#74 Start of "Vacation"

"Wohoooo! Haha, this is really the best vacation I could ever think of!" Ike shouted while enjoying the sea breeze while holding onto the railings of the boat.

Usually, others would feel irritated by his loud shouting but everyone was too busy admiring and taking in the sight of the endless sea with the sunbeams being reflected on its surface, making a beautiful sparkling scene.

Yuichi also released a genuine smile upon seeing this and even his green eyes started to shine in joy.

"Whoa" Mei who was standing next to him suddenly exclaimed which made him turn at her.

When he looked at her, he noticed her looking at him with her mouth open in the shape of 'o' which slightly confused him.

"Ah, I am sorry. It's just that, I haven't seen you with that expression and smile a few years already. I am glad you still have that innocent smile, I always liked it!" Mei said with a beaming smile and in the end, a small blush crept up her face but she never stopped smiling at him.

Hearing this, Yuichi's eyes widened before he gently smiled at Mei but this time, with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

'I can no longer be the same as me a few years ago...'

"Huh? Have I said anything bad?" Even Mei detected that there was something wrong with his expression this time.

"Not at all. Thank you for the compliment but let's not get ahead of ourselves, there are still people around so let's be careful with our words" Yuichi said in low voice.

"Hmm...Ayanokoji-kun, do you know where is Horikita-san?" Kushida standing a few meters away from them asked while looking at Ayanokoji who was standing a few steps away from the railings.

"Not sure, I am not keeping track of her every movement." Ayanokoji slowly shook his head and lightly shrugged his shoulders, indicating his indifference towards the matter.

"I see...What about you, Iwamura-kun?" Kushida with a thoughtful expression suddenly looked towards her right and asked Yuichi.

"Haven't seen her since we boarded the ship together. If I have to make a guess, she is probably in her cabin reading a book or whatever." Yuichi glanced to the left and replied while shrugging his shoulders with an uncertain expression.

"For Iwamura-kun to be able to make such a guess so confidently...you must know Horikita-san pretty well, right?"

'What kind of question is that...?' Yuichi thought that Kushida's question was quite weird.

"I know her as much as anyone from our class knows her. It's not that hard to assume that she doesn't like traveling and that she prefers a quiet environment. Wouldn't you agree, Ayanokoji-kun?" Yuichi said with a faint smile while throwing a quick glance towards Ike.

"Eh? I guess so." Ayanokoji looked at Yuichi with an expression telling him 'Why are you involving me in this?'

As they continued taking in the sights of the endless sea, an announcement came, requesting everyone to assemble on the desk to be able to see the sight of the entire private island where they are supposed to spend their vacation.

'Really, what is this exaggeration in organizing a vacation for 1st years on the private island...Doesn't make any sense. Also...maybe I should keep an eye on some details since they want everyone to take a look at the island from afar.' Yuichi redirected his attention from his classmates back to the front and soon enough, he was able to spot the island.

"Hey, do you think that Karuizawa and Hirata broke up? They haven't been that close as of lately..."

'Hm?' Yuichi glanced at his classmates when Ike's words garnered a bit of his attention.

'They indeed aren't that close...To be honest, even before when everyone thought they are dating, they weren't as close as me and Mei. I mean, they don't even call each other by their 1st names, what kind of relationship is that? Well, it's not like I can give anyone advice on how to date anyone, haha.' Yuichi thought, wanting to release a self-ridiculing laugh. Though, he really felt that there was something more to their relationship than it seemed to be.

"...You don't seem to be twice as happy as others"

When Yuichi heard someone speak to him right next to him, he stopped thinking about meaningless things and turned at that person just to find Ayanokoji with an unnatural expression.

"Why do you say so? Anyway, is it really that hard to talk to anyone that you appear like I am the one bothering you despite you starting the conversation?" Yuichi asked with an amused smile.

"I apologize, that's simply me being me. You don't seem to look forward to the vacation, do you perhaps suffer from motion sickness or something?" Ayanokoji explained himself and asked this time with his stoic expression.

"Are you worried about me?" Yuichi asked in an amused tone with an opened mouth in surprise.

"Isn't that normal? To care for your classmates, that is."

"Maybe...but you aren't obligated to care for your classmates. Anyway, I am feeling all right, maybe a little bit dizzy. I don't really like sand beaches, if I could have, I would have stayed back at the school, unfortunately, they didn't let anyone stay there." Yuichi shrugged his shoulders.

Yuichi noticed that when the ship got closer to the island, instead of going directly towards it, they passed the pier and started a big circle around the entire island which made him frown but he didn't think much of it.

'Since they decided to give us a better view, I should take them up on their offer.' Yuichi thought as he shifted his body weight on the railings in front of him, focusing his sight on the island.

"Let's change places, it's hard to see the entire island from here." Ike said in an excited tone and intended to quickly change the positions but he immediately bumped into someone.

"Look where you are going, you inferior good-for-nothings! We are from Class A!" The student that Ike dumped into immediately barked at the entire Yuichi's group even though Ike was the only one who was at fault here.

'Great, now we have to find someone who actually asked...' Yuichi thought to himself while glancing at the student who addressed them as inferior good-for-nothings.

"You don't have to be so mean about it...I was at fault so I apologize..." Ike said without any sincerity since he was too excited. Ike wanted to bypass the student to get a better position but the student blocked his way.

"Oi, what is your problem, he apologized to you so get lost already!" Sudo immediately arrived to help his friend after seeing that he was blocked from leaving.

"Is that the way to talk to your superiors? You shouldn't even have human rights-" The student continued with dissatisfied expression but from his tone, it was apparent that he was having fun "bullying" them.

Not wanting to hear any more of this, Yuichi approached Ike and the student, intending to bypass them and find once again a peaceful place, obviously, with Mei following him.

"No one is leaving before he apologizes sincerely." The bigger friend of that student from Class A stopped Yuichi in his path with a smug on his face.

'What is this? It's like some poor soap opera.' *sigh* Yuichi thought while looking calmly at that student's smug before sighing.

Yuichi turned around and passed by Mei before intending to go the other way even though it would take longer to get to the other side of the ship. Mei rolled her eyes at the student blocking their path before following Yuichi.

"Hey, I said that no one goes anywhere before he apologizes properly!" Seeing how Yuichi would rather go all the way around just to avoid the trouble, one of the students from Class A quickly tried to reach out to grab Mei's shoulder.

"Ack!" The student who tried to grab Mei's shoulder winced in pain when his wrist was caught by Yuichi without even looking at him.

"If you intend to hinder our movement any longer, I will report this to the teachers for trying to detain us without a valid reason." Yuichi said without even looking at them.

"Everyone, let's stop this already...there is no reason for us to be so hostile to each other!" Kushida quickly said, trying to act cute so the opposition would stop their actions.

"You-! I mean...I would like to but he is the one holding my wrist." The student was enraged by Yuichi but when he heard Kushida and looked at her, he calmed down a bit.

"Iwamura-kun?" Kushida called out with a faint smile, trying to ask him to let go of that student.

"What are you doing, you lot?" Another bald student with a large body frame approached and asked in a stern tone. His question was more intended for the students from Class A rather than Yuichi's group.

"K-Katsuragi-san, it's nothing...They just bumped into us and refused to even apologize." One of the students said while also pointing at Yuichi's hand still gripping one of the Class A student's wrist.

"Hah?! He did apologize, you are just making this up!" Sudo shouted back.

"Hm?" The student named Katsuragi frowned and looked at everyone before stopping at Yuichi.

Yuichi finally turned around to look at the student who just arrived, they kept eye contact for a few seconds before Yuichi released his grip on the student's wrist.