Shisa

Even if Shishio came on a different plane, he wasn't late, and he also quickly joined his classmates.

Shiina and Yukinohita also did the same after they parted from him, but before they joined their classmates, they wiped the stain on the corner of their lips.

As he greeted the rest of his classmates, he realized it was his first time coming to Okinawa.

His first impression?

To be honest, it was hard to answer since he had just arrived at the airport and he hadn't seen anything except for the scenery through the air. Even if his eyes were good, he wasn't so bothered to think of the scenery when he had two women who were more beautiful than the scenery of Okinawa.

How could his eyes wander around when he had two flowers in his hands?

Yet, even if he hadn't seen the city or Okinawa itself, he could see the exotic layout of the airport itself from the traditional accessories, many large aquariums with various colorful and beautiful local fishes, along with the laid-back vibe which was given by everyone in this place.

Unlike Tokyo, where everyone seemed so busy, he could tell that many people in this prefecture were working with a relaxed attitude.

Naturally, the relaxed attitude that he meant didn't mean that they were lazy. Instead, they worked hard with a passion that didn't lose to the people in Tokyo, but at the same time, their work wasn't everything.

Everything was in balance.

It was different from those who worked in the big city who often forgot about their family because of work.

Naturally, this wasn't all of them, and every family's condition was different, but for one thing, he could tell that everyone in Okinawa seemed to welcome them.

"Shishio, is that a lion?" Nanami asked.

As they were on the school trip, naturally, they were in a group. The group consisted of five people. While everyone was asked to make a group, they weren't really tied by a group, and if they wanted to go out by themselves, it was okay. However, in the case of the group activity, they had to stay together.

Shishio was also in the group, and the members of his group were Nana, Nanami, Mea, and Maiko.

"Yes, that's a lion."

Shishio nodded as he looked at the lion-like statue in the airport. Even though he had said it was a lion statue, it was quite different from a normal lion.

"Are you sure that this is a lion?" Nana asked skeptically while looking at the statue; since different from a normal lion, this lion resembled a dog, and the mane was unique. "Isn't this a dog?"

"You can say that it is the combination of a lion and a dog. Its name is Shisa."

"Shisa?"

"It's the guardian deity of the people in Okinawa."

Shisa is a traditional Ryukyuan cultural artifact and decoration derived from Chinese guardian lions, often seen in similar pairs, resembling a cross between a lion and a dog, from Okinawan mythology.

"Shisa are wards, believed to protect from some evils. People place pairs of shisa on their rooftops or flank the gates to their houses, with the left shisa traditionally having a closed mouth and the right one an open mouth. The open-mouthed Shisa traditionally wards off evil spirits, and the closed-mouthed Shisa keeps good spirits in."

"You know a lot!"

"Maybe because my name has a lion meaning."

His name is Shishio, so he could somehow feel they were related.

"By the way, is there a gender on this, Shisa?" Nana asked.

"Is that important?" Maiko was speechless.

"Isn't it a male usually?"

"No, there is a male and a female. They are usually in a pair. The one with closed-mouth is the female, and the open-mouthed is the male."

Somehow, just by standing by his side, they learned a lot, and they had to say his talent as a tour guide was great. Unfortunately, they didn't want him to become a tour guide. It wasn't that they thought that a tour guide was bad. Instead, it was a great job. However, his charm was too great.

What if he seduced every one of his clients?

If he was asked to guide pair of newlywed lovers on the honeymoon, they somehow felt afraid that he might seduce the wife and the happy honeymoon would become a nightmare.

As they talked, the teachers had also prepared, and they told all of them to be quiet as they needed to do a briefing before the school trip started officially.

"This is your teacher-in-charge, Koharu Shirayama, speaking. Over the next five days and four nights, you will all enjoy your long-awaited school trip. I would be happy if you could take full advantage of the hands-on learning, observational visits, and other opportunities you will only have here and now to broaden your horizons. I wish you a happy and fun trip but do not forget to show some restraint.

"As a student and as a member of the Suimei Academy, you need to behave in a manner that—"

By the end of the long briefing, their field trip had officially started. Everyone walked out of the airport and entered the bus, which was prepared by the travel agent hired by the school.

To be honest, the field trip wasn't cheap.

While many students didn't have a problem, there were also many who had a problem, but even so, the quality of the hotel, transportation, facilities, and many others wasn't bad, but Shishio secretly added some money, so the quality of the hotel would be even better. He also wanted to have a single room without anyone, so he could do many things easily.

