School trip, day two.
Today was group activity day. The main plan was to visit from Arashiyama to Kinkaku-ji.
After breakfast, the members of the three groups that had acted together at Kiyomizu-dera yesterday naturally gathered. After some discussion, they decided to first go to the station to buy a one-day bus pass.
Whether going to Arashiyama or transferring from there to Kinkaku-ji, transportation was essential. These tourist spots became a popular route precisely because they were on the same bus line, but they weren't exactly close; the straight-line distance between them was about ten kilometers—quite a distance.
Although there were several rich kids in the group, the majority were from ordinary families. Relying entirely on taxis would be too expensive, whereas a 500 yen one-day pass was exceptionally economical. Most importantly, almost all representative scenic spots in Kyoto can be reached by bus. There was no reason not to choose it.
However, while the bus was affordable, its drawback was obvious.
Crowds.
Because it was in the city and coincided with the morning rush hour, the bus was packed like a tin of sardines. There was almost no visible floor space.
Fortunately, Shinra's group boarded early and secured a small patch of space, which even included two seats!
The plan was for the four girls to rotate, but the ride was only about ten minutes long, so rotating didn't make much sense.
Consequently, Miura Yumiko and Kawasaki Saki generously gave the seats to Ebina and Yui, while they themselves moved to stand beside Shinra.
Although the bus was crowded, the boys in the group made up the majority and firmly protected the girls. Coupled with their uniform school attire and a look that suggested they weren't to be trifled with, no unpleasant incidents occurred.
After all, Japan's train and bus chikan (gropers) are world-famous—not just because of the "contributions" from adult film creators, but because those creators take material from real life. Even the Japanese government has established specific laws for this phenomenon, and many politicians have been elected on platforms of "eradicating chikan."
One can only say... Japan is truly a mysterious country.
Honestly, Shinra didn't like such crowded environments either. Therefore, he set up an invisible, subtle isolation magnetic field around himself.
This field was harmless to the human body but made people subconsciously feel uncomfortable, achieving the goal of repelling them. It was a minor "Electric Current Push" trick Shinra developed on the fly after boarding.
It worked quite well.
Of course, Shinra didn't overdo it. He kept the isolation distance within a reasonable range, rather than pushing people away so far that a huge void appeared.
If he had done that, the salarymen would likely have endured the discomfort to enter the field anyway. Compared to temporary discomfort, the despair of failing to clock in and losing attendance pay was far greater.
"Thinking that I'll have to squeeze onto buses like them for work in the future makes the future look pitch black. If I have to endure this kind of pain, I'd rather not work at all!" A strange light flickered in Hachiman's dead-fish eyes.
Shinra sneered. "What? Are you planning to let Komachi support you for the rest of your life?"
Hachiman: "Wouldn't that be a bit too blissful?"
Yui: "I feel like Komachi would scold you for being a useless brother."
Hachiman: "Then forget it."
Compared to his distaste for work, Hachiman was more worried about being hated by his sister. This guy's sister complex had reached an incurable stage.
Miura Yumiko couldn't empathize with Hachiman. As the only daughter of the Miura family, even if she worked in the future, it was impossible for her to squeeze onto buses and trains like an ordinary worker.
Kawasaki Saki's expression remained normal. She wasn't intimidated by the bus crowds. In fact, before meeting Shinra, she had experienced similar or even worse conditions.
Back then, she had to save even the bus fare, relying on her long legs to pedal a bicycle to and from work.
"Speaking of which, can you stop elbowing me, Tobe-kun?" Hachiman felt a bit uncomfortable. Although he knew it wasn't intentional—Tobe was also being pushed around and having his heels stepped on by strangers.
"Sorry, Hikki! Really sorry! The bus is so crowded, I can't help it!"
Hachiman looked over at Shinra's side. Shinra was also being squeezed, but the problem was that those squeezing him were Miura Yumiko and Kawasaki Saki. While those two could be a bit scary, they were genuine beauties. How come on his side, it was Tobe, this big, clumsy guy?
"Ah—Hachiman, are you okay? S-Sorry!"
Suddenly, the bus braked hard. Totsuka Saika, who had been protected on the inner side, lost his balance and fell directly into Hachiman's arms, seemingly stepping on Hachiman's shoe.
"It's fine, just be careful." Hachiman's voice was exceptionally gentle, worlds apart from how he spoke to Tobe.
Finally, the bus arrived at the destination.
As everyone got off, they felt a sense of relief, as if their bodies had become lighter.
Right after getting off, the closest sight to the station was Tenryu-ji.
As the old capital of Japan, Kyoto has many things, but mostly temples. Setting aside yesterday's Kiyomizu-dera, Nanzen-ji, and Ginkaku-ji, the vicinity of Arashiyama alone has Tenryu-ji, Jojakko-ji, Hogon-in, and shrines like Nonomiya Shrine, which appeared in The Tale of Genji.
Of course, Arashiyama isn't just temples. Beyond the temples that they were starting to get tired of, there were free attractions like the Bamboo Grove path and Togetsukyo Bridge.
"I feel like I've visited a lifetime's worth of temples in these two days," Tobe complained.
"The famous spots in Kyoto are mostly just these, right? At least visiting temples makes the school trip reflection easier to write. You just have to copy the descriptions from the official tourism websites," Hachiman replied.
He personally didn't mind temples. More accurately, compared to noisy, crowded places, the quiet environment of a temple suited his travel preferences better.
"Huh? You've got a point. Hikki, I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable~" Hearing Hachiman's words, Tobe felt much better, and even his gaze toward the 500 yen ticket in his hand became kinder.
The rest of the trip was much like yesterday—worshipping, drawing lots, scooping water to wash hands... The only good thing was that drawing lots here didn't force you to pay; you just took them from a plastic box.
