I Was Unreasonably Dumped By My Girlfriend And Had My Heart Broken. When I Rescued A Beautiful Girl Who Was My Former Classmate And Idol In My Class From A Group Of Yarisa, My Gray College Life Started To Shine - Chapter 31

Episode 31: She Seems To Trust Me

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From there, for once, we took our volunteer work seriously.

Upon closer inspection, quite a few pieces of litter were scattered along the mountain trail. Among the accumulated fallen leaves from winter, one could find candy wrappers, PET bottles, cans, and the like.

“Wow, it’s kind of rotten…”

“Hey, don’t bring it too close over here. I’m about to open the bag, so handle it carefully.”

Despite struggling, Aoba and I continued to collect each piece one by one.

After a while, enough garbage had accumulated to fill one bag to the brim.

Tying the ends of the bag together and sealing it brought a sense of satisfaction.

“Let’s take a little break.”

When these words were thrown out, even I, who considered myself serious, felt a bit inclined to indulge.

“Let’s find somewhere to sit for a bit.”

“Okay, sounds good! I brought some snacks. Want to eat with me?”

Saying so, Aoba opened her backpack and showed me several bags.

From popcorn to potato chips to chocolates, the contents of her bag were like…

“It’s like we’re elementary school students on a field trip, isn’t it?”

“N-No way! If I were an elementary student, I wouldn’t have this many snacks. And it definitely is over the budget limit. So, that’s why this is an adult’s bag!”

“…Are you not embarrassed saying that?”

“Not at all!”

We chatted lively as we descended along the mountainside. Eventually, we could hear the sound of a river from up ahead.

“Come to think of it, I think the map mentioned a river.”

“Yeah, it seems like a good spot to take a break.”

“Right! How about skipping stones? Skipping stones!”

“…Aoba-san, after all…”

“It’s Hana’s JD!!”

As we continued gathering trash, we approached the river.

Finally, after descending a steep staircase, a beautiful stream came into view.

The river was a bit lower down. Stairs were provided, with handrails leading down to it.

Several benches were also placed along the riverbank. Presumably, quite a few people stopped by during their mountain climb.

“This looks nice! It finally feels like a mountain hike!”

“…What happened to the volunteering spirit?”

“Well, it’s break time. Anyway, let’s take a break on that bench over there—”

Aoba suddenly stopped talking and simultaneously turned pale. She raised her right arm, pointing downwards towards the river.

“What’s wrong?”

“Hey, Nogami-kun. That’s bad…!”

Ahead, on a small rock in the middle of the river, a kitten curled up. It seemed to be wet and shivering.

“Yeah, it seems like it’s in trouble. Doesn’t look like it was just playing in the water.”

Since the river flowed quite swiftly, especially around the midsection of the mountain, it seemed quite difficult to cross from that spot to the bank.

“Nogami-kun, is there anything we can do?”

“Well, we’ll have to try something. We’ll have to make sure neither of us gets swept away.”
For now, Aoba and I descended the stairs and made our way to the edge of the river, where large rocks rolled about.

Upon closer inspection, the small rock where the kitten was perched was a bit of a distance away. It wasn’t within arm’s reach from where we stood.

We would definitely have to step into the river, but the current wasn’t exactly calm. If we were careless, we might get swept away.

I hesitated a bit, but she didn’t. She had already set down all her belongings. She took off both her shoes and slid her socks down to her feet, rubbing them against the ground.

Her slender yet healthy and supple legs, reflecting sunlight, caught my attention for a moment, causing me to shake my head slightly.

“Hey, are you going? What if you get swept away?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because I’m with you, Nogami-kun. As long as you’re here, I’ll be fine. See?”

As she said this, she reached out her right hand towards me.

While doing so, her feet were already about to step into the river.

In essence, the plan was for me to support her while she reached out to pick up the cat.

She seemed confident that I would support her.

With that in mind, I firmly grabbed her hand.