Chapter 39: Kyoto School Trip (I)

"Woah~."

Various 'wows' and 'amazing' could be heard as we boarded the train. Although not first-class seats, we managed to get some decent seats.

Thank god for that since I wouldn't want to sit down for almost five hours on some damaged and uncomfortable chair.

At first glance, it was clean everywhere. There wasn't any rubbish nor dust on the seats or on the floor. The seats were blue in color and had a white cloth covering the back of the seat, adding to the exquisiteness of the simple yet elegant seats.

Hmm...that's too much description for a train.

Anyway, the seats were placed in pairs. So without any question, after putting our bags above our seats, I sat next to Shouko and relaxed.

Ah~~it's comfortable. Bullet trains provide much better quality services than regular trains, though the price was also much higher.

Fortunately, the school provided the expenses, so I didn't really worry too much about it and focused more on the trip instead. When I sat down next to Shouko, I could see that some girls were a bit saddened while Shouko had a small smile.

Smug little Shouko is cute little Shouko.

But knowing that we were a couple, the other girls eventually sighed and went back to their respective seats. Though, that didn't mean they stopped planning how to get me.

Hmm...I feel a little narcissistic...

"Alright, class. Please take note of our surroundings when we reach our destination. Be careful not to run off too far from our inn, and try not to attract too much trouble, alright?" The female class representative, Takebayashi, spoke. Takebayashi has black shoulder-length hair with a pin holding up her hair on the left side of her head and bangs swept to the left side. She currently wore a plaid shirt with rolled-up sleeves and long pants for this trip.

As a girl, she was cute in her own right. But with the number of beauties I have seen in this world already, she was just one more in my life.

She was popular in class, her personality was easy to get along with, and she was helpful, kind, and caring to everyone. She was always upbeat and wanted to have fun, despite being the one to keep everyone in check. She also wants to include everyone in activities and never ostracised or disdained anyone, which only made her popularity rise.

But just because Haruma and I were handsome, her popularity couldn't compare to ours. I'm sorry, but this is a sad world to live in...

And yes, I wasn't the class representative. As popular as Haruma and I were, we rejected the position since it was too troublesome. It wasn't like being the class representative would allow us any benefits anyway. If anything, it would just cut down when I have to practice from the responsibilities of being the class representative.

Thus, the male representative went to the only other boy in class, Sanada.

Sanada was a young boy with curly black hair and wore a big pair of glasses covering his eyes. Although he was a boy like us, he never received much attention from anyone, preferring to keep a low profile.

Sanada had a quiet personality. Somewhat similar to me, he was focused on studying. His dedication to studying even exceeds mine, seeing that he took out his math homework to do.

Wow...

And because he was quiet and reserved, most of the class representatives' tasks fell upon Takebayashi instead, needing her to do more work.

Well, she didn't seem to mind it, so we didn't bother her too much either.

After speaking about a few more important things to note, the train soon started moving when the clock hit precisely 10.08 am. Being children and kids, we were still relatively curious about something new.

We were forced to sit down on our seats for the entire trip unless we needed to stand up to go to the toilet. But that didn't stop our heads from turning towards the window, trying to look at the outside scenery.

As the train started moving, the surroundings slowly shifted faster and faster. We could only see buildings and temples until ten minutes later, where all we could see was a blur of the green forests on one side and a striking blue ocean that reflected the sunlight.

Of course, being on a bullet train, we could barely see anything outside the window from the speed we're traveling at. Thus, our excitement died down pretty quickly once we realized that we couldn't actually see anything clearly.

But meh~. We didn't actually bother with the scenery too much. We aren't old people who just liked to enjoy the 'tranquility of peacefulness' or anything like that.

Even me, who was reborn, felt bored just looking at the scenery, not to mention some twelve-year-old hyperactive kids.

Thus, before even half an hour had passed, all of our entertainment was out on a table. We were in our respective cliques to play our own games.

