Chapter 71: School Trip I (Double-Length Chapter – Please Subscribe!)

After two and a half hours of trekking, the bus finally stopped in front of an old two-story guesthouse.

“All right, everyone, gather your things and get ready to get off,” called out Nobue Ito, her voice rousing the drowsy students from their seats. Many of them yawned as they stood up.

In the back row, Anhe quietly withdrew his hand from Rena Serizawa’s collar. Rena, who had kept her eyes tightly shut the whole time, now opened them. She shot Anhe a furious glare, then rubbed her chest and got up from her seat.

“I knew you weren’t really asleep, Rena-chan,” Anhe teased, grinning as he sidled closer. Hearing him, Rena’s cheeks, already tinged with pink, flushed an even deeper red.

“All right, all right,” Anhe said, noticing Rena was on the verge of losing her temper. He stopped provoking her, took her small hand in his, and led her off the bus.

Rena’s hand was so soft, it felt as if he were holding a handful of cotton candy.

As they stepped off the bus with the others and set foot on the soft earth, Anhe finally had a chance to take in the destination of their school trip.

It was a two-story wooden guesthouse that looked rather old, with a yard fenced off by wooden slats, now overgrown with weeds. There were no other buildings in sight, not even power lines. Anhe guessed that this guesthouse might have been abandoned for quite some time.

Sure enough, someone soon confirmed his suspicion.

“Everyone, please quiet down,” Nobue Ito clapped her hands. Once the excited students calmed and all eyes were on her, she continued, “This is our destination for the school trip. For the next two days, we’ll all be staying in this guesthouse.”

Her words were met with a chorus of cheers. Compared to the monotony of classroom life, they were clearly looking forward to this trip full of unknowns and novelty.

Of course, there were also students used to city living. Immediately, a girl wearing black-framed glasses and twin ponytails raised her hand.

“But, Sensei, I don’t see any electrical wiring nearby. Does this place not have electricity?”

“That’s right, Miu,” Nobue Ito replied with a smile.

“Huh?” The students, who had been bubbling with excitement, instantly wilted like frostbitten eggplants.

For these children of the information age, it didn’t really matter where they lived—but the thought of no electricity was enough to make them miserable.

Especially when they realized that without power, their phones would be useless. Some began to grumble and even considered backing out.

“Sensei!” The bespectacled girl raised her hand again and, catching Nobue Ito’s eye, pulled a pink flip phone from her pocket and waved it. With a pitiful expression, she continued, “If there’s no electricity, how will we charge our phones if they die?”

“That’s right, Miu,” Nobue Ito responded with the same smile. After a brief pause, she pulled a green object from her pocket and waved it. “That’s why I brought a power bank for myself, just in case.”

Her words landed like a rusty blade—lacking in intimidation, but brutal in effect. In an instant, the students’ defenses were down.

“How could you, Ito-sensei!”

“Yeah! Why didn’t you tell us to bring power banks in advance?”

“I’m not going on this trip anymore! I’m taking the bus back!”

Nobue Ito paid no attention to their complaints, her face even showing a satisfied smile. Only when the hubbub died down did she speak again.

“All right, the theme of this trip is independence and self-reliance. For the next two days, I won’t be interfering much in your affairs. During this period, the other teachers and I will also be staying here.”

She gestured to a few middle-aged men still on the bus, who waved at the students before she continued, “The kitchen on the first floor is stocked with ingredients the school prepared. There are also some entertainment facilities in the main hall. Upstairs, there are six rest rooms; if you lay out bedding on the floor, each can sleep seven to ten people. You can arrange the room assignments yourselves.”

She cleared her throat, raised her voice, and spread her arms wide: “I hereby announce that the B-Class school trip has officially begun!”

Silence fell. The students all looked at her with mournful eyes.

Fortunately, soon the sound of clapping broke out from the crowd.

Everyone turned to see a petite girl clapping enthusiastically—Saki Kurorai.

“Wonderful!”

