My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 162

Totsuka nodded, waved slightly to me, and then walked back to his seat.

The others glanced at Totsuka, but fortunately, he always gave off a neutral impression, so those gazes weren't filled with disgust. It seems that Totsuka is somewhat of a standout in the class.

But considering the future, he doesn't need to deliberately attract attention.

I will continue to do what I have done before: not to take the initiative to talk to him or to approach him.

As long as we maintain a proper distance, there shouldn't be any problems. I'll just need to be mindful of this myself.

Continue to maintain your usual lifestyle without making any changes.

So, as usual, I lay on the table pretending to sleep today. During times like these, it's even more important to maintain a calm mindset and diligently handle the big and small tasks of daily life.

I used my left arm as a pillow and lay down on the desk, where I happened to see a rare sight on my right.

It was very close to class time, and Hayama and Ebina returned to the classroom together.

I've seen members of both groups gather together, but I've almost never seen the two of them chatting privately.

Thinking about it carefully, I don't think I saw those two people at all.

They exchanged a few words in hushed tones, then immediately parted ways and went their separate ways.

"Hello, hello~" Ebina greeted casually as she walked towards where Miura and Yuihama were sitting. Her cheerful demeanor was as usual, and the other two's reactions were no different from usual.

However, Hayama on the other side was not happy.

The smile on his face was unusually bitter, as if he were mocking himself. From his appearance, he seemed to be in a very bad mood.

Even I, who am not very familiar with Ye Shan, could tell, so his companions would recognize him at a glance.

The Ministry of Revenue was the first to speak.

"Hey~ Hayato, where have you been? Why are you all alone? Are you perhaps with some penguin?"

"It's nothing, I can always go to the toilet by myself. Besides, you really like that joke, you're overdoing it."

Ye Shan chuckled and playfully tapped his head.

"Heh~"

Hobu let out a breath and made a meaningless sound, which Yamato and Ooka immediately followed.

"Yes, be careful not to use too much as it will get cold."

"You might as well change your jokes."

"Hey, really? Don't joke around, okay?!"

Laughter emanated from them and spread outwards.

During this short period, everyone started talking about the Ministry of Revenue, making jokes about it, and a new wave of "Ministry of Revenue fever" quickly swept through Class 2-F.

As expected of opinion leaders, the Yeshan Group's penguin-themed joke became a thing of the past in the blink of an eye.

Thanks to them, I was able to return to peaceful days—nothing like the solitary life I was so proud of in the past.

I grew further apart from my classmates, and my existence felt as if it had been buried in darkness.

This is already the level of a ninja. I am Hikigaya, the ninja. Nice to meet you.

I'm really looking forward to Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto...

Volume 7, Part 2: No one knows why they came to the Service Society.

I don't know when it started, but there's a kettle in the clubroom now. Yukinoshita heard the kettle hiss as it boiled, and folded a corner of the magazine she was reading halfway up, creating what's called "dog ears." However, since Yukinoshita likes cats, she might say, "These aren't dog ears, they're Scottish Fold ears." Incidentally, Scottish Folds are a rare breed, and their distinctive forward-folding ears make them quite popular.

Yukino put the magazine on the table and got up to walk to the kettle.

Just a moment ago, Yui was lazily playing with her phone with one hand, but now her eyes immediately lit up with anticipation.

"Great! Snack time!"

While preparing teacups and tea leaves, Yukinoshita rummaged through her schoolbag and took out some snacks to accompany the tea.

Soon, a total of quaint teacups, saucers, and mugs printed with lazy, lifeless dog patterns were placed on the table.

This is a common sight as autumn deepens and the faint sounds of winter's approach can be heard. As I read my paperback, I catch a glimpse of someone brewing black tea under the snow.

Hot water is poured into the glass teapot, and the tea leaves slowly rise to the top before quietly sinking back to the bottom, like snowflakes fluttering and falling in a snow globe.

After pouring tea into the teacup and mug in sequence, Yukinoshita paused for a moment, resting her free hand on her chin as she considered for a while before taking a paper cup from the office and filling it with tea as well.

Even though she was the one pouring the tea, why did she glare at the cup with such disdain? Then, Yukinoshita poured the remaining black tea into the ceramic teapot and covered it to keep it warm.