Me, being me, refused to sit down for the entire journey and decided to walk towards each clique and played with them for some time. Being popular helps a lot with making friends, something that I'm thankful for.

The girls naturally didn't mind me joining them to play some cards or just gossiping around, and since Shouko followed me around, we didn't get too bored throughout the trip.

"Fuutarou, did you bring anything else apart from what was needed in the packing list?" Takebayashi casually asked as she sat down next to Sanada. Sanada's head didn't even rise from his homework as he continued writing some model graphs.

"Hm...a camera? My father's a photographer, so although I don't really show it, I do enjoy a little bit of photography every now and then."

Taking out the camera from my bag, I slung the strap over my neck and let it hang on my chest. Even Sanada raised his head to look in my direction to admire my camera.

"Fuutarou-kun, how do I solve this question?"

Or maybe not. Sigh, this guy really needs to go around and socialize more...

"Are you not ever going to take a break?"

"How do I solve this question?" Sanada just repeated his question politely, not replying to my question at all.

"Well, it's your loss. Firstly, you have to start by calculating the number of apples..."

Sanada and Takebayashi was the final duo that I was hanging out with, though it turned into a mini-tutoring session in the end.

"The train will be arriving at the next station, Kyoto, in ten minutes. Please get ready to alight the train and do not forget to check that you have brought all your belongings with you. Repeating: The train will be arriving at the next station, Kyoto, in ten minutes. Please get ready to alight the train, and do not forget to check that you have brought all your belongings with you."

Just as Sanada wanted to ask another question, the announcement arrived, and I stopped there.

"Alright, Sanada-kun, let's stop here. It's time to enjoy our trip."

"Yeah, Sanada. Stop asking so many questions already..." Takebayashi also spoke while glaring at Sanada as though blaming him for something.

Deciding not to get in the middle of the quarrel, I quickly got ready to take our bags down.

After exactly four hours and fifty-two minutes of ride on the train, at last, we have arrived at our destination. Kyoto.

Finally, I was already quickly getting bored of the bullet train. Despite the various excellent opinions on the bullet train, to me, the bullet train is just another train, albeit way faster than a regular train.

I never used to have a problem sitting down for ten hours straight - it was part of an office job, anyway. But after reincarnating into a child's body, my inner hyper-activeness just refuses to let me sit still anywhere for more than two hours straight except in front of a piano.

Not that I mind, honestly. It's way better than being a middle-aged man with a not-so-healthy body and a very unhealthy lifestyle.

Unsurprisingly, there was quite a bit of tourist alighting at this station. Although it wasn't the busiest tourist season yet in Japan, Kyoto is its cultural and historical heart. It's the best place in Japan to experience traditional temples, gardens, shrines, geisha, restaurants, shops, and festivals. In short, Kyoto is the most rewarding destination in all of Japan, and it should be at the top of any Japan travel itinerary.

But enough of the tourists. Our teacher-in-charge was very careful not to let us get lost amid the crowd. She wasn't too worried about the girls; it was the boys that she was concerned about. Like someone once said, the higher the rarity, the more it was chased after.

Girls made up most of the population, so naturally, kidnapping young boys in these times was a much more profitable business. You never know. Those onee-sans, Ojou-samas, and some shotacons would pay a considerable sum of money to get some young boys.

What a dangerous world to live in~.

Though I appreciate the teacher's effort, I don't think I would be easily kidnapped as long as I don't let my guard down. I am a master at Taekwondo, after all. Plus, hitting people's balls is no big deal for me.

The teacher should pay more attention to Sanada instead. He would just disappear quietly without any fuss if he actually got kidnapped.

Kyoto was massive, so we were obviously not able to explore the entirety of it within two days. Thus, we decided to narrow the tour to one area only, where it was easy to stay - the Kyoto station area.

There were plenty of teachers accompanying us, along with some insecure parents, so we had no qualms about moving about in our own small little groups.