Lastly, usually, this type of trip would usually take three days and two nights, but he extended it to five nights and four nights. It might seem long, but it wasn't bad, especially when they would only visit Okinawa a few years later or might not be visiting anymore. Moreover, extending the time of this trip would make him able to visit many things and learn more about Okinawa, especially since he owned several businesses in this prefecture.

Still, while he was in the middle of a thought, his body was pulled by Nanami and pushed by Nana. They entered the bus at the same time as they followed the crowd start with their first destination of this trip.

They didn't immediately go to the hotel. Instead, they went to visit Shuri castle, which was part of a World Heritage Site of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was a kingdom that existed in Okinawa previously.

Yet, while some were excited, some lacked enthusiasm.

After all, in their minds, it was just an old building in red color. Even if there was a piece of history that could be seen from this building, they wanted to walk freely on their own.

Still, the tour guide inside the bus seemed to talk patiently and gently to everyone.

While the rest talked with the others, Shishio observed this tour guide since she seemed to be in her 30s. Similar to Hana, she was also beautiful, but compared to Hana and the others, she was a bit lacking, yet it didn't change the fact she was beautiful. More importantly, she was wearing the uniform of tour uniform, which gave her a unique charm.

Shishio had thought a uniform was really an interesting thing since it could give a unique charm to the woman. As he enjoyed the tour guide's introduction of Okinawa, they quickly arrived at their destination.

"Alright, you need to return before three. Now, you're free to do whatever you want."

When the teacher said those words, no one hesitated and walked away on their own.

Shishio rolled his eyes before his eyes stared at one of the teachers before his name was called.

"Shishio, let's go! Let's get something to eat!"

"Baumkuchen!"

Shiina somehow slipped and joined their group.

They knew about his hobby, so they wouldn't hesitate to quickly take a food trip. More importantly, with him, they could taste many things. Leaving the matter of the night exercise aside, if they couldn't finish their food, he would help them to finish it. Still, they had to say they were jealous of his talent, who wouldn't get fat no matter what.

"Okay, okay. Let's try all of them here."

With his decision, they didn't hesitate and walked away, leaving the castle.

However, Shishio looked at the castle for a moment, watching the bright red with a Chinese influence as the basis of the design before he glanced in a certain direction.

"Shishio!"

"Okay, okay."

When he left, someone was also looking at him.

"Everyone, how about we go now?" Hayama asked his group and Yumiko's group since, as a friend and group, they would usually walk around together.

"Oh!"

"Okay."

Many of them only came to Okinawa for the first time, so even if this place didn't really excite them, they still looked at the Shuri castle curiously.

"Yumi—"

Hayama stopped since Yumiko seemed to ignore him and looked in a certain direction. He followed her eyes and frowned for a moment until he heard her voice.

"Ah, sure. Let's go." Yumiko joined Saki, Yui, and Ebina to look around this castle.

Hayama looked at Yumiko's back and felt that his heart was tense for some reason. In the past, he didn't have an interest in her, and he only thought of her as a shield to protect him from the confession of others, but even so, he felt uncomfortable when he saw her looking at a different man.

Yet did he have a right to stop her?

As he clenched his fists, he heard the voice of Tobe.

"Hayama-kun, what's wrong?" Tobe asked worriedly.

"Ah, nothing. Nothing." Hayama showed his perfect smile as if nothing had happened. "Okay, how about we join everyone?"

"OOOH!!"

Their trip had just started, and all they needed to do was have fun.

Yes, they only needed to have fun while maintaining this relationship without changing anything, and they only thought of each other as a friend.

That's all. Nothing else.

This is how it should be, but Hayama had to say, it felt so uncomfortable.

While the students started their first tour of Okinawa, the teachers also did the same. They had a lot of free time and thought to have a blast since it was rare for them to go to Okinawa.

Chihiro, Shirayama, Hiratsuka, and Hina also gathered together, but Chihiro decided to part away with them while telling them they should have a party at night, to which they all agreed. Leaving the group of teachers, she walked aimlessly, watching the scenery without thinking of anything.

As she kept walking, she happened to enter a large path that was surrounded by enormous walls made from stones. Even if everything seemed old, she could tell that it was strong and stable, but even so, it didn't really interest her until she stopped at the statue of Shisa.

Shisa was the guardian of the people in Okinawa, so everything could be seen.

She looked at the statue of a mixed dog and lion momentarily before thinking about someone. Her thoughts wandered into many things before a voice startled her.

"What are you watching so intensely?"

"?!"

She was startled before she slammed a fist at the source of this voice.