the odd student

The students of Takehara highschool rode in bliss as the sweet summer air whipped across their faces one autumn morning

The kids seemed excited and some were even bouncing in their seats in anticipation for today was the day of their first-ever camping activity

Lily stared at the window in deep thought. She'd never been out in the wild for a whole weekend before and she'd have rather preferred to stay home if she had the choice. But alas the camping trip was needed requirement in their curriculum

She played with her raven black hair nervously

Her gaze shifted to the seat behind her to a tall white-haired boy she'd found her self watching more and more not mostly out of admiration but curiosity

 Lester was a mystery, not just to her but the whole class had almost no clue as to his personality or even his emotions. His face was always passive and his voice always in a bored drawl he had seemed the type of person who would be a delinquent as he is always seen or rather not seen studying or talking with friends. He mostly sleeps in class

 But surprisingly he is a class topper ranking 5th in their class only 3 ranks away from her own rank. That was the confusing part his grades may be above average but during group projects, he would always ask the teacher to work alone

 At first, the teachers were skeptical, not fully believing him and his claim to do everything himself and not requiring a group. But as time past they automatically assign Lester as a lone group seeing as his projects seemed to get progressively better the fewer people he works with

So what does Lily know about him was :

He's basically a robot when it comes to showing emotion

  2. He looks like a delinquent but is actually good at studies

  3. He rarely talks

  4. He rarely works with other people

  5. He doesn't like loud noises

Lily had to admit she felt proud about knowing the last one as she was probably the only one to ever notice Lester leaving specific events that were necessarily noisy

After all, she found herself in a similar predicament

She was timid most of the time. Unlike Lester, though she at least conversed and tried to work with the others as difficult as they are to deal with at times though with her very soft voice she was often ignored in most conversations

Her thoughts stopped with the bus as they stopped at the foot of a mountain forest trail and were dropped off there with their luggage

She brought with her, a tent, sleeping bag and cooking supplies and a few clothes along with necessary personal hygiene items

She saw most of her classmates were mostly bringing the same stuff as her. Currently, she wore a dress she found cute in the many malls in the city it sported a few frills but not too much to make her seem formal. her other classmates wore similar clothing for an informal event trying there best to show off their looks

but out of all 32 of them, the one different was Lester

Instead of wearing normal semi-formal clothes, he wore thick white camo leggings with many pockets paired with a plain green shirt under a brown hunter jacket. He wore shoes that she was sure would have reached her knees if she wore them

His backpack was also considerably bigger than the rest, a tent was nowhere to be seen in it though instead, he had only a sleeping bag and a large bayonet was sheathed in his shoes as an extension of the shoe

A small array of tools hung from the side of his backpack from cooking utensils to a splitting hatchet

Lily wondered how he got permission to bring those bladed tools to a school activity but sighed when she remembered it was Lester she was talking about

The way he was dressed didn't help him clear his image of a juvenile delinquent in the eyes of his classmates. as they steered clear of him

"he looks weird" someone commented

"He looks like a murderer" Lily heard among the crowd

"Yeah what's with the huge knife?" an almost frightened voice said

" he doesn't look that tough I could take him," an arrogant voice said

Their opinions did little to get any reaction from him as he just stood there silently his headphones plugged waiting for the teacher

"Alright everyone lets begin the four-hour hike" Yumiko sensei said soliciting a number of groans from her students

Lily felt awful they had to hike for four hours?

She takes the train to school every day like any normal student and the teachers expected them to walk?

Suffice it to say this was gonna be a bad time for Lily Higurashi

TIME SKIP

The past two hours were spent with the class in total agony. Sunakawa sensei, much to their displeasure was talking about how much he knew about the great outdoors. The students while still not tired were suffering the heat of the hot sun.

Twigs tangled at their legs thorns and shrubs sticking to their clothes as they tread the path to the camping site were the would spend the next 2 days in

 Lily hated it. already her legs stung as she felt a few small scratches scraped against the tall grass of the path she looked around to her classmates but mostly the girls who were facing the same problem scratching at their legs and wincing in pain. A few boys were also scratching at their pants removing spiked spurs from the passing plants

Her gaze landed on Lester a few feet away from her. He didn't seem to be bothered by the plants in the slightest. the spiked spurs clung harmlessly against his boots and the sharp thorns could hardly even penetrate his camo pants

A wave of understanding hit her.

