[MHCISQD] Chapter 362: Observing in Secret

Kaminari looked ahead at several groups of participants other than Midoriya and Uraraka. He turned to Tsuyu beside him and asked, "Tsuyu-chan, are these participants..."

Tsuyu blinked her eyes and nodded, "Seems like it, yeah."

After a brief observation, the others also noticed something unsettling.

Among the participants at the scene, the most common pairing was a young man and a young woman, implying that most of them were young couples or couples-to-be.

"It looks like they knew today's competition would be tough, so they've given more opportunities for the younger generation to participate," Renault said, holding Mikumo's hand and grinning knowingly. "That's how it is, quite a lover's scene we have here."

"And you're not any different!"

The group glared at Renault and Mikumo, their words dripping with sarcasm.

Renault shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.

However, it was true that the overly affectionate behavior of the couples in front of them was a bit much for the other members trailing behind.

In fact, it even managed to prick the competitive spirit of Uraraka, who was participating in the same contest.

To alleviate his own nervousness, Midoriya focused his attention on the puzzle in front of him, working hard to analyze and decipher it.

On the other hand, while Uraraka was also pondering the problem, she was keeping an eye on the situations of the other participants around her.

Even though everyone had different questions and missions, they were all quite challenging. Seeing the reactions of the others was quite amusing.

However, as Uraraka continued to observe, she realized that most of the pairs around her were couples, except for her and Midoriya.

'I wonder if we, me and Izuku-kun, look out of place among these couples in their eyes...'

As she thought about this, Uraraka's face turned red.

"Ohoho? Is someone feeling shy?"

Tsukasa's sharp eyes immediately noticed Uraraka's change from afar.

"Oh, stop it!"

"Let me see!"

Ashido somehow produced a pair of binoculars and, after a quick glance over there, she chuckled, "It's true, Ochaco-chan is blushing! Looks like our plan is working a bit!"

As Ashido and the others were having a good time, Midoriya raised his head and looked at the slightly flushed Uraraka. He asked, "Ochaco-san, what's wrong?"

"Oh, n-nothing..."

Uraraka met Midoriya's gaze, shaking her head vigorously, then quickly turned away, unable to meet his eyes.

A bit confused, Midoriya thought for a moment. He couldn't think of anything he had done to upset her, so he cautiously said, "Um, I've figured out where the clue is pointing. Shall we go?"

"Yeah! Let's go! Off we go!"

Uraraka didn't want to linger here. The atmosphere of puppy love was so thick that she needed to get away.

Midoriya hadn't caught on to the situation around them yet, so he led Uraraka to the next destination.

However, just as they were leaving, his eyes happened to catch sight of a corner, where several heads were stacked on top of each other.

From top to bottom, forming several rows!

Midoriya took a glance and couldn't help but shiver, quickening his pace a bit.

"Saw that, huh?"

"We got caught, didn't we?"

"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later."

"Let's go then, keep up, but we need to be even more discreet this time."

"Agreed!"

Even though they had been discovered, the group didn't give up on their plan to observe secretly. Their enthusiasm remained high.

However, Renault's enthusiasm had waned a bit. He realized that during this afternoon, these two individuals probably wouldn't make any significant progress.

Looking at Mikumo beside him, Renault asked, "How about the two of us go somewhere else?"

Mikumo's eyes lit up as she heard this. "Sure thing!"

The others were currently enjoying the thrill of tracking and paid no attention to them. So, Renault didn't say much and was ready to leave with Mikumo.

But just as they were about to leave, Yuriko spoke up.

"Take me with you; things are getting boring around here."

Renault's expression turned somewhat helpless as he looked at Yuriko. "You did notice we were planning to go shopping, right?"

Mikumo tugged at Renault and said, "It's fine, let's go together, the three of us."

Since Mikumo had spoken, Renault could only agree. Plus, Yuriko wouldn't become an overly nosy presence like a 'high-wattage light bulb', so it shouldn't be a problem.

With the decision made, Renault glanced over at Nighteye and Togata who were in conversation with Tsukasa. Renault thought it best not to bother Tsukasa, so he let Tsukasa entertain himself.

And so, the three of them broke away from the main group and started exploring the small town.

The girls had already explored some places yesterday, but it had been a quick tour. The town had some interesting spots worth checking out.

Strolling around, trying out some street food, buying a few souvenirs, and watching the passing contestants—it was a nice feeling.

However, about an hour later, the trio spotted Mikoto and Mei up ahead. The two were sitting on a bench by the road, each with a portion of oden in hand. They wore equally frustrated expressions.

Renault also noticed their identifiers indicating their participant status were missing.

Did they forfeit?

Approaching them and asking confirmed his suspicion.

Finishing the last piece of oden, Mikoto quickly chewed and swallowed before exclaiming, "What kind of ridiculous question is that? It's so hard! They actually want me to name ten local specialties. How am I supposed to know that? I'm not from here!"

Mei seemed relatively calmer beside her. She sighed and said, "We can only chalk it up to bad luck. The staff-san mentioned that some questions are indeed only answerable by the locals. But that's a very small portion; we just happened to draw one."

"Our luck is just too darn lousy!" Mikoto clenched her fists in frustration. "I was even hoping to get those headphones. They're so expensive when you buy them yourself!"

No wonder she was so invested—it was about the prizes.

With little choice, Renault reached over and patted Mikoto's head, offering comfort. "Which one caught your eye? I'll take you to buy it later. It's not a big deal."

"I just wanted to save some money..." Mikoto said, rubbing her head against Renault's palm, her mood calming down.

Mei, sitting next to Mikoto, felt a pang of jealousy.

Everywhere, the fragrance of dog food and vinegar seemed to be in the air.