_Chapter 35-1~ Field Trips_

"As it is an annual thing, the third years will be allowed to participate in a school field trip," Mr. Matsuda declared at the end of class after handing out permission slips. "We will be going to Kyoto, and the weekend-long trip itself will be taking place in May. Other details are still being finalized."

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, excited chatter filled the room. Most kids even rose from their seats to converse with others animatedly about what they had heard about the trip from previous years.

"Hey, Reina," Erika hissed over to me. "Do you think this trip will be fun?"

"It seems like it'll be," I admitted.

"Right?" she agreed. "But I'm going to ask those girl over there if they know more about it. They look like they do." Without waiting for my response, Erika got up to her feet and approached a group of girls who were twittering to themselves. With a polite smile, she spoke to them rather easily and soon, they responded back to her in a friendly manner also.

I watched this all unfold in surprise. I recognized a few of those girls from previous years, and had always felt so reclusive to even try to talk to them. Maybe it was because Erika was new and seemed used to befriending practically everyone? I was slightly envious she could associate herself with people more than I ever could during my many years here.

Letting out a sigh, I directed my gaze away from the sight and faced my seat mate.

"What do you think of the trip, Iwasaki?" I asked him.

Briefly meeting my eyes, he spoke, "It doesn't matter. I'm not going."

My mouth fell in shock. "What? But why not? It'd be really fun!"

"I doubt that," he responded fairly easily. "You shouldn't go either."

"Why not?"

Resting his head on his arms, Ryu paused. "Without me you'd probably get yourself hurt."

"I will not," I said, jutting my chin and scoffing. "I'm perfectly capable of surviving a weekend without your unnecessary help, thank you."

"That's very worrisome of you to say," Ryu pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. "No matter what you tell me, I'm going. That's why you should come too."

He exhaled a sigh. Tilting his head my way, he watched me thoughtfully with his head on his arms. "Do you really want me to go?"

I bobbed my head without a second's hesitation. "Yes."

Sparing me one long look, he turned away his eyes.

I shook my head in disbelief. "Oh, c'mon! Stop acting like this'll be bad. It'll be fun, promise."

"How do you know? Have you ever been on a trip like this?"

"No..." I replied. "I was always too scared of getting involved in this academy before... But! That's exactly why I know it'll be memorable!"

Ryu didn't answer, instantly bringing down my spirits.

"Have you ever been on one?" I asked him.

"No," he answered.

My eyes lit up. "Then that's even more of a reason to go! Let's both go and enjoy ourselves! Okay?"

Ryu slightly frowned, seeming reluctant under my pressuring gaze. "Fine..." he murmured in defeat. "I'll go."

I cracked a grateful smile.

"Somebody's got to make sure you don't go grazing in the wrong places," he went on.

And he ruined it.

"We're going to enjoy ourselves, you orange," I enunciated with a glare.

Ryu who had risen up his head had his lips quirk upwards. "Yes, yes. We will have so much fun."

I narrowed my eyes at him but his smile hadn't fallen.

I had to have faith that what we said would be true.

* * *

"I'm so ready to go on this trip! Did I bring everything I need? I think did! Maybe I should count again?"

I produced out a heavy sigh at the sight of all of Miyabi's bags set out before us that he had begun to frantically rummage though. "Why do you seem like you're moving to a new country? The trip's only going to last two days."

"Nay, my dear, Sheep. You must always come prepared!" Miyabi tsked. With the bob of the head, Miyabi zipped up his bags and swung one over his shoulder. "Well, I should be off!"

"Enjoy yourself on your bus to the station," I told him.

Miyabi pouted. "Yeah... Sadly we have to take different buses since we're in different classes. We have different seating areas on the train too... But enjoy yourself too, Sheep. Iwasaki."

We both turned to a silent Ryu who was shuffling his feet back and forth to busy himself. He clearly didn't appear very pleased and Miyabi quickly pointed it out.

"Iwasaki, do you not want to be here or something?"

Ryu looked his way with a sigh. "No way," he deadpanned. "This will be fun. Yipee."

His voice radiated his sarcasm, earning a glare from me. "Hey now, cool down on the excitement there," I said whilst rolling my eyes. I faced Miyabi with a weak smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he enjoys himself on the trip."

"You say that as if we're going to able to choose what to do," Ryu pointed out. "We have a strict schedule to abide by, plus we won't even be together."

"But we're going to cool monuments and galleries; that's more than enough positives," I said. "And all that means is that we have to have as much fun as we can when we are together."

"How?"

"How...? Well, obviously..." My shoulders sagged. "I don't know?"

"You don't know and yet you insist it'll be fun?"

I scowled at him. "If you stop being so negative like this you'd understand what I mean."

"I can't," he said. "It's in my blood."

I clicked my tongue. "Jeez...."

"Ha ha... You two sure are close," Miyabi forced a laugh. "Well, have fun then! I'll go meet Daichi on the bus!"

"Tell him I say hi," I said as he turned to go. With a nod, Miyabi waved and darted towards the area where the buses were parked. I sighed, "See, why can't you be as happy about this all like Miyabi?"