Lester wasn't odd for dressing the way he did he was prepared for the environment change and the conditions they have to walk through. Sure the others made fun of how he looked but in the end, it was them who suffered

A few minutes later the teachers called for a stop for a quick rest by a river

The students gratefully took the break sitting on the side of the river talking idly while the others played in the river

Lily for her part was just sitting amongst her group of friends listening in on the conversation barely adding to the conversation itself

They were talking about how Tsunakawa sensei was really annoying and that he should stop with the whole child of nature thing he's got going

Something caught the corner of her eye, a flash of metal

She craned her head to see what it was. It sitting there across the river was Lester one knee on the ground taking his bayonet and gathering what looked like a… plant?

Her curiosity getting the better of her she excused herself from the group and crossed the river hopping on the stones that broke the surface in order to stay dry. Slowly she approached his imposing figure of 6'1 kneeling on the ground almost her height of 4'5

"what do you want?" before she could alert him to her presence he already knew her to be there. The way he said it seemed polite yet annoyed at the same time

"I was wondering what you were doing you usually don't wander off unlike some of our classmates," she said hoping her voice was heard

"let me show you, come here," he said in a more neutral voice the one that she was used to. beckoning her to come closer with his free hand

She followed now standing beside him looking at a white petaled flower in the hands of Lester who pointed at it

"This is chamomile, not the flavored drink" Lily found herself smiling at the subtle joke he just made "though it goes well with tea it can be used as a medicinal herb to calm down the mind if need be"

"medicinal herb?" she echoed

"well, yes while I'm not sure if Sunakawa sensei even knows about them" she was surprised he even heard her "though I'm pretty sure he just made up half the things he was teaching"

Lily found herself giggling softly

"and you are a real 'child of nature' as he says it," she said stressing the title her sensei called himself

"well I was raised in the forest for a big part of my life so you learn a few things," he said casually

Lily took a while to process the information that was considered personal and a while longer to process that it had come from Lester of all people

"can I ask you something?" she asked a knot of nervousness formed in her stomach

"go for it, it's not like I charge per question" he quipped

"Why do you dislike everyone in the class?" it was the question that plagued her ever since he started to avoid them the first year in their school

"I don't hate everyone just most of them, honestly have you heard even half of what they say?" he asked catching her off guard

She nodded

"it's just some of them could be annoying to talk to and the others are just content on leaving me alone" he explained

"but the rumors-"

"you believe the rumors?!?!?" he asked aghast "these are the same people who thought the world was flat and you still believe them?" he asked sarcastically

Lily for her part could not hold back her laughter anymore

"what's so funny?" he asked

"Sorry, I just never seen you express this much emotion before"

"i get that alot, Its no problem Higurashi-san, " he said formally

Something clicked in Lily's head

"wait… sorry for seeming rude but what was your last name?" she asked a bit nervous he might take offense

"don't worry about it my last name is esperanza" her eyebrows furrowed in a confusion that wasn't a normal Japanese last name "yes I am a foreigner" he continued

Lily found herself in an awkward position. It would be weird to say his last name with a formal Japanese suffix but on the other hand, it would also be rude to call him by name

"don't stress over it too much," he said patting her head

The warmth of his hand lingered there for a while even though the action had long been done. She found herself wanting the sensation more She then caught her own train of thought and flushed red at the thought of such debouchery

"Just call me Ashima for now, " he said standing up and brushing himself clean and sheathing his bayonet

It took her a while to piece the name together and see how it was written in kanji

Is real

That was how she translated it knowing a bit of about him she found the name suitable

A little while after that the teachers called for them to begin hiking again and Lily found herself walking closer to Lester than before. She pointedly ignored the stares and whispering thrown their way, finding herself listening to Sunakawa sensei's teaching which Lester subtly scoffed at

"most some of the plant life is edible like that one that's a spice berry bush," he said matter of factly

To her surprise, Lester leaned closer to her and said in a low voice

"don't believe him, and do not eat that plant or the berries they are poisonous," he said a smile present in his voice

Lily giggled

'Had Lester always been this sociable?' she asked herself 'no he said it himself he doesn't hate all of them he just finds most of them annoying'

It was then that she realized no one had given Lester a chance to show his real emotions. It wasn't him who was distancing himself from the others it was the other way around