章節 206: Easter Surprise (3)

"Hmm? Oh, how's it going, guys?" Yasushi said when he came across Reina's group. She stood with Xinyi, Laura, Layena, Jingliu, and Alicia.

"Ah, Yunxue, Yasushi!" Reina called out, hurrying over to him. Her hands held two stuffed bags, bulging with eggs from the Easter event. "We've collected around eight hundred and fifty-six eggs!"

Yasushi's eyes widened as he processed that. "What the hell? How'd you guys manage to get that many?"

Laura gave him a smug grin, her finger wagging as if she had some secret to share. "Simple, Yasu. We've got the Infer-Egg phone app!"

He blinked, staring at her like she'd just told him she could fly. "...What?"

Jingliu, his girlfriend, massaged her forehead, clearly done with the nonsense. "She's kidding. No app like that exists. We just got really lucky."

Yasushi let out a small laugh, shaking his head at the sight of Laura's exaggerated pout. "That makes way more sense."

"I put together a few guesses based on some calculations I worked on last night," Alicia said, tablet in hand. "I checked the forums on Ginsukimura's site and mapped out a path for us to follow. It paid off, but we missed a few spots since others got there before us."

Yunxue stood next to Yasushi, hanging on every word Alicia said, as if trying to soak up every bit of knowledge. Her gaze locked on Alicia. Alicia noticed and gave a small smile, almost like they were squaring off in some quiet contest.

Yasushi gave Yunxue's head a light pat, snapping her out of it. "We found a couple ourselves. We're thinking of handing them off to Furuya. You know how many he's got so far?"

Xinyi let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Only about two hundred. We ran into him earlier. He looked pretty torn up about it. All that gear and all those fancy clothes didn't do him much good. Funniest part? Catherine's the one who found most of what he has."

Yasushi let out a breath, shaking his head. He'd hoped his best friend would've had better luck, but things don't always go the way people want. He just hoped it didn't break his spirit.

"You forgot to mention that Furuya's running around like a wild man, trying to grab every egg he can find," Laura added. "Bhaqui even tagged along with him before we split, said he felt sorry for the guy." There was something off in her voice, as if she pitied him too.

Yasushi paused, taking it all in before he spoke again. "You all should probably get moving then. The day's almost over, and you might need more if you want to win this thing."

"Good point. Let's keep going," Jingliu said, steering the group away. She quickly spun around, leaned in, and kissed Yasushi on the cheek before rushing back to catch up.

Yasushi looked over at Yunxue. "Let's check the neighborhood. We might run into Furuya's group."

"Yeah, I wanna see it all unfold," Yunxue replied as they started walking. She added, mostly to herself, "After this, we should grab some food for everyone. Feels like it's been a rough day for some of us. They're gonna be starving."

Yasushi gave a quick nod and they set off. It didn't take long — about fifteen minutes of walking and picking up a few eggs along the way — before they ran into someone who looked frantic. It was Furuya. His eyes were bloodshot, and Bhaqui and Catherine trailed behind him, looking like they were about to pass out.

"Oh, yo," Yasushi greeted, raising a hand.

Furuya stopped, letting out a long sigh as he and his group shuffled over. "Bro... I'm screwed. No way I'm gonna win."

Yasushi raised an eyebrow, grinning. "Did you ever have a shot?"

Furuya grunted, throwing a half-hearted punch at his shoulder. "Fuck you. I had a chance, alright? Small, but it was there. Just got hit with a streak of bad luck," he muttered, folding his arms.

Yasushi nodded along before Yunxue cut in. "How many eggs you got so far? We ran into Reina's group earlier, and they're killing it."

Furuya groaned, slumping forward. "We've got around three hundred twenty now. It's way better than earlier, but nowhere close to where we need to be."

"Looks like you're screwed, huh?" Yasushi said, grinning. Furuya responded with another punch, but it lacked any force. Yasushi chuckled and reached into his bag, followed by Yunxue doing the same. "It's not much, but we snagged about eighty-eight eggs. That should bump you up to four hundred or so."

Furuya's face lit up as he took the bag. "This isn't going to change the rankings, but it's something. Thanks, man," he said, giving Yasushi a fist bump. "What were you two doing anyway? Just wandering around?"

Yasushi shrugged. "Pretty much. We're not in it to win or anything. If we spot an egg, we grab it, but we're just strolling around today."

Furuya chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, we'll catch you later. We've got a lot more to gather if we even want to try catching up." He took off, the excitement visible in his movements as Catherine and Bhaqui gave quick nods before hurrying after him.

Yunxue tugged on Yasushi's sleeve, pulling him from the moment. "Bakery?"

"Yeah, let's go," he agreed, and they headed for the bakery beyond the Easter event's boundaries.