She picked up her teacup and saucer, walked back to her seat, and Yui, who was on her phone, also picked up her mug.

The unclaimed paper cups lay forlornly on the table. The steam rising from them swayed aimlessly, like lost children.

"Black tea...it'll get cold if you don't drink it."

"...I am a cat's tongue."

It took me a moment to realize that the paper cup was meant for me. Since they had gone out of their way to prepare it for me, there was no reason not to accept it. I wasn't going to be as awkward as an amajigaki (Note 6, a yokai in Japanese folklore).

Once the black tea was no longer too hot, I picked up the paper cup and took a sip.

Yuihama held the mug with both hands, blowing on the black tea to cool it down as she said:

"Oh right, our graduation trip is almost here!"

Yukinoshita's eyebrows twitched when she heard the key words. Lately, no matter which class I go to, I can't escape this topic, and even the service club I'm in has been affected.

"Have you decided where you're going?"

"I need to make a decision soon."

"I'll leave the decision to the other group members; I'll just follow along."

For me, the graduation trip was almost like being forced to go on a trip.

My team members made plans in front of me, completely ignoring my opinions and treating me like I was invisible. I just kept my mouth shut and quietly followed them.

I wouldn't feel particularly dissatisfied, and besides, it's quite relaxing, but if you ask me if I had fun, the answer is debatable.

Foreign objects cannot change their fate. Although being assigned to a group where everyone coexists peacefully gives me a chance to have my opinion adopted, foreign objects must ultimately be excluded.

Over time, I've been treated as an alien, and I've long since become accustomed to it. Yukinoshita, who was also treated as an alien, must feel the same way.

"Speaking of which, Yukino, what do you do when you have events like graduation trips?"

I suddenly became curious about this. Yukinoshita, holding a teacup in one hand, tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"What do we do?"

"You don't have any friends in class, do you?"

It's quite impolite for an unrelated person to ask such a question, but Yukinoshita didn't seem to mind, simply replying:

"Hmm, so?"

"So I'm curious, how do you handle group activities?"

Yukinoshita then understood what I wanted to ask, and with a knowing look on her face, she placed the teacup on the table.

"Oh, when it's time to form groups, whichever group comes to me, I'll join that group."

"Huh? Someone's coming to see you?"

This answer surprised me greatly. Yukinoshita seemed unhappy with my reaction.

"I don't know what you think of me, but I've never had to worry about group assignments. There are always girls from other groups who will take the initiative to approach me."

She brushed her hair aside as she spoke. Yui, sitting next to her, touched her lips to her mug, looked up, and said:

"Oh, I think I can understand. Class J is almost entirely girls, and someone as cool as Yukino should be quite popular with everyone."

"Oh, I see... It only applies to Class J, right?"

Yukinoshita's class, J, was an international liberal arts class with girls making up 90% of the students. The atmosphere was quite different from other regular classes, almost like a girls' school. When I passed by the J classroom, I would always smell a pungent, unpleasant odor, like a mixture of many things. To be honest, it was an unpleasant smell. Also, after winter arrived, they often wore extra sweatpants under their skirts and played a game of lifting each other's skirts. From a distance, they seemed to be having a lot of fun.

Yukino's classmates are almost all girls, so getting along with them should be easy and worry-free; in other words, they are likely to form cliques.

Not having to care about the opinions of the opposite sex is definitely an advantage.

Boys, for example, might act strangely because they're too concerned about what girls think. For instance, earlier, Tobe imitated a gorilla pounding its chest in class, or acted like a delinquent. This group, often referred to as "chuunibyou" (middle school syndrome), might fall into this category. Needless to say, I went through that phase myself.

As for girls, eight or nine out of ten experience similar phenomena.

In fact, Yukino must have witnessed quite a lot by now. If you gather teenage boys and girls in the same classroom, you can see all sorts of things. Not only between opposite sexes, but also in groups of all boys or girls, you can see a myriad of different kinds of people. Life has many facets, and so does pension (Note 7 alludes to former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's past failure to pay company pension contributions. He stated regarding this: "Life has many facets, companies have many facets, and employees have many facets.").