We didn't require any other transport, so I was surrounded without a delay while pushing each other the moment we got off the train.

"Fuutarou-kun, please let us have a tour together!" A female classmate said.

"No fair! We invited him first!" Another female classmate rang out.

"What are you guys saying? It was already decided that Fuutarou-kun will be touring with us!"

Ummm...I don't think I said anything about that, though? Besides, I was pretty sure that I rejected all of your offers before...

Elementary school students these days are getting more and more shameless.

Tsk, tsk...

"Jiiiii~" I could feel a stare on my back. I turned around and saw Shouko staring at me without saying anything. Smiling, I patted Shouko's head.

"Don't worry. I already decided that you're coming with me."

Shouko just nodded her head and held my hand.

"Ano...Fuutarou...can Sanada and I join you?" Takebayashi asked while fidgeting on the spot.

"Our classmates are calling you to join them." I pointed at several groups who were calling out for her, "You don't have to join us. Go and enjoy yourself."

Although I didn't specifically say anything about rejecting, Takebayashi could infer from my words that I didn't want her following me.

"I see..." Takebayashi seemed a bit downcasted at my words and slumped her shoulders, "Then I'll not interrupt your trip any further..."

"Jiiii~."

"Yes, Shou-chan?"

"You shouldn't have rejected their company."

As expected of Shouko. She's as kind as always. But...

"Maybe. Takebayashi is nice and all, but if she were to follow us, we wouldn't be able to go to more places."

"But..."

"Anyway, it'll just be the two of us. You want to walk around as well, right?"

"Yes." Shouko nodded her head, though she sometimes still turned towards Takebayashi.

Sigh, you can be more selfish, you know, Shouko?

Seeing a little girl so sad pricked my conscience a little, but I honestly didn't plan to spend more time than needed with the strict class representative.

Anyway, once we settled with the groupings and stuff, we were told that we could wander around the place as long as we got back to the hotel by 8pm.

A little early, but I guess security has always been a pain.

Now that we were free to go, I took Shouko's hand and left the area before any adult could accompany us.

We strolled around as we took pictures of everything we found interesting. We've been diverted by the attractiveness of the places around here. Knowing that I brought my camera here, I was glad. It would be a shame if I missed out on these sights. Kyoto was indeed a beautiful place, and just as they described, her beauty was no joke.

It was almost 4pm, and we had walked for nearly an hour.

Thus, after walking around and taking pictures here and there, we decided to sit at a random flight of stairs to take a rest.

This flight of stairs directly led to a shopping mall entrance, but since we had shopping malls in our own district, we didn't prioritize going in.

Since we were just resting without anything to do, my hands automatically reached out to the camera. Placing my eyes on the eyehole, I moved the camera around, scanning for some potential shots.

I wasn't actually planning to take any photos here and was about to place my camera down after realizing that they weren't many exotic shots here when a voice rang out.

"Hey, you there!"

Hearing the voice, Shouko and I instinctively turned our heads where the voice came from, only to find a pink-haired woman. She wore a white dress with purple frills at the edge of the sleeves, collar, and down the middle of her chest. On her head was some sort of thin hat with similar patterns with her clothes and a small teddy bear as a hair clip on her left side.

"Me?" I questioned her with a puzzled look.

"Yes! You took a picture of me just now, didn't you?" The woman accused me.

"Huh? What do you want, lady?" I was genuinely concerned about her mental health and couldn't help but retort, "Was there any reason for me to take a picture of you at all? I don't find you interesting or physically attractive at all..."

To put it nicely, she was chubby. And to put it bluntly, she was fat.

I mean, I have no qualms about fat people, but she still had such a big ego even with her figure and plain face. She wasn't particularly ugly or anything; it was more of her attitude that annoyed me.

"Besides, I have a cute Shou-chan beside me if I ever want to take a picture of a person. Why would I ever choose you for my model?"

As soon as I said that, she burst into anger with a humiliated face and screamed, "Help! The boy took a sneak photo. Someone took my photo without my consent!"

