My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 170

"No, I'll look for somewhere else..."

Kawasaki shook her head, not wanting to sit with those people. However, Ebina pulled Kawasaki's hand, and she obediently sat down. It turned out that Kawasaki couldn't refuse if the other party was a little forceful.

"It's okay, it's okay~♪"

Ebina smiled and used a semi-forceful approach to decide everyone's seating. As a result, Miura, Yuigahama, and Ebina were on the same side, facing Hayama, Tobe, and Kawasaki, thus forming a group of six.

Kawasaki reluctantly sat down next to Hobu, immediately putting on a sour face, propping his elbows on the armrests, and starting to sleep. I mean, Hobu seems a little scared of you. Please be a little nicer to him, otherwise, the romantic comedy atmosphere will really be ruined.

After observing the seating arrangement of the Hayama group, Ooka and Yamato sat on either side of the aisle with the members of their group.

Next, the other students in the class also decided on their seats.

As I was observing all this, someone gently tugged at my sleeve. It was Totsuka. He looked around for a while before finally looking up at me.

"Hachiman, where should we sit?"

Faced with his innocent and adorable eyes, I looked away shyly, taking the opportunity to observe the situation inside the carriage.

"Um……"

As is customary, at times like this, the aloof loner would quickly retreat to the furthest corner, preventing others from daring to approach. However, this time, the seat was taken by others first, so I had no choice but to observe how things unfolded and try to find the last remaining spot.

Since Hayama sat in the middle row from the beginning, everyone else squeezed into that area, so most of the empty seats were concentrated at the front and back of the carriage.

"...The front row seems a bit empty, let's sit over there."

"Okay, sure."

I moved to the front row, and Totsuka followed without a second thought. Seeing how naive he was, it wouldn't be surprising if he were targeted by bad guys one day. I had to protect him—I made up my mind to myself and headed for the three-seater in the front row.

The front row seats were already taken, so we moved back a few rows and put our luggage on the overhead racks. I didn't have much luggage, so there was still plenty of space on the racks, and it didn't take much effort to put one or two pieces of luggage on the racks anyway.

"Here you are."

I reached out to Totsuka to help him put his luggage upstairs. Totsuka tilted his head in confusion for a moment before timidly extending his hand, and then, for some reason, grasped mine.

His hands are so small, so soft, and so smooth...

"Oh, that's not what I meant. I meant the luggage..."

I didn't want you to shake my hand, really. So soft, so comfortable...

"Ah! I'm so sorry!"

Totsuka realized he had misunderstood, quickly pulled his hand back, lowered his blushing face, said to me, "Thank you for your help," and handed me his luggage.

I took his backpack and put it on the shelf. I really want to pick Totsuka up too… Boss, I want to pack it all up!♪

Totsuka still felt embarrassed for misunderstanding, so I urged him to sit by the window and then sat down myself.

Just then, the train departure bell rang.

What a wonderful day for travel!

× × ×

I suddenly opened my eyes.

I think I fell asleep because I left home very early today.

I stretched and heard soft giggles coming from the seat next to me by the aisle.

"You slept too much."

"Oh my god! That was terrifying..."

The unexpected person spoke to me, which startled me so much that I jumped up.

"That was such a rude reaction..."

Yuihama glared at me unhappily.

"What? Anyone would be startled if they were suddenly struck up a conversation the moment they woke up."

It's so embarrassing to be seen sleeping like this, please don't look anymore. I subconsciously touched the corner of my mouth to check if I was drooling in my sleep.

Yuihama found my behavior ridiculous and chuckled again.

"Don't worry, your mouth is closed properly and you haven't made a sound."

That's good... No, not at all, it's so embarrassing.

Speaking of which, why is she sitting here? Wasn't it already decided that Totsuka would be sitting next to me?

I got up to look for them and found Totsuka fast asleep in the window seat next to me.

However, he seemed to be awakened by my voice, letting out a low "hmm..." and rubbing his eyes lightly.

Damn it! Look what I've done! I should have sneakily slipped a ring onto Totsuka's left ring finger, waited for him to wake up and rub his eyes to discover it, then proposed—a perfect "Diamonds Forever" plan to succeed the moment my girlfriend opens her eyes! What a blunder, Hachiman Hikigaya! You've ruined a golden opportunity to walk down the aisle!

Totsuka covered his mouth and yawned, then blinked to confirm the current situation.

"...Sorry, I accidentally fell asleep."

"It's okay, it's okay, you can sleep a little longer. I'll wake you up when it's time. Oh, do you want me to lend you my shoulder?"

I'd even lend you my thigh and arm if you wanted.

"No, no need! Hachiman, it's okay if you take a nap too. I, I'll definitely wake you up."

Haha, Totsuka is so cute. When he wakes me up, another part of my body wakes up too!

Seeing me and Totsuka so affectionate, Yuihama sighed helplessly as we discussed whether we should sleep a little longer or just sleep together.

"You two are both sleeping too much. The graduation trip has only just begun and you're already like this; what are you going to do next?"

"That makes sense, we should have fun."

Hearing Yuihama's words, Totsuka perked up. She was right; it was only the first day, not yet time to be so tired that he would sleep until he passed out.

That being said, Yuihama herself showed signs of fatigue first.

