2.4

After our time at the ski place, we arrived at the ryokan before 5 pm.

In order to head towards the room given to us, we went to the lobby in turns starting from group 1.

It was group 6's turn right away, so we followed on.

Though the exterior felt historic, the interior of the lobby and such were well maintained and clean.

I changed into my inside slippers, put my luggage down, and waited to receive my keys.

"I knew it already, but we're supposed to sleep with these people, huh..."

Watanabe sighed with a little melancholy after receiving his key in the lobby.

We'll be sharing a room with the same group of people we'll be with from now on, so there's no changing this.

That means it's up to us whether we can make it a comfortable space or not.

"Hey, Watanabe."

Watanabe turned around when he heard his name called, and saw a Boston bag coming at him.

"Whoah!"

Watanabe, who caught it with both arms, couldn't comprehend the situation and was surprised.

"Carry it to the room. I'm going to the bathroom."

It was Ryuen who threw the bag, who apparently intended on making Watanabe carry it.

As Watanabe did not have the bravery to say no and smiled bitterly, Ryuen disappeared towards the back of the building, probably where the large bathhouse is.

"Uuh... I don't think I can do this."

"I'll take it."

"No, it's fine. I'm the one he asked, after all."

Rather than asked, I would say he was the easiest one to push this onto.

"Leave it. I'll send it back to him, no, I'll send it back to hell."

Kitou, after seeing Ryuen's arrogant behaviour, tried to snatch the Boston bag from Watanabe's arms.

I put my arms in front of Kitou, and stopped him.

"You better not do anything untactful. Watanabe would be the one getting in the most trouble after."

"So do you intend on letting that man do whatever he wants? If he takes this, then Ryuen will do the same thing again next time. He can use his own classmates as slaves, but Watanabe is a student of the Ichinose class."

Kitou is right.

However, there is no need to do anything with this luggage because of that.

"You should separate from this Boston bag, and tell him directly."

"And what if he doesn't listen? Do you want Watanabe to suffer during the trip?"

"Oh, no, it's not like I'm suffering or anything..."

"If Ryuen does something selfish to Watanabe again, I'll be the one stopping him."

"Hah, you?"

"If he still doesn't listen, I will take all of the responsibility."

"I can't say it's a fundamental solution."

"That's not entirely true. If the person left with the work is displeased about it, then it is force and coercion. On the other hand, if I don't feel any frustration and I think that I want to do it for the sake of the group, then it's fine. With that, the problem disappears, right?"

Kitou thinks that everything should be done by oneself.

He may not agree with what I'm saying, but he should understand it.

"...Do whatever you want."

After staring at me for a while, Kitou finally broke down and backed off.

"I'm sorry, Ayanokoji, this is all my fault."

"It isn't your fault, Watanabe. It is only natural that we should come together to solve the problems of this group."

Just as I saw the look of relief on Watanabe's face, two room keys were supplied to us by the ryokan staff.

At about the same time, Kushida and the other four girls also received their keys and came over here.

"Hey. I think we should talk about our conduct tomorrow. This is a special trip to Hokkaido, so I'm sure everyone has a lot of places they'd like to go to."

It is important to make plans in advance, but considering the members of our group, we have not been able to discuss our free conduct until this point.

"So, tonight, I was thinking that all the girls should go to the boys' room, but... What do you think?"

"Oh, that's fine, isn't it?"

Watanabe lowered his eyes in joy after receiving the words that the girls would be coming to hang out.

Kitou, who was listening from the side, kept silent without saying much.

"...Umm... Ah, Ayanokoji, you're fine with this too, right?"

"I think it's alright."

Not being able to ignore Watanabe's worried face, Kushida smiled and clasped her hands together.

"Then it's decided, right? See you later, then. I'll go talk with Amikura-san and the others too. I'll get in touch with you and Watanabe when I know more details about the timing."

I'm sure the girls will be enjoying the ryokan by soaking in the bath, eating lunch and such.

"Should we go to our own room too?"

"That's right."

The boys will be using each of the rooms in an area called the east wing of the ryokan.

The girls on the other hand will be in the main building. They're connected with the lobby, so coming and going isn't particularly far or difficult, but I'm sure the boys and girls are properly separated.

"Wow, Kushida-chan is way too nice of a girl, huh? She's cute too."

I have already experienced the appeal that Kushida has which attracts the boys to her.

It is no wonder that he is attracted to her after only knowing her on a surface level.

If a student like Watanabe was to learn of Kushida's true nature, then there is no knowing what would happen.

"I knew it already, but I shudder to think what would have happened if Kushida-chan wasn't here."

Indeed, Kushida has been very good at taking the lead of the group. Even the meeting to decide our free conduct would have taken a back-seat if there was no one to take initiative to lead the meeting.

I can do nothing but be grateful to Kushida for working to avoid that.

But, I don't know if all of the problems are solved with this.

After all, the big problems will still be Ryuen and Kitou.

Ever since they started moving together in group 6, they've always been turning killer intent towards each other.

