Volume 6 - CH 12

On a day in the middle of November…

“Ah, look, Yuzuru-san. you can see Mt. Fuji.”

Arisa said happily, pointing to the blue and white mountain appearing in the small window of the Shinkansen. (TN: Bullet train)

Yuzuru nodded in agreement.

“Yeah… Now, how close are we to the place where we can’t see Mt. Fuji… or how close are we to our destination?”

A sigh escaped from Yuzuru’s mouth.

About one-third of the way to the destination – Kyoto, and Nara – had finally been completed.

They must now proceed until they can no longer see Mt. Fuji.

“Umm… About another hour or so… Or rather, Yuzuru-san also has it right, the guidebook?”

Arisa said as she read the guidebook for the school trip.

Yuzuru shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.

“Pff… life doesn’t always go as planned, you know. I don’t read such things…”

“So you’re saying you don’t read much because it’s a hassle?”

“That’s the gist of it.”

Arisa’s face was stunned by Yuzuru’s answer.

Indeed, today, the second-year students, including Yuzuru and Arisa, were on a school trip.

The trip lasted four days and three nights, and the destinations were Kyoto and Nara.

“Aren’t you looking forward to it?”

Arisa said with a curious expression on her face.

Apparently, Arisa was so looking forward to it that she had read the guidebook many times.

It was evident that she looked a little sleepy early in the morning.

However, she didn’t seem to be feeling sleepy now, probably from excitement…

(…hope she doesn’t get sleepy later.)

Sleeping with her head on Yuzuru’s shoulder…

Such a vision of Arisa came to his mind.

“No way! It’s a trip with you. How could I not be looking forward to it?”

Yuzuru lightly stroked Arisa’s hair as he said so.

Arisa’s eyes narrowed as if she was comfortable.

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

Arisa smiled without making any deep inquiry.

She seemed to be in a good mood after all.

(…It’s not that I’m not looking forward to it.)

That said, he was not as excited or looking forward to it as much as Arisa.

Such was Yuzuru’s true feeling.

In fact, he had visited Kyoto and Nara many times with his family.

Yuzuru was not a history buff to the extent that he enjoys seeing the same places over and over again.

So, in terms of traveling with Arisa and with his friends, he was looking forward to it in his own way, but…

Kyoto and Nara, huh… was how he felt.

However, there was little point in telling this to Arisa, who was looking forward to it.

There were some things that did not need to be said, and some things that were better left unsaid.

“Oh, To think that you are looking forward to it so much. It is a great pleasure for me as a local.”

The girl who said this with a smiling face was the girl in the seat in front of Arisa – one could say right in front of her, since her seat was rotated.

It was Uenishi Chiharu.

Yes, her hometown was Kyoto.

…For her, it was a return trip to her hometown.

It was somewhat questionable whether she would be able to enjoy it.

“Speaking of which, Chiharu-san and Tenka-san’s parents live in Kyoto, right?”

“Yes, well… Do you want to drop by? I, for one, don’t want to diminish the already thin school trip atmosphere…”

As expected, Chiharu was not too happy that the school trip was to Kyoto and Nara.

The girl sitting next to Chiharu, Nagiri Tenka, also shook her head.

“…For me as well, you know, inviting people to my parents’ house, well, no, it’s not that it’s a bad idea.”

Tenka said with a very uncomfortable expression on her face.

Arisa shook her head in panic.

“N-no, it’s not that I want to stop by. No, it would be a poor choice of words to say I don’t want to stop by though…”

I’ll be happy to do it another time when we have a chance.

said Arisa, and Chiharu and Tenka both nodded.

The two of them seemed to have no problem as long as it wasn’t a school trip.

“If we are going there, it would be great if we could go to an amusement park… Since there is a chance, shall we go to Osaka?”

Grinning, Chiharu suggested that with a smile on her face.

Arisa looked dumbfounded.

“Of course not. If we go to an unrelated place…”

“It’s all right, you know? We are free to do what we want, and the teachers can’t always keep an eye on us…”

Apparently, Chiharu was not joking and really wanted to go.

Certainly, for her, she would rather play at an amusement park than go sightseeing in her hometown.

However, Arisa had some bitter words for Chiharu.