"And what happened to you? Did something happen over there?"

Yuihama said dejectedly:

"Over there... Yumiko and Hayato are still the same as usual... But Kawasaki keeps giving me a sour look, which makes Tobe too scared to say anything."

"I see... What about Ebina?"

"Himena seems to be the same as usual... no, the graduation trip seems to have made her particularly excited, so her condition is more serious than usual."

Okay, after hearing what she said, I think I understand.

Kawasaki probably dislikes noisy guys like Tobe, and Tobe, being a coward, is definitely afraid of Kawasaki, who looks like a delinquent girl. He's so pitiful. Even worse is yet to come: the highlight of his trip—Ebina—is practically a fortress like the Death Star. Without the Force, Tobe has no chance of breaking through (Note 36 is from the movie "Star Wars," where the Death Star is a fictional space fortress that was ultimately destroyed by Luke Skywalker, who possessed the Force).

Having taken the wrong step right from the start of the seat selection process, it seems there's no point in expecting any major progress on the Shinkansen to Kyoto.

Even in a different environment, if people maintain their existing patterns of interaction, nothing will change. What needs to be reformed is not the environment, but the interpersonal relationships.

"If only we could create an opportunity for just the two of them to be alone..."

"Even if we create an environment where it's just the two of them, it probably won't yield any results."

"Too……"

Totsuka, who had been listening to our conversation, clapped his hands at that moment.

"Oh, you mean Mr. Hubu?"

"Oh, Xiao Cai, you knew about this too?"

Yuihama looked surprised.

"Yes. I heard him mention it when I was in Chiba Village during summer vacation."

"I see. Oh dear, I was asked by him not long ago to say how wonderful it would be if they could start dating smoothly. If you have any ideas, would you like to help out?"

"If it's something I can help with, I hope they can get along well!"

Although Totsuka agreed with a smile, the request was likely to be very difficult.

I don't actively wish for someone's happiness, but I also won't maliciously wait to see someone suffer. For those I dislike, I might secretly pray they suffer a bit, but I don't hate the Ministry of Revenue to that extent.

However, seeing Yui Hama deep in thought, I felt I should also start thinking.

The three of us sat with our hands clasped in thought. Not long after, Totsuka let out a soft "Ah."

What comes to mind?

He pointed out the window.

"Hachiman, look, Mount Fuji!"

"Oh? Let me see, we're already here."

"You probably can't see very well from your position, right?"

Totsuka pressed himself against the glass window and waved at me, urging me to come closer. So I accepted his offer and leaned closer.

Totsuka's face was close to mine. To let me get closer to the window, he awkwardly twisted his body in the cramped space, turning his face to the side and glancing sideways at Mount Fuji, as if sending me a flirtatious look. In his unnatural posture, he exhaled, causing a white mist to appear on the glass window.

Oh, so this is Mount Fuji... My Mount Fuji will be here soon too...

Just as my Mount Fuji was about to erupt, Yuihama pressed my shoulders back.

"Ah, I want to see it too!"

Yuihama put her hands on my back, so that I was carrying her on my back.

She pounced on me without warning, sending a chill down my spine. A faint scent of perfume wafted over with her movements.

Miss, physical contact is already against the rules...

But I couldn't calmly push her hand away or move my body to the side; I could only maintain the current position.

"..."

I don't know if Yuihama was so engrossed in the scenery that she remained quiet for a while, and I could only hear her faint breathing.

"Wow~ Mt. Fuji is so beautiful! Heave-ho~"

Once she was satisfied, she finally moved away from my back and sat back in her seat.

"Thank you!"

"……oh."

I pretended to be calm on the surface, but in reality, my heart was still pounding wildly. Why would she do something like that? Listen carefully, even if that action had no meaning, it was enough to cause most boys to misunderstand and ultimately fall into an abyss of no return. If you understand, please remind yourself of the following points from now on: "Don't have physical contact with boys," "Don't sit in a boy's seat during breaks or after school," and "Don't ask boys to borrow things if you forget them."

Right now, my face is probably burning red. To hide it, I look at Yuihama, preparing to scold her a bit.

I said…

"Ah, I should probably head back now!"

Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly stood up and hurriedly returned to her original seat.

Did she escape? I feel a mix of regret, impatience, annoyance, and disappointment, but also a sense of relief.

I sighed inwardly, expelling the chaotic emotions from my body.

Just then, I heard a bird-like voice coming from my arms.

"Um... Hachiman, can you get up now?"

Upon closer inspection, I realized I was still in the position of pushing Totsuka down. Totsuka seemed to be in a bad mood, and his eyes were starting to well up with tears.

"Wow! Sorry!"

I quickly slumped back into my seat, my back slamming hard against the armrest.

"It hurts~~"

"Wow! Are you alright?"

"It's okay, it's okay..."

I waved my hand to tell Totsuka not to worry, and rubbed the spot where I had bumped my back. My back, which still felt warm, was more itchy than painful from hitting the armrest.

× × ×

The Shinkansen departs from Tokyo and arrives in Kyoto approximately two hours later.

We stepped off the train and, feeling the chill creeping up our skin, headed towards the tour bus boarding area.

As autumn deepens, temperatures in Kyoto have dropped significantly, and it will get even colder in the coming days.