty skewers.

The twilight mountain path felt like a dimly-lit dream that made him forget he was even awake. His exhaustion from the day came rushing in.

“Oh, mock strawberries.”

Mutsuki spotted something growing near a stream.

Mock strawberries were plants that grew in places like this and were known for their jagged leaves.

“Maybe we should pick some. Sakae didn’t bring any vegetables.”

“Hm? You can eat those?”

“Yeah. They’re fairly nutritious too. I hear they help with digestion.”

They were small, but he picked two or three of the red fruits.

“Strawberries, huh?”

Saya took one. They sounded good to her, so she picked a few like the boy had.

They rinsed them off in the stream and ate them together.

“…”

“…~~ Yeah, they’re just ripe enough.”

“~~~~~~~”

Mutsuki was fine, but Saya was suffering.

However, she was a girl. She could not spit something out in front of a boy from her class.

“W-water. I’ll go buy some. Wait here.”

She tearfully ran toward the lodge.

''What was that about?'' wondered Mutsuki.

But she had told him to wait, so he decided to gather some more wild plants from the area. He started to stick the rest of the red fruits in his pocket, and…

“Tee hee.”

A girl stood where there had been nothing but darkness a moment before.

The sudden quiet laughter surprised Mutsuki so much he dropped the fruits.

It felt like darkness had enveloped the world. This girl’s very existence was inexplicable and she looked at him from the roadside.

She was a small girl with light purple hair long enough to hide her butt. Ange was only 140cm, but this girl looked even smaller. She looked close to the age of Mutsuki’s little sister Chiaki. She may have been white because her skin was a similar milk white to Schwarze’s and her facial features were deeply cut.

That milk white skin seemed to shine and it accentuated the color of her black dress.

He could not tell where the dress ended and the darkness began.

“Good day…or good evening? Which is it?”

She had a young, somewhat nasal voice and she spoke in fluent Japanese.

“…Good evening.”

Mutsuki responded and gulped without realizing it.

His entire body tensed when he sensed the aura coming from her.

This was not a child’s presence. Her marine blue eyes gave off no light and were dyed with deep sorrow and lust. They were wet with intense pleasure as if she were drowning in ecstasy.

That sexuality was like a fruit so ripe it oozed juices and she gave off the bewitching aura of a lily flower. She looked like a young child, but she produced an aroma that would fill any man with lust.

She was a lot like Lucia in that way. She had a charm that stimulated a human’s primal desires. When she simply looked him in the eye, he felt like she was caressing his dick.

“Who are you…?”

He asked because his instincts told him she was not a camping guest.

She felt out of place in this shabby camping ground. In fact, she felt out of place anywhere in this world. He was confident she was a different sort of being, like an angel or a demon.

The girl narrowed her eyes and did not answer the question.

“Such a lovely eye. Although it is no match for my master.”

“—————”

She knew about the Serpent’s Eye.

But the thinly smiling girl did not say any more about that.

“I just wanted to get a look at you”

She turned her back in the darkness.

“Bye, bye. Until we meet again.”

She gave him a coquettish smile that would turn any man into a pedophile and then she left.

Mutsuki shuddered and felt like an icicle had stabbed him through the heart, so he did not pursue her.

That icy blade had likely come from his own rationality. If he had pursued and caught up to her, he might have succumbed to her allure and made her his on the spot.

Just like when she appeared, the girl dissolved into the darkness. Once he could no longer see her, the boy took a deep breath. His shoulders were shaking more from arousal than exhaustion.

“Mutsuki-kun? What is it?”

“Oh…Kurikara-san. It’s nothing.”

Saya held a bottle of mineral water and a half-empty bottle of soda.

The two of them followed the path back to the others.

She did not seem to have noticed, so Mutsuki said nothing about the mysterious girl.