We just watched her with an incredulous face. How could anyone be this shameless?

However, we didn't stop her and just continued looking at her as she screamed like an idiot. There wasn't a need for me to get nervous when I myself know that I had done nothing wrong. Plus, I have a witness by my side.

It seems that her mindless screaming had attracted the attention of two policewomen. Hearing the woman screaming, they approached us and asked, "What is the matter?"

One of them was an old woman, while the other seemed to be newer to her job. The younger one tilted her cap slightly, causing some shadows to cover her eyes.

Honestly, she looked pretty intimidating. But since I had seen scarier female yakuza before, it didn't really scare me that much.

Before I could even speak to explain the circumstance, the woman spoke up first. "This kid fell for my beauty! He took sneak pictures of me! Arrest him! Arrest him!"

Wow. Talk about shamelessness and narcissism. She brings these two concepts to a whole new level.

"There, there, calm down.." The younger policewoman tried calming her down. They set their eyes on me with doubt obvious in their eyes as they saw me remaining calm even after someone accused me of sneaking photos. They also noted Shouko, who was with me and compared them to the woman.

They could already piece the various clues together to form a conclusion, but they still had to be professionals. "I'm sorry to ask this, but are you sure what you said just now was true?"

"HUH? Of course, I am! Don't you think you can get away easily because you are a little good-looking!" The woman continued her accusation.

"Ooohh! Thanks for the compliment." I thanked her for her compliment as I smiled widely to mock her, which made her angrier.

"Y-you brat! Hey policewomen! Would you do your job properly? Arrest him! Arrest him right now!" The woman was practically screaming right now, attracting the attention of all the passersby. They wondered what happened, and after finding out about the incident from some professional gossipers, they looked at her with scorn and disdain.

"Now, now. Please calm down." The policewoman tried calming her down again. I swear I could hear his thoughts about wanting to retire already.

What an obstinate fa-obese woman. I have no choice then; I decided to just show them my camera to prove my innocence.

"Fine, fine, I understand (not). Just check my camera to prove my innocence."

As soon as I said that, a visible surprised expression emerged from everyone around me.

"What?"

"Nothing, you do realise that we can prove your innocence, right?" Shouko looked at me weirdly. But before I could reply, the woman interrupted me once again.

"Hah, she's your companion. Obviously, she's going to favor you over me!" She huffed angrily.

Now even the usually kind-hearted Shouko was getting angry. She was going to retort back when another person interrupted.

"He's innocent. I saw what happened," The voice rang out.

Man, what is up with people interrupting others nowadays?

We've been disturbed by someone's voice which came out of the blue, claiming that I was innocent.

"I know because I saw it myself. And I'm a random stranger, so I won't favor him, right?"

I looked back and saw a cute girl with pinkish gradating to white-colored hair. She wore a white, sleeveless one-piece dress with a purple ribbon tied around her waist.

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"And who are you?"

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A/N: Yahoo~. Nothing much to say this week, lol...Ichika's disguise as Miku was low, though...Ichika is way too shy, but her eyes at the end were scary...

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It's shorter than usual at 3k words only...WAIT! Who the hell said this was short?! This isn't short at all! I've gotten so used to writing 4k words and 5k words chapter that I had forgotten that my original length was only 1k words per chapter!!

The next few chapters' title would be Kyoto School Trip (number), but there would be an alternate title at the end so as to not spoil those who might want to skip this part, though I don't think anyone would.

Meh~. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Those who were looking forward to the Nakano appearance, there you go. Guess who? It won't be the same as the original though~.

Check out two of my new fanfics:

1) Once a Butler, Always a Butler

2) The Arrival of the Star Spirit Race

These two would just be side-projects for when I'm bored. I will only be uploading that if I feel like it. So don't worry, this fanfic would not be interrupted. For more details, go and read the synopsis and the first chapter. I hope all of you would enjoy the two fanfics!