A (Not So) Easy Trip to the Beach

They were officially started on their trip as the bus took off from the station. Arata did a head count before they departed to ensure that everyone was accounted for, as well as a way to make sure no one would go missing during the trip. Counting himself, there were a total of 12 people going. The eight of them, along with the four elders. Seemed a bit odd that the teens outnumbered them two to one. Especially since Hine and her friends were the ones that always did the trip. The old lady told him not to concern himself about the numbers. The old group actually did enjoy the company.

Sitting down at his arranged spot. He opened up his notebook to check on his notes. As expected, this bus trip should be around two hours. That meant they should make it to the hotel in time for dinner at six. At this point, things were going pretty well.

Speaking of going well, so was the plan that he had laid out for this seating arrangement. Erina definitely was making the most of her location, even if she was being a bit loud. The other passengers didn't seem to mind, as they chatted among themselves.

Considering most of the time he spent with this group usually contained some type of misadventure, this was a nice change of pace. However, this trip was only just beginning and he knew that something was bound to come up. Arata was going to be on guard for this bus trip, whether he wanted to or not.

However, with all the noise in this bus, he realized how quiet his little corner was. After all, he wasn't sitting by himself like he would normally do in public transit, or during a school trip. This time, he was sitting next to Akiba Shinshiro, the girl that had known Yogi the longest in this harem.

Looking over at her, he wasn't surprised of her status at the school. He had mentioned it before, where he believed that simple, plain, yet homey look she had to her. She had that girl-next-door appeal to her that would certainly catch many boys attention.

At the same time, despite her crush on Yogi. He knew that she had captured someone's heart. That being Akaki, Yogi's best friend. How, or why, was something that had been bothering him as of late.

It began just shortly after exams, before they left school for the break. On his way out, he spied a certain boy walking behind the school, to the big oak tree where Arata had officially met Erina for the first time. Letting himself close without being noticed, he saw a girl he had never seen before give a confession. Unsurprisingly, this led to a rejection.

Yet, despite not being shocked at what he saw. It did give him some questions. Such as why he would not bother with any other girl. His grades, his athleticism, he had plenty that attracted the ladies. In fact, he was more popular that Yogi, a much more plain boy in comparison.

He knew that he had a crush on Akiba, but he did give up on it, right? After all, if he hadn't then he wouldn't be a rival to him in the first place. It was possible that he hadn't moved on yet, that thought made Arata feel a little bad for the guy. This whole deal just made him remember some sad plot lines he'd read in a novels before.

Thinking all this just made him nervous, it was getting too quiet for his liking now. Turning over to Akiba, it was probably not a bad idea to converse to pass the time. Though, as he was about to speak up, he realize how little the two actually ever talked.

"Oh hey, Shinsiro." He got her attention. "So, are you excited about this trip?" It was all he could come up with. There wasn't much he knew about this girl, nor was there anything he wanted to reveal about himself either.

"Oh, of course I am." She answered, giving him a smile. Normally when he saw her smile, it was one of the sweetest things he ever saw. It might've even made someone unlike himself fall in love. This one, on the other hand, felt a little off to him.

"I'm glad to hear that." He replied to her response. "Um? Is there something wrong?"

"Wrong?" Her nervous tone gave it away. She must not have wanted him to notice. "Why would there be anything wrong?"

"Oh, it's just that you sound a little down about something." He was hoping she'd mention it. Her meekness was probably getting in the way, he figured. "I'm in charge, so if you have a problem, you're free to tell me about it and I'll try to fix it." It was like she didn't want to answer. He couldn't, nor did he want to, force the issue. So Arata dropped it.

"I'm fine, you're probably just taking something wrong." She answered, and that was that. "What about you? I assume you're pretty excited about this." She asked him, as if she had to.

"Oh yes, I'm very excited. I'm grateful that Hine gave us this opportunity." If he had never gotten stuck with this group, then he'd probably not get invited to join the elder group. Then again, it always felt like the old lady was trying to get him to go out more often. "I'm nervous too. Being in charge, I don't want to let anyone down."

"Oh I'm sure you'll do a good job." She took a swig from her water bottle, as the Summer heat was really working its way to this bus. However, before she could properly secure it, their vehicle came to an abrupt stop.

It jerked her hand, causing the water to splash all over the two. It also caught Arata off guard, his head slamming onto the seat in front. After he took some time to regain his bearings, he saw over to the window that they had pulled over now.