And the "drop rate" for good lots was high. No one in the group drew a 'Misfortune'; the worst was a 'Small Blessing'. The experience was much better than at Kiyomizu-dera.
Walking and stopping like this for the morning, Shinra hadn't run into Yukino and her group. This was likely because they left early and took a taxi, arriving at Arashiyama about half an hour before them.
It was normal not to meet.
"Hikki, Shinra, Yukino told me she's at Okochi Sanso. Should we head over?" Yui walked up to Shinra and Hachiman, showing them the message on her phone.
"It says there's free matcha and matcha cake provided!"
Yui was clearly tempted.
Shinra kindly reminded her: "It's not actually free, because the entrance fee is 1000 yen."
"Eh? I guess so." Yui blinked, only now noticing that this villa-manor place actually charged a 1000 yen entrance fee. Tenryu-ji was only 500!
But since they were out having fun, no one really cared about an extra five hundred or a thousand yen.
"Yumiko, where are you guys planning to go later?" Yui trotted over to Miura Yumiko, who was interpreting lots with Ebina.
"Hmm? Yui, is there somewhere you want to go?" Miura Yumiko naturally assumed Yui wanted to go somewhere together.
"Yeah! We're going to Okochi Sanso to drink tea. Yukino is there too, so I came to ask if you guys wanted to join."
Yukinoshita Yukino...
Miura Yumiko's face stiffened at the name. Why was that girl at Arashiyama too?
But she quickly figured it out. Of course, since Shinra was here, how could she not come? Now she was trying to lure Shinra over through Yui.
"I'm going!"
Thinking this, Miura Yumiko's head heated up, and she agreed immediately.
"What about Ebina?" Yui looked at Ebina.
"I'm fine with anything~" Ebina said with a beaming smile. She didn't mind where she went, as long as she wasn't left alone. If she were alone, she might be "captured" by Tobe.
She didn't want to date right now. If she refused, her current relationships would inevitably be damaged, which she also didn't want to see.
Furthermore, she really had no feelings for Tobe Kakeru. Friends were fine, but lovers? No thanks.
This made Ebina troubled. She had previously asked Shinra for help regarding this, but so far he hadn't shown any sign of intervening, merely observing from the sidelines. This made Ebina unsure of Shinra's thoughts.
Is this guy planning to drop the ball?
Ebina could clearly feel that Tobe was getting restless. She estimated that by tomorrow night at the latest, he would launch his final offensive.
Truly a headache...
"Yahallo~ Yukinon!" Yui waved energetically at Yukino, who was sitting inside the villa sipping tea.
"Good afternoon, Yui." Yukino set down her teacup, politely acknowledging Yui, and then almost immediately shifted her gaze to Shinra.
After lingering on Shinra for a moment, Yukino clearly felt a gaze full of strong hostility staring straight at her.
Following the source, Yukino, as expected, saw Miura Yumiko.
Facing Yumiko's undisguised hostile stare, Yukino's brows twitched slightly, but she had no intention of arguing with her.
Just a boring crybaby.
Perceiving Yukino's "disregard," Miura Yumiko's anger flared even more. The other party didn't say anything, yet it felt more infuriating than if she had.
Miura Yumiko took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to provoke her.
After all, if they really started a fight, based on past experience, she would never be a match for Yukino. She would only humiliate herself and put Shinra in a difficult position in the middle.
Although Shinra hadn't said it explicitly, the smart Miura Yumiko could clearly feel Shinra's special attitude toward Yukino. Plus, Yukino had known and spent time with Shinra longer than she had. It was hard to say who Shinra would side with.
While the probability was that he would side with neither, if he did side with Yukino, wouldn't she be completely lost?
Therefore, Miura Yumiko decided to temporarily yield and avoid the brunt of the confrontation.
"I'll sit over there." Miura Yumiko chose a seat neither too close nor too far from Yukino.
This seat was clever. It was exactly one seat away from Yukino. If Shinra sat in the middle, he could talk to both at the same time without appearing to favor either side.
In a way, this was Miura Yumiko proactively helping Shinra "balance the water."
A sensible girl doesn't need to be taught; she goes full-auto.
Admittedly, this was the best move for her interests right now. She avoided facing Yukino's sharpness directly without losing face in front of everyone. On the contrary, it gave the impression of standing on equal footing with Yukino.
But unfortunately, Miura Yumiko calculated so much but overlooked Yui. Seeing the two take their spots, Yui sat down almost without a second thought in the seat Miura had left for Shinra—right between Yukino and Miura Yumiko.
She then gave her trademark silly smile, acting like a puppy trying to please both sides.
Fortunately, it was a long table. Shinra sat opposite Yui, achieving the same "water balancing" effect. Compared to being sandwiched on both sides, he had more room to maneuver; he didn't even need to turn his head to communicate with both simultaneously.
As the "main characters" settled into their spots, the remaining seats were quickly divided up.
"Speaking of which, Yukinon, where are your teammates? I don't see them," Yui asked curiously.
"They... are still in the garden taking photos for social media. I'm not interested in that, so I'm waiting here for them to finish while having tea."
Mentioning her three teammates, Yukino's expression became slightly unnatural.
After returning to the ryokan room last night, she had faced an "interrogation" from the girls in her dorm. They were all asking about her relationship with Shinra.
For instance, were they dating? Was her love rival Miura Yumiko? Did the rumor about her making Miura Yumiko cry last time happen because she was fighting over Shinra...
It was a memory she'd rather not revisit, to the point where she couldn't even remember how she answered those questions.
In short, her three teammates said they wanted to give her an "assist," which led to the current situation.