Nobue Ito gave Saki a thumbs up, and Saki’s face lit up with a brilliant smile. But soon, as if struck by a sudden thought, she opened her backpack, rummaged through it, and laid all her snacks on the ground.

People wondered what Saki was up to, when she suddenly pulled out an object several times larger than her palm.

“It’s a power bank!” someone exclaimed, and the others instantly perked up.

Seeing everyone’s eyes fixed on the power bank in her hand, Saki smirked inwardly. With her soft little hand, she pulled down the sunglasses perched comically on her face, baring her uneven white teeth, and in a bell-like, childlike voice, declared, “That’s right, it’s a power bank!”

With a flourish, she proceeded to pull out nine more power banks from her backpack, placing them in a neat row. She then raised her brows and asked, “Who wants to buy one?”

“Will you sell them to us?” a girl asked excitedly. Saki nodded, then held up two fingers. “Two thousand yen each!”

“What?” The students gasped—those power banks usually went for about a thousand yen each, and now this little merchant had hiked the price by half.

“No way, I’m not buying!” one student protested, and more voices joined in. But Saki refused to budge. When it became clear no one intended to buy, she calmly packed all the power banks back into her bag, hugged her snacks, and with a dismissive snort, bounced toward the guesthouse.

It was then the others noticed that Nobue Ito had already made her way to the guesthouse door.

Someone tugged at Anhe’s sleeve. He turned to see Rena Serizawa holding her phone up to his face.

“Do you think Saki will sell those power banks?” she asked.

“Of course,” Anhe replied without hesitation. Seeing her puzzled look, he didn’t explain but instead took her hand and headed toward the guesthouse.

As they climbed the wooden steps, they reached the front door. Two pairs of shoes, one large and one small, sat at the entrance. Inside, the spacious living room was strewn with rolled-up futons and carpets. Nobue Ito and Saki Kurorai, both barefoot, stood nearby.

Noticing the commotion at the door, Nobue Ito looked up at them, her gaze soon drifting to their joined hands. With a laugh, she teased, “Are you two on a school trip, or a honeymoon?”

Rena blushed furiously, yanked her hand from Anhe’s, and lowered her head in embarrassment.

Anhe, unfazed by the joke, took off his shoes and stepped into the living room. He nudged a futon with his foot and turned to Nobue Ito with a question, “How are we splitting up the sleeping arrangements?”

“How else? Boys and girls separate, of course,” Nobue Ito replied, a hint of bewilderment in her voice. She then raised an eyebrow and looked Anhe up and down, chuckling, “Unless you want to sleep with the girls?”

“If possible, that would be ideal,” Anhe replied boldly, making no secret of his intentions. After all, ever since that incident in the nurse’s office, he and Nobue Ito understood each other well enough.

She merely snorted and didn’t rebuke him. Instead, with a look of amused challenge, she said, “If you can get unanimous consent from all the girls, then you may. Remember, it has to be everyone~”

With that, she shot him a provocative look before heading for the kitchen. Clearly, she didn’t believe any girl would agree to sleep in the same room as a boy.

[You watch Nobue Ito’s retreating figure, a glint of heat in your eyes. But remembering her condition, you can’t help but scoff—raising someone’s affection is nothing. You vaguely recall that Miu Hoshino loves all kinds of music, and there just happens to be an old piano in the storage room next door. Then there’s Daisy Kobayashi, who loves all kinds of food—perfect, since the kitchen is well stocked. Next is Suzuko Aoki, who idolizes heroes...]

This round of narration was extensive, moving from Miu Hoshino all the way to Keiko Kitajima, even including Saki Kurorai’s likes and hobbies.

A strange smile crept onto Anhe’s face as he listened.

“Anhe-nii seems a bit strange...” Saki Kurorai, who had somehow appeared at the doorway, tugged at Rena’s sleeve. Rena, blushing, nodded in agreement. She knew this smile well—Anhe had worn it just before devouring a bag of snack buns the other day.