"I'm so sorry." She apologized to him, his shirt now soaked in water.

"Oh no, it's not your fault." He said to her. Scanning the bus, he could see the other passengers were concerned about this sudden stop. The voices of his group entered his ears.

"What's wrong?!" Erina did little to hide her fear.

"It appears something must be wrong with the bus." Misei, as usual, was calm about the situation. If he wasn't the one in charge of this trip, he'd want her to be at the helm.

"Please excuse this short interruption." The bus driver announced to the passengers. "Please, I ask that everyone remain inside the bus while I check to see what's wrong." He exited, while everyone else chatted with each other. Offering their speculation with what's happening.

"Hey. Kashimura." Misao grabbed his attention. Motioning him over to her. "I believe I know what the problem is." She told him in secret.

"And what makes you think you know?"

"My dad's a mechanic, so I've seen how some of this plays out." She explained to him that the sudden stop that jolted everyone was caused by smoke the driver saw while on the road. She noticed the smoke as it moved around the bus due to the speed. It had to have been an overheated radiator, at least based on what's she seen.

"Well if you're right, what's that got to do with me?"

"You'll see." Was all she answered with. That did the opposite of filling him with confidence. By now, the bus driver had returned to give the bus his finding. It confirmed what Misao was saying. Someone must have failed to refill the radiator, so it had overheated from this heat, along with the power needed to drive so many people.

"And so, I please recommend that everyone stay on this bus for the time being." His command was met with displeasure from the crowd. None more so than Monju.

"Hey, Hine. Maybe that boy you put in charge better prove himself and get us off this bus." She complained, but it was hard for him to disagree about the leaving the bus part. It was very hot, even his wet shirt gave little in the way of cooling.

"Yeah. She's right." Misao spoke up. "You should go do it."

"Why me?"

"Because you're in charge." She responded to him. At this point, he was certain that she was just using this against him. The looked from the others showed they felt the same way.

"Fine… I'll go see what I can do." He got up to approach the driver. His mind raced from his anxiousness. Being the one to talk to a stranger was not something he did often. Especially since he was going to have to find a way to get this driver to break the rules.

Thinking over Misao's words, this must've been her plan. Not much of one, but she had to have faith in him to succeed. If what she had in mind was going to help all of them, then he was going to do his part.

"Ex-excuse me sir." He asked, unable to hide his nervousness. "D-do you think it might be possible if we could get off this bus?"

"I'm sorry, but company policy is to keep everyone on until we can get help in situations like this." He explained. "I really don't want to get in trouble. I mean, what if someone accidentally gets hurt or goes missing?" He was right, but there had to be something that Arata could say to aid in his case. The sweat beaded down from his head, but it wasn't from anxiety. That gave him an idea.

"I understand, I really do." He said. "But please, we have children, and the elderly here." He noticed the families, along with the folks that were staying with him. It was time to use that to his advantage. "This heat, it's pretty bad. I think that they'd understand if you broke policy this once."

"Yeah. He's right." A man spoke up next to him. "I got my kid here, and I saw some older people getting on. It's really not safe to stay here." Arata silently thanked that man. It was really helping him out here.

"Fine… I see you mean well." The driver relented, understanding his position. "Okay, everyone we will be…" He ordered everyone to get off of the bus. Along with the usual mention of keeping within a certain distance for safety.

Arata was the first off the bus, given that he was already standing. He waited for the others to join him. After a head count, he asked Misao what she was planning.

"Excuse me, bus driver?" She ignored Arata and went straight to the driver. He felt a bit upset at that. She returned, revealing what she had in mind.

She found the real cause of their problem. Turns out that it had been properly refilled, but there was a leak. Misao managed to convince the driver that she could have this fixed well before help would arrived, which would take over an hour.

"So how do we fix it?" Yogi asked once she was done with her explanation.

"Fortunately, we passed a gas station about a mile ago. I would expect that they'd have the tools I need to fix this bus, along with the fluid for the radiator."

"So I guess that we need some people to go and get it, right?" Arata asked.

"Yes, we probably only need two or three people to go. It'd be pointless to send more than necessary." Two or three? Then, the boys probably could go then. Obviously the elderly can't do it, and Arata knew that Yogi and/or Akaki would have to much pride to ask any of the girls to go.

"Then, Kashimura and myself can go then." It appeared that Akaki had been thinking of the same thing. Interestingly though, he didn't volunteer Yogi.