"Because I'm not Miyabi," Ryu responded.

My lips clamped together, the corners shifting downwards. "If you didn't want to come on this trip this badly, you shouldn't have come..."

Ryu flinched. A crestfallen look grew on his face, and he bashfully fiddled with his bangs. "Sorry," he said. "I always end up being rude to you even if I don't want to be."

I peered upwards at him. "So you really don't mind?"

He shook his head, and his eyes somewhat averted as he said, "No... To be honest, I was a bit happy when you said you wanted me to come..."

I couldn't help but stare at Ryu in awe. He was becoming a lot more honest recently. It was actually becoming much easier to read him nowadays since he wasn't so snappish anymore. He was smiling more, and admitted to things he would've vigorously denied in the past...

"But, Kikuchi," Ryu randomly spoke. "They may be going on this trip so you have to watch out for yourself."

I met his eyes. "Who?"

"Raidon and Keisuke."

My heart stopped in my chest. "They have interests in trips like these?" I quickly looked around for confirmation though nothing but regular students filled the vicinity socializing with their friends.

"Just make sure you take care of yourself," he warned.

Instead of accepting his caution, I pursed my lips. "Why're you treating me like some kind of kid lately? You need to get out of that bodyguard mindset and stop worrying about me."

He pushed his bottom lip forward. "Sorry... I can't help it."

"I-I don't need it," I stuttered, ignoring the sudden constriction of my heart. What the heck! Why was he being so cute?

"Reina, let's go on the bus~!" Hooking an arm through mine, Erika led me off towards the buses without giving me a chance to refute.

"H-hey," I sputtered, peeking at a grinning Erika.

The teachers took attendance soon after all the students were filed onto their separate buses. I found myself sitting beside Erika before I could process anything around me.

"Hey, stop looking so disappointed," Erika whined as a looming silence settled on our end of the bus. "Just because I didn't let you sit with him..."

"H-huh?" I visibly tensed. "I don't mind sitting with you. What are you talking about?"

"If that's the case, then it's good," Erika breathed, leaning back in her seat and snacking on some Pockys. "He and you are always talking whenever I see you. You're really close aren't you?"

She offered me a Pocky and I gratefully accepted that and a couple more.

"And it's not like you two get along with other people in our class either. You're lucky you have me or else you would've had to sit alone like him." She gestured to the sight of Ryu in his own row towards the back of the bus, minding his own business as he stared out the window. "You're kind of unsociable—no offence—and that Iwasaki kid is very scary looking too. I thought you told me to stay away from delinquents, and yet that's all you hang around."

"Iwasaki isn't a delinquent," I quickly refuted. Her eyes widened slightly, but I wasn't finished. "And he may seem scary and delinquent-ish looking, but he's a very nice guy, honest. You just have to get to know him."

I opened my mouth to continue despite the warmth creeping to my cheeks but Erika's coo cut me off.

"Aww. I didn't mean that he was a bad person, don't worry." She grinned. "But it's sweet how defensive you got on his behalf. Don't tell me, Reina... are you two a thing?"

"A thing?" I repeated, rather puzzled. I tilted my head. "What 'thing' are you talking about?"

Erika deadpanned. "Wait... are you being serious?" she asked after a couple seconds. "Wow my cousin is oblivious...!"

I knitted my brows together. "Erika, what is it?"

She shook her head in reply. "Never mind anything I've said." Her eyes suddenly gained a sudden spark as she poked her head over the seats in front of us. "Hey guys, do you mind if Reina joins our group for the sightseeing today?"

She grabbed me by the neck to show the startled girls my face. "H-hey," I hissed.

The girls reacted the opposite I expected—with matching smiles.

"We don't mind," one said.

"The more the merrier," agreed another, voice full of excitement.

"We already planned a few places," said the third, holding up a map. "We can decide on one place together."

"Oh, oh, I know!" Erika cried out ecstatically, throwing her arm above her head. "I really want to try the dango at this shop there! Can we?"

"We've heard enough of your ideas, Erika," giggled one. She turned to me. "If Reina's joining us, let's listen to what she has to say."

My voice was stuck in my throat. H-huh....

"We haven't gotten a chance to talk before so let's get to know each other." The first one smiled. "My name's Miki."

"Saika."

"Chiharu."

From beside me, the grinning Erika knew that my thoughts were currently a jumble, portraying my lack of words. I had always pinned everyone in the school to be very unfriendly and had kept my distance from even the girls the best I could.

My memory recalled what Daichi had told me once during that February Cultural Festival. He told me to stop being paranoid since normal students attended as well. That even I had the chance to make friends.

I briefly peeked over at Ryu. Ever since I met him my life's really changed. For the worse, and yet the better.