Soon, the other students gathered at the living room door. Following Nobue Ito and Anhe’s lead, they all removed their shoes before entering.

“Hey, Iguchi, when was the last time you washed your feet?” a girl complained to a freckled boy with thick glasses. His face reddened, but he quickly retorted, pointing at the girl’s own feet.

“Nonsense! I’d say it’s your feet that stink, Ino!” he said, pinching his nose theatrically.

“Jerk! That’s not true!” Ino, flustered, instinctively drew her feet back. She knew her own feet did have an odor, and her earlier accusation had been an effort to distract others from noticing her own flaw. She hadn’t expected him to point it out directly.

With everyone’s attention on her, Ino’s cheeks turned crimson, her eyes filling with tears. In a flash, she turned and fled outside.

“Ino, where are you going?” a girl called after her, but no one followed—Ino was not well liked in the class. For good reason: trying to cover up her own flaws by exposing others’ would never win her friends.

Not that Anhe cared what others thought; his focus was on the narration in his mind.

[Ino, an excessively self-conscious girl—perhaps you could find something to cure her foot odor. In the wasteland behind the guesthouse, there are several medicinal herbs. Gather them, crush them, and apply to her feet; within a few hours, the odor will vanish. Then you can safely savor them in your mouth...]

Brilliant narration!

Anhe chose to ignore the latter half of the monologue. He headed for the living room door—if he wanted to snuggle with Rena Serizawa tonight, he’d need to find those herbs right away.

Before leaving, he found Rena and explained his plan. She wanted to come along, so they set off together.

Outside, Anhe scanned the area and soon spotted Ino sitting beneath a tree to the right of the guesthouse, hugging her knees, head buried, her body shaking with sobs.

He searched his pockets for tissues, but only came up with Amamiya Sagu’s underwear from the previous night and a bandeau he hadn’t yet returned to Rena.

Fortunately, Rena, sensing his intent, pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket. Anhe took it, and together they walked over to Ino.

“Don’t cry,” he said gently.

Ino looked up, startled. Seeing it was the new transfer student, she sniffled and accepted the tissue he offered.

“Thank you,” she murmured, wiping her tears away.

Perhaps feeling sorry for Ino, Rena suddenly crouched down and placed a comforting hand on her back, gently stroking her like a mother soothing her child.

Ino stared at Rena in shock, words caught in her throat. She remembered how, in the past, she had joined in mocking Rena with the others. Yet now, when no one else cared about her, Rena was here comforting her...

A wave of emotion welled in Ino’s chest, and tears burst forth once more. She flung herself into Rena’s arms, sobbing.

“Huh?” Rena was taken aback but, feeling the trembling girl in her arms, she continued to pat her back comfortingly.

Seeing them, Anhe shrugged and headed for the thicket behind the guesthouse. He’d never seen the herbs described by the narrator, but whenever he thought of their names, images of the plants would appear in his mind, making the search easy. As he looked, a thought struck him: if this worked for the herbs, maybe it would work for other things the narrator had mentioned before...

After about half an hour, Anhe had gathered all seven kinds of herbs mentioned in the narration.

He borrowed a porcelain bowl from the guesthouse kitchen and started crushing the herbs one by one. When he finished, he brought the bowl outside.

Rena and Ino were still sitting under the tree; Ino looked better, though her eyes were still a bit red.

“Feeling better?” Anhe teased. Ino blushed but nodded her thanks.

“Good,” Anhe said, plopping down in front of her. To her astonishment, he reached out and grabbed her foot.

“W-what are you doing?” Ino squeaked, trying to pull her foot away, but found she couldn’t. Just as she raised her hand to push Anhe away, Rena wrapped her arms around her tightly.

“Don’t worry, this will be over soon,” Anhe said, deftly removing Ino’s round-toed shoes and white ankle socks.

Her five petite toes and smooth, pale foot were now exposed to them all.

At that instant, Ino’s cheeks flushed with shame and anger, and tears welled up once more.

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(End of chapter)