"Sigh... But I really wish our school could go on a graduation trip to Okinawa too!"

Yuihama moved forward, gazing at the ceiling with a sigh.

"Going at this time is probably not a good idea... I personally wouldn't recommend it."

Looking out the window from beneath the snow, the howling wind made me feel cold. Even though Okinawa is a southern country, it's probably impossible to go to the beach to swim at this time of year.

"Hmm... But don't you think going to Kyoto is boring? Kyoto is full of temples and shrines, and you can find all of those things here. In Chiba City, for example, there's the Inage Asama Shrine, which you can visit anytime you want..."

Just like what Yuihama would say, it's enough to give you a headache. Yukinoshita seemed to be pressing her temples lightly, just like me.

"You didn't even consider historical and cultural value..."

Her murmur was tinged with a sigh, but Yuihama, not to be outdone, immediately retorted.

"I...I don't know what I'm supposed to do at the shrine..."

Okay, I can somewhat understand what she meant. If you have no interest in temples, shrines, or Buddhist temples, those places really don't appeal to you at all. I dare say that most high school students, except for weddings, funerals, and New Year's visits, would never set foot in those places.

"There are actually many things we can do. And we're not going there for leisure; we're going to observe the culture and history of this country firsthand, to experience it..."

"Even if there are things to do, I don't think they're what you're talking about."

I interrupted Yukino's speech.

"Oh...so, what do you think is the purpose of a graduation trip?"

I was interrupted halfway through my sentence, which triggered Yukinoshita's nerves, and she looked at me with a wary gaze. "Young lady, you're so scary." But I didn't back down and continued.

"What I thought of was imitating social life."

"...I see. Besides taking the Shinkansen, we do use other public transportation and accommodation facilities..."

Yukinoshita crossed her arms and turned her eyes to the upper right as she pondered. However, what I really wanted to say was just beginning.

"Going on business trips against your will, even when you're in another city, you still have to stare at your annoying boss; you have no freedom of choice about what to eat or where to sleep at night; even the itinerary for visits has to be coordinated with others, sacrificing your own opinions and making adjustments again and again; in the end, you still have to haggle over your wallet, considering how expensive a souvenir to buy for so-and-so, and for another person... whatever, no need to prepare anything for them. You see, aren't there a lot to think about? The purpose of a graduation trip is precisely to learn to think about these issues. In life, it's impossible for everything to go your way, so we need to practice deceiving ourselves, that as long as we make concessions, we can make life a little happier."

After listening to this long speech, Yuihama gave me a sympathetic look.

"Wow... your graduation trip must have been so unpleasant..."

"I really don't think the person who planned the itinerary would be so pessimistic..."

Yukinoshita didn't know how to respond. Just then, Yuihama suddenly thought of something.

"However, even if it's really like what you said, we can still decide for ourselves how to enjoy our graduation trip."

"Hmm, that makes sense..."

She's right. Regardless of the purpose or goal of a graduation trip, how one views the trip ultimately depends on their own perspective.

Seeing that I had been persuaded by Yuihama, Yukinoshita suddenly smiled.

"That's right, even Hachiman-kun is probably looking forward to this graduation trip, isn't he?"

“Well…”

Okay, I admit I'm kind of looking forward to having dinner with Totsuka, taking a bath with Totsuka, and sharing a bed with Totsuka.

"Oh, so you also have a trip you're looking forward to?"

"Hmm... I've always liked Kyoto."

Yukinoshita opened her eyes wide upon hearing this.

"What a surprise... I always thought that things that emphasize tradition and red tape were rubbish to you."

...That's a bit too much for you. But it's okay, I'm already immune to that kind of talk.

"I'm a future liberal arts student at a private university who loves Japanese history and literature. In some ways, Kyoto is a sacred place for me."

When it comes to historical novels, Ryotaro Shiba is the first name that comes to mind; and if we're talking about general literary works from recent years, I'd recommend "The Tatami Galaxy." Such a person naturally has a deep interest in Kyoto.

"Although the so-called graduation trip means that it is impossible to go to the places I want to go, I will visit them on my own someday."

"Traveling alone sounds a bit lonely..."