They have been checking and probing at each other, so the critical situation has been continuing.

Tapping our slippers on the ground, we arrived at room 203.

I inserted the key, and opened the door leading into the room.

It was reasonably spacious, a Japanese styled room with about 12 tatami mats in size, with a table and 4 tatami chairs.

Further, there was a mini-table and two single-person sofas.

I have seen the same scene many times on television, this is quite the traditional ryokan.

After putting my luggage down in the Japanese-styled room, I checked the fridge right away.

[TL Note 15 - 和室 Wa Shitsu, Japanese Style Room.  The word 和 is used for things that are traditional japanese style as opposed to western style.]

Other than the free water, there was a small amount of soft drinks inside.

However, the price per bottle is higher than the market price, so I don't see a reason to touch them.

There seems to be a vending machine in the lobby, so if I needed something I could just buy it there.

After entering the room, Kitou silently sat in the corner and closed his eyes.

Further, he was sitting in a meditative stance.

Leaving Kitou alone, I opened a thick file with a guide written on it.

It contained a map of the ryokan, the name and the password for its internet connection, a description of the day-trip bathing service, and a list of each of the sightseeing spots in the area were also written on it.

There might be a chance to use it in the discussion with Kushida and the girls.

After taking a quick look, I decided finally to take a look at the toilet facilities and such as well.

I also learned that the rooms did not have baths, so we would have to bathe in the large bathhouse. I guess there is no particular problem with this point.

For me, rather than soaking in a small bathtub, I'd like to enjoy the large bath if I have the chance to.

"Let's see..."

Dinner is served at 7 pm, so there is still some spare time.

I should probably go to the large bathhouse. There must be a lot of people going there already.

"I'll go to the bath."

"Ah, hey, hey! Wait a bit. I'll come along too!"

Watanabe, who was sitting on a chair, stood up while almost falling down.

"What about you, Kitou?"

"Not yet."

"I see. I'll leave one key here, then. When I meet Ryuen, I'll let him know, so."

If there is no one present when he comes back to the room, Ryuen will not be able to enter the room.

That would be trouble in itself, so we have to avoid that happening.

Watanabe started whispering as we closed the door and left out onto the corridor.

"This is worrying. We're going to sleep together with Kitou and Ryuen now, right? Will we still have a life in the morning?"

"That's an exaggeration."

"No, it's 4 nights, you know, 4 nights. It's not unreasonable to think that some mistake could happen in that time."

In which case, there would certainly be a lot of trouble.

However, leaving Ryuen and Kitou aside, I'm not used to sleeping together with other people.

With the training camp last year, and my life with Kei, I have been increasingly sharing my bedtime with others, so maybe I will be able to easily accept it.

Since I have always slept alone from when I was a child, I am still confused with the change in my environment.

"How do I say this... You're pretty easy to talk to, Ayanokoji."

"Is that so..? I don't really know about that myself, though."

I'm happy to hear him say that, but I feel like he's only comparing me with those two.

"Well, I guess I can say that I get why Ichinose ended up falling in love with you."

"Huh?"

"Oh, no!.. Please forget what I said just now!"

He noticed his obvious slip of the tongue and corrected himself, but I already heard it.

Well, nothing will change because I heard it, but…

"From that expression, you already knew?"

When I didn't reply, Watanabe looked a little relieved.

"...I heard about it. Girls talk about that kind of stuff. I think most of the boys still like Ichinose without knowing it, but... Aren't you dating Karuizawa from the same class?"

There was no point in denying this truth, so I nodded and replied.

"I think it must be complicated for the boys who like Ichinose... No, I think most of them would actually be happy about it."

"What about you, Watanabe?"

"Me? I... Well, it's a secret."

From how calm he looks, it doesn't seem like he holds any special feelings towards Ichinose.

I don't know who, but it looks like he has feelings for another girl.

"This school trip can be said to be a big event, right? I think there will be more than one or two people who confess to the people they like."

"Is that so?"

Indeed, Sudou also had decided on confessing to Horikita during the school trip.

It is not unusual, but a rather important event for students.

"Me too ~... if I had a little more courage, I'd think about it, y'know, but..."

He seemed to imagine a variety of things, Shaking his head from side to side in frustration.

 "Anyway, at the moment I don't know anything about the creature called a girl. For the time being, I want to start practicing by raising my likability so that the girls in our group can like me. If I can be someone that leaves an impression, I can gain a lot of experience for the real thing. "

It's been less than half a day since I met Watanabe, but I haven't had any bad impressions.

There's no doubt that he's basically a good guy.

He seems to get lost in the flow somewhat, and although he is the type that can't refuse anything, he can communicate well with both men and women.

Both his academic and physical ability in the OAA is slightly higher than the average with C+.

Other items were C or higher in the same way.

In other words, he has no shortcomings.

It depends on the opponent, but I would say there is a good enough possibility...

Love has many intertwined elements, and mere appearance and ability do not determine the success or failure of a confession.

Since it depends on the relationship that has been established between the two, you can't identify it in a relationship of about half a day.