*  *  *

Once we arrived in Kyoto and everything checked out, the teachers allowed the students to split up into the groups that they wanted and gave us a list of places we were to go to. After that, we were free. With a teacher from one of the other classes as our guardian, Erika and the group of girls I had chatted excitedly with on the bus, headed towards our tourist attractions. Mingling with the group was a lot of fun, as surprising as that sounds. All the girls were really sweet and outgoing and we all shared a good laugh here and there. It was quite amazing how included I felt; in middle school it was extremely difficult to make friends so I often kept to myself unless I had to team up with people for projects. To think that I could've had the chance of becoming these girls' friends earlier...

When it was starting to get dark outside, it was time to return to the inn we were staying at. Since there were hot springs, Erika dragged us all to them and if it wasn't for her constant yelling, it probably would've been relaxing too. Erika seriously never ran out of energy.

After we left the bathhouse, the girls apologized and said they were heading back to their rooms for the night. I felt about ready to turn in along with them but Erika kept me and attempted to scare me by saying there were ghosts out right now. How original. It was after a notice from a passing boy that she agreed to head to the main room where most of the grade was gathered, playing table tennis and all. I refused going to such a crowded place and instead decided to get myself a drink before heading to bed.

After locating a vending machine towards the vacant half of the building, I inserted enough money to get myself some mixed fruit juice. Taking a sip, I let out a relieved breath as I turned the corner. I couldn't help but wonder what Ryu, Daichi and Miyabi were up to... Well, knowing Miyabi he probably dragged them to the main room since he'd want to party. Smiling at the idea of Ryu partying, I made my day towards the rooms. Though, what my eyes landed upon at the next corner stunned me into an abrupt halt.

In the empty area out in the courtyard stood three guys—all of which I was familiar with. The three shared an intensive stare-down, Keisuke backing up Raidon, and Ryu appearing quite nonchalant—opposite to how I was feeling at the given moment.

All colour escaped from my face. What? I leaned against the wall, not wanting to be seen; I had a feeling that the city's most feared delinquent wouldn't take it very kindly.

Did I just stumble onto something very incredible?!

Letting out a loud breath, Raidon Tsuki straightened his posture, bronze eyes staring up at the orange-haired male. "Ryuta—" he began.

"I prefer Iwasaki," Ryu curtly cut him off.

Raidon paused, surprisingly letting it slide. "You really changed a lot haven't you? Keisuke's told me you were even Class President last year."

"What a disgusting position," Keisuke interjected.

"Not as disgusting as your face. Shut up." Raidon rolled his eyes, not taking his interference nicely. Keisuke obediently bobbed his head and Raidon stuck his finger in his ear. "Well, it is cringe-worthy. Why'd you do it?"

His gaze directed to the ground, Ryu didn't respond.

Keisuke glared furiously at Ryu's disrespect though Raidon's impassive look hadn't fell.

"I can always ask your brother if you don't want to tell me yourself. The bastard's got all that useless kind of information in his brain. It sucks that he's a year younger, huh?"

"It's actually two years," Keisuke corrected. "He was allowed to skip a grade so he did."

Raidon took a deep breath. "If only he were allowed to skip two grades; I wouldn't have had to deal with you alone."

Keisuke flinched before hanging his head like a dejected puppy. "I apologize for correcting you, sir."

Raidon brushed it aside— as if he were used to it— and returned his gaze onto a Ryu who hadn't budged from the start. Lips pursing together, a silence hung in the air. Shaking his head, Raidon stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I only wanted to tell you to stop getting involved in my affairs. I see you have your eyes on Naoki—"

"Aki."

Raidon clicked his tongue at Keisuke's correction. "Aki." He glared at him briefly before continuing, "—but you don't have to. Nobody'll mess with him. He's built up enough cred to ensure that. Besides, he ain't an idiot. Focus on your own damn business. We'll handle ours. Got it?"

Brushing past Ryu, he reached up to most likely pat his shoulder. Considering his height difference, though, Raidon couldn't reach it and quickly retreated to pat Ryu's arm instead. He whispered something I was too far away to decipher and left the premises at that—Keisuke in pursuit.

Though a few minutes passed, Ryu stayed where he was. Carefully poking my head out, I flattened my lips. For someone who always told me to run away from delinquents, he sure didn't move. Maybe running from Raidon Tsuki was different.

Either way... Frowning, I tried my best to digest the conversation that had just occurred. Not only with Aki, but Ryu was familiar with Raidon and Keisuke too? But what kind of familiarity? What was their connection? Ugh, all these questions were infuriating!

I was brought out of my thoughts at the movement of Ryu from my peripheral vision. Luckily, he hadn't seen me yet. Purchasing himself a drink from the vending machine propped there, Ryu took a seat on the open bench beside it. Gripping the can of mixed fruit juice—the same as which I had gotten moments earlier—his expression that was typically poker-faced couldn't have looked anymore sullen now. And wistful.

A frown flitted onto my face. He looked so down... I'd never seen him this way before.

I balled my fists, gulping hard. Although I had plenty of questions circling around my mind, it wasn't as if I needed answers right away. It technically wasn't any of my business after all.

Satisfied with the thought, I mustered as much courage as I could and stepped out into the open.

It was time to return the favour.