“I understand your feelings… but what are you going to do about your report assignment?”

As a rule, students at Yuzuru’s high school were free to go on their own excursions.

However, since it was part of the class, it did not mean that they could continue to play around and enjoy sightseeing.

They were required to set a research theme related to Kyoto or Nara in advance and research it.

No deviation from it was allowed, and later submission of a report was also obligatory.

“Eh!? Arisa-san, are you going to do a serious investigation!?　It’s a school trip…”

“It’s a school trip, right? At the very least, you have to do that part properly…”

They both looked surprised…

Then they looked around at the faces of those around them as if seeking agreement.

“I’m going to go sightseeing as I please and work it out later.”

The one who answered that was Satake Soichiro, the boy sitting in the seat on the other side of the aisle.

And nodding in agreement… was a girl, Tachibana Ayaka, sitting next to Soichiro.

“Me too… And I’ll copy from Soichiro-kun’s report later.”

While smiling bitterly at Ayaka, who for some reason was proudly puffing out her chest…

Yuzuru continued to answer.

“I… didn’t want to bother visiting them, so I made it up in advance on a topic that I could find in books and on the internet… I don’t want the assignment report to flicker in my brain during the school trip.”

Yuzuru, Soichiro, and Ayaka were in Chiharu’s camp.

Chiharu was pleased with her victory.

“I’ve made the same arrangements in advance as Yuzuru-san did. I’m going to enjoy myself during the school trip.”

It was a school trip after all.

It was “normal” to have fun without thinking about studies.

Thus Chiharu proudly insisted.

“I’ll be reasonably serious about it… because I don’t have the confidence to create a good lie.”

“I’ll at least keep up appearances.”

Hijiri and …the girl sitting next to him, exactly between Chiharu and Hijiri, Nagiri Tenka, agreed with Arisa’s opinion. (TN: Looks like the author forgot that he already gave Tenka’s full name earlier and Hijiri’s was not given.  )

Arisa breathed a sigh of relief to have someone on her side.

Chiharu, however, kept a smug look on her face.

“The majority is with me.”

“Mrr…”

While Chiharu had a victorious look on her face, Arisa looked a little frustrated.

Then she turned to Yuzuru.

“Yuzuru-san! If you’re my fiancée, please support my opinion!!”

“N-no, this and that are different things…”

Although he felt bad about not being able to take Arisa’s side, Yuzuru had no intention of changing his mind.

…because he didn’t want to participate in the school trip while thinking about the assignment report.

“Mrr… well, it’s your plan, so you’re free to go there… but I’m not sure if Osaka could be explained…”

The assignment was only to ‘research Kyoto and Nara’.

If a teacher finds out and asks why they went all the way to Osaka, they will not be able to explain.

“It will be fine, as long as they don’t find out…”

Chiharu said with a grin.

At this, Arisa looked perplexed.

“T-that’s… no, but…”

“Look, Yuzuru-san… As her fiancée, please tell her.”

Yuzuru seemed to be recognized as a ‘comrade’.

Although Yuzuru certainly had similar opinions to those of Chiharu…

“As expected, going to Osaka is… I’m sure the teachers will be at the station too.”

It was hard to agree with Chiharu’s idea of going to Osaka to have fun.

Yuzuru decided to take Arisa’s side as her ‘fiancé’.

This brought a big smile to Arisa’s face.

Chiharu, on the other hand…

“Mrr… well, that’s fine.”

She backed down easily.

As expected, she reconsidered that breaking the rules was not a good idea…

Or perhaps it was out of consideration for Arisa, Hijiri, and Tenka.

The three of them intend to do serious extracurricular research, so they couldn’t play in Osaka.

“Then we’ll do our best to enjoy the sights. Leave the guiding to me!”

Chiharu’s chest was heaving as she said this.

For what it’s worth, she seemed to be looking forward to the trip itself with her friends.

“…but it’s interesting”

“What’s interesting, Hijiri-kun?”

“Nah… I thought that our difference in values and ways of thinking was strongly expressed here. Especially when it comes to matters of assignment, we’re split in half…”

“Ah… sure. I wonder if it’s a difference in upbringing…”

The two of them talked about such things in a whisper.