+-+

After leaving the bakery with bags full of food, Yasushi and Yunxue strolled through the neighborhood, casually picking up eggs and watching their classmates scramble around. They weren't rushing — just observing and enjoying themselves, grabbing whatever eggs were left along the way.

For a while, nothing of interest happened. But eventually, they found themselves at a quiet park nearby, untouched by their classmates. The park was empty, so they wandered in and sat on the swings.

"Think they've already swept through here?" Yunxue asked, tearing into her bread.

"Probably. But no harm in checking it out," Yasushi answered, pushing his swing a little as he scanned the park. "The obvious spots are probably empty by now, but let me ask you something, Yunxue. Where do you think the ones left are stashed?"

She paused, clearly unsure. The park itself wasn't much to look at. It had four trees, one in each corner since it was a simple square. A few small rides dotted the place along with some play areas for kids. There was a sandpit, and benches set up for parents to watch their kids, nothing that really screamed "hiding place."

"I mean, it's just a regular park, right? I don't see any special hiding spots," Yunxue said, looking around slowly, her eyes sweeping over the swings, the small rides, the sandpit, and even the trees. "Anyone would check the rides, maybe dig around in the sandpit, or even climb the trees if they were desperate."

Yasushi nodded, tapping his foot as he scanned the area too. "Yeah, that's what most people would think. They'll check every obvious spot. But here's the thing — everyone's too caught up in the rush. They're not thinking beyond the obvious. Parks like this? They're like the checkpoints in games. Everyone knows about them, but if you're smart, you look beyond the surface. This happened during the first year too. People were too worked up to spot the obvious hiding places."

Yunxue frowned, tilting her head, clearly puzzled. "What do you mean? What obvious spots? Everything's already been searched here."

Yasushi's smile widened. "Right, the park. They searched everything in the park."

"Yeah, the park's been searched, everything in the park—" Yunxue paused, her thoughts catching up with her words. She started to scan the area again, this time beyond the playground, the rides, and the trees. Her eyes shifted to the houses, the streets, and the nearby buildings. "Only the park…"

Yasushi's grin grew. "Exactly. Now you're seeing it. On the way here, everyone's combing through every little space — along the roads, behind the bushes, checking house walls, even behind the poles. But the second they step into the park? Their focus narrows. They forget everything outside the park exists."

Yunxue tossed her bag to Yasushi, devoured the rest of her food quickly, and sprinted toward the park's edges, heading toward the houses and surrounding areas. She searched for only a few moments before she began pulling out eggs one after another. In a matter of seconds, she held at least fifteen, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah... major spots have that effect. Everyone's drawn to them, and everything else around them gets ignored." Yasushi's voice dropped a bit, as if he were talking more to himself now. "I remember back when I was a first year, the principal said we were missing a lot of eggs, even though everyone had supposedly checked every spot."

He stopped for a moment, his mind replaying the memory. "So, I started thinking about it. I went back and checked places that no one thought to look at, around major spots, like checkpoints and landmarks. I didn't tell anyone what I was doing, but when I went back, I found them — eggs stashed in the areas right around those major locations. Students get so zoned in when they're focused on one thing that they forget to look anywhere else."

Yasushi stood up, dusting his hands off, that familiar grin playing across his face. He began searching the areas around the park, moving with purpose. Yunxue joined him, and before long, their hunt started paying off. Between the two of them, they pulled in a total of a hundred and five eggs from spots no one else even thought to check. After collecting all they could, they made their way back to the park.

"This... is a lot," Yunxue muttered, almost in disbelief at the sheer number they had found. She stared at him, her eyes wide. "S-should we hit the other spots now?"

Yasushi shrugged. "If you're up for it. But if you really want to clean up, it'd be smarter to wait until everyone else clears out. Otherwise, we'll be tipping them off. Not that it matters to me. I'm not exactly in it for the win."

"Let's go now! Furuya could definitely use this — he's your best friend, right? He'd owe you big time for helping him out like this!"

Before she could finish, Yasushi reached over and pressed a finger to her forehead. "I got it, I got it. Fine. Let's make this quick though. We've only got a few hours left before the scramble hits its peak. Most of the students should be moving on, so let's hit the places they've already given up on."

"Yes, sir!" Yunxue grinned, throwing up a salute before marching after him.

+-+

Whether it was pure chance or something else, they didn't know. What mattered was that the next two locations they hit were mostly deserted, save for a few random passersby who seemed aware of the ongoing event but didn't care to interfere with Yasushi and Yunxue's hunt. No students in sight.

In total, they gathered another one hundred fifty-two eggs from these places. Not as many as the first haul of a hundred, but still a solid find. They had cleaned up well. Now, they were on their way to the last spot. Only about two hours remained, and Yasushi figured this one would be crowded with others.