"Yeah sure, since I'm in charge I'll go. Plus you're pretty athletic so you're a good choice." Arata openly complimented him. He didn't mention why Yogi wasn't going. He realized that Akaki did it so that boy would spend more time with the girls. That boy really deserved the title of 'best friend'.

"What about money though?" Arata asked.

"Oh, if it's money to need, it's no trouble for me." One of Hine's friends, a posh looking lady reached into her purse. She handed him a wad of cash that she was certain could afford their expenses.

"Oh thank you, whoa wait a minute." He was shocked at how much she actually gave him. "10,000 yen?! I'm sorry, but I think that you're being a bit too generous."

"Oh don't worry about it." Hine assured him. "Asasuzu is very well off. So money really isn't much of an object for her."

"Yes really." She spoke as if she's lived a rather rich lifestyle. "You can even keep the change if you'd like."

"No thanks." As much as he would've loved the money, it didn't feel right just taking free cash. "I'll return what we don't spend."

"Okay everyone, we're off then." They bid farewell to the others and made their way back down the road.

"Say, didn't the bus driver tell us not to leave the area?" Arata remembered what was mentioned before getting of the bus.

"Oh I'm sure Misao convinced him to let us go. She does have a way with words." If that was the case, why didn't she just ask the driver for them to get off? It worked out either way, so there wasn't much for him to complain about.

The two had started off their trip on a light jog. They didn't want the others to wait for them long. Even though Akaki was the athlete, the time spent gardening and caring for children in the heat gave Arata some resilience to this workout. That said, he still had to try and keep pace with the other.

"Hey, Miyatani." He spoke up, despite knowing that this would expel more energy for them. They were alone, so this was his chance. "I hope you didn't mind me not sitting you with Shinshiro."

"Eh? Wh-why would I have a problem with that?" He replied, his face was flush with red. Even with this heat, Arata knew that wasn't the cause.

"Don't act like I don't know. Relax, no one's here. So your secret's safe with me." This was probably as good as time as any to get this boy to open up.

"Okay, fine. But I really don't have a problem with it." He told him. "After all, it's not me that she's in love with." He was still thinking of her with Yogi? Probably would've liked it better if Arata put her next to that boy instead.

"And what? You're just going to give up on it?" This talk was just making Arata feel worse about this. All that time he spent in the background, literally sitting inches away from that trio. Yet he had no idea what was truly going on.

"It's complicated." He replied. "But I'm glad that I can talk about this with you."

"What? But isn't this a secret you didn't want anyone to know?" Arata remembered the look on his face when he slipped it out. At the time, Akaki thought they were in the same boat. When that was the farthest thing from the truth.

"True, I was devastated when you learned. I was worried that you would tell the others. I was really happy when you said you weren't going to." Holding that in for him. It wasn't easy, seeing Akiba at school His heart always skipped a beat, and it would always feel a little pain whenever she talked about her true feelings for Yogi with him.

Sometimes, he felt like he should just confess and tell the truth. However, he didn't want to complicate things more than they needed to be. Nor did he want to introduce drama to this trio of friends, a group that had stuck with each other since they were in their first year of school.

"I guess talking to you about this, just makes it easier to keep it a secret." He felt relaxed about this for the first time in a while. He was starting to think that slip-up wasn't that big of a mistake.

"Sure… I just…" Before he could finish his thought. They had reached the gas station. The first half of their journey now completed. Arata was brought back to the important matter at hand. They got everything that misao told them to get, along with a fairly large case containing the fluid. For a bus, they knew they'd need a lot of it.

"Maybe it's better if we don't talk on the way back." Akaki saw how much stuff they actually had to carry back. In this heat, it wasn't going to be easy. "You know, to conserve our energy."

"Sure." Arata wished he could finish his thought, but he couldn't argue with this. Especially since he had to carry all this fluid with him. It had to have been at least 25 pounds.

Their trip was as hard as it was silent. By the time they got back, it had only been just over 20 minutes since they left. That pace was absurd with what they were carrying. Both of them were definitely feeling the pain from all that work.

"Oh great." Misao greeted them, seeing that they had everything she needed. "You're both back."

"Yeah… We… Are…" Arata could hardly speak with how tired he was. "I'll… Just… Put…" He collapsed from exhaustion. Making sure that his package was put down safely, before fainting face-first onto the grass.