"Furuya should've found more by now," Yunxue said, raising the bag in front of her face, peering at the collected eggs. "Even with what we've got, he might climb in the rankings, but taking first place... might be a stretch."

"We'll know soon enough, just get to the last spot," Yasushi said, and they moved quickly. The final location wasn't far, and as he had guessed, there were quite a few students from their school gathered there, though not as many as he'd thought.

It was a familiar place, just downhill from the school. A small shopping area centered around a fountain, with shops scattered around and trees, bushes lining the edges. It was a common after-school hangout for students, and naturally, it had become part of the Easter event too.

Yunxue pointed ahead. "Looks like everyone's here," she said, gesturing to where Furuya's group and Reina's group stood, huddled together by the fountain.

Yasushi tapped her shoulder. "Go do your thing — quietly. Get the rest of the eggs before they notice. I'll handle the talking."

Yunxue's eyes lit up briefly, but then she gave a sharp nod, her expression changing. She tossed him her bag, pulling another one from behind her, and slipped off toward the bushes, moving so quietly that none of the others seemed to notice her leave.

Yasushi walked up to his friends and said, "Hey, how's it looking? We've got less than two hours left."

They turned toward him, talking for a moment before Furuya suddenly asked, "Wait, where's Yunxue?"

"She went to grab more food for us," Yasushi replied without missing a beat, shifting the conversation. "So, what's the total haul looking like now?"

Reina grinned and said, "With everyone pitching in, we've gathered about one thousand two hundred and two eggs."

Furuya scowled a little, muttering, "We've only managed around six hundred and seventy-three…" He paused, eyeing Yasushi. "Did you find more?"

"Yeah," Yasushi said casually, "but I'll probably just hand them over to you when it's all over. Should be a fun surprise." Furuya nodded, though there was some reluctance in his expression.

The group kept talking, though their focus seemed to drift. The scramble for eggs had quieted down. Almost everyone had combed through the popular spots and even the hidden corners. Now, with nowhere else to search, most had gathered here, passing time until the event wrapped up.

+-+

Two hours passed, and they made their way back to the school. Everyone, except for Yasushi, stopped short when they spotted Yunxue by the gate. She stood there, waiting for them, holding two bags stuffed with eggs. Yasushi grinned, walking over, "That much, huh?"

Yunxue smirked, barely containing her laughter. "It wasn't easy! Alicia, Layena, and Catherine almost caught me a couple of times!"

As the rest of the group reached them, Yunxue handed a bag to Furuya, her expression proud. "Here, two hundred and two extra eggs, plus the one hundred fifty-two from earlier."

Furuya stood there, frozen, the weight of it sinking in. His total now sat at one thousand and twenty-seven eggs. Even though it wasn't enough to pass Reina's haul, he couldn't help feeling a little lighter. "Thanks... but where the hell did you even find these?" he asked, still baffled.

Yasushi clapped him on the shoulder, a knowing look on his face. "That's for us to know. Anyway, let's go turn these in and see who came out on top this year."

Without wasting time, they headed toward the back area where the teachers waited.

It didn't take too long for the rest of the students to show up, and with help from the community and other students chipping in, the egg counting moved faster than expected.

Each group kept track of their own numbers, but with the chance of someone lying or fudging the totals, there were still multiple rounds of verification, just to be sure nobody tried to cheat.

Eventually, the principal, vice principal, and a few other adults stepped up to the microphone. The principal's voice echoed over the crowd. "Thank you all for taking part in this event. It used to be something we did every year, but some changes had to be made in recent times. I'm happy to say that for the first time in a long while, every single egg we hid has been accounted for."

He paused for a moment, letting the suspense build before continuing. "Now, the moment you've all been waiting for — the announcement of this year's Easter hunt winner." Another beat passed before the principal grinned. "The winning group is… Reina Hanabira's!"

Cheers broke out as he gestured to Reina's group. "Come on up and get your prize. Second and third place go to Shinzo's group and Furuya's group, who'll also be getting prizes." The crowd buzzed with excitement, the announcement finally sinking in.

Reina and her group walked up first, with Shinzo's and Furuya's not far behind. They all grabbed their prizes, though Reina's group took home the main reward announced earlier. Shinzo's group collected three prizes, while Furuya's group only got one.

Despite it not being the victory he had hoped for, Furuya managed to snag a few coupons and vouchers, which he had been aiming for the entire time. "Well, it's better than nothing," he muttered as he met up with the others. The event had finally ended after what felt like an eternity of speeches and formalities.

"Alright, enough of that. Time to celebrate," Yasushi said, clearly ready to move on. "Let's hit up a restaurant, though Yunxue and I grabbed some bread earlier, so we can split that too." With that, he turned, leading the group away as they all followed behind him without hesitation.