BHSAF 167: Towards the School Trip 2

　The group assignments proceeded smoothly, and the conversation turned to where to go during free time.

"Oh, I want to go here."

　Yui was given permission by her teacher to use her smartphone, and while searching for tourist spots such as temples and shrines, she displayed a certain shrine on her smartphone and held it out so that Yu and the others could see it.

"I'm pretty sure this is a shrine for matchmaking... isn't it?"

　When Yu saw the name of the shrine, he immediately knew what it was.

　It's a place that all the girls in my junior high school class said they wanted to go to on their school trip, and it's the most popular matchmaking shrine in Kyoto Prefecture.

"Yeah……"

　Yui blushes shyly.

"Isn't that okay?"

　Takuya happily agrees, but he "misunderstands" that Yui wanted to go there because she was thinking of Takuya.

　Of course, Yui's true feelings are different. By that time, she has already broken up with Takuya and is planning to date Yu, so the only person she can pray for at the matchmaking shrine is Yu.

　But seeing Takuya having fun by himself makes him feel so sorry for him that he can't help but laugh. It was all Yuu's doing to hold back the urge.

"Yes! Thank you both."

　First, one destination is decided, and then naturally the other destinations will be nearby.

"Well, if there's no other place you particularly want to go, then maybe around here...?"

　Takuya lists some of Kyoto's famous tourist spots.

　Although it was a school trip, I had been to Kyoto and Nara. The main tourist spots were temples and shrines, so it was a bit lonely for a high school student to go there, or rather, it was quite calm.

　It's fun to go on a trip with classmates. However, the destination is a place that most high school students have little interest in and have already been to in junior high. So, what's fun about a school trip isn't the destination, but who you go with.

　In that sense, the places Takuya mentioned were safe. Yui didn't say anything either, as she didn't seem to have any other places she wanted to go.

　However, something suddenly occurred to Yu.

"Hey Yui-chan. By the way, are you okay?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

"No, like people seeing you... that sort of thing."

　The people who live in the area have known Yui since she was a child and are naturally understanding, so it's not a big problem. However, the school trip destination is a different story.

　If people found out that Shimotsuki Yui was on a school trip, there was a good chance that it would cause a big fuss. Also, it would be possible to identify the high school by looking at her uniform, and information that she lived nearby would also spread. There was a risk that things would progress in this way and her address would be discovered.

"That's right. Are you okay, Yui?"

　Takuya, who had never come to that conclusion himself, also asks Yu what he said.

"Oh, yeah. We're both fine. Thank you for worrying about us. We'll be doing hairstyles we've never done before for the shoot, and we'll be wearing hats or masks so our faces aren't clearly visible."

　So don't worry about it, says Yui.

"That's good then, Yui can enjoy the school trip too."

"...But Yui-chan, isn't that a bit much?"

　While Takuya said that was a relief, Yu seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

"picture?"

"But you can't dress however you want and you have to be careful what other people think, right? Isn't that difficult?"

　Not only can she not have her hair styled the way she like, but she also has to wear a hat and a mask. On top of that, she has to worry about being recognized. It's probably not as easy as Yui makes it sound.

"Hehe... Thanks for worrying about me, Yu-kun. Well, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't difficult... but you know I just want to live a normal student life. So just being able to go on a school trip with everyone is more than enough fun and makes me happy. Besides, I'm always worried about what other people think."

　Yui laughs back at Yu's words, as if to say, "You really understand me."

　Takuya looks at the two of them with a disinterested look on his face. Even though he knows that they've been together longer than he has, there's no way he'd be amused by her flirting with another man in front of him, the one she's dating.

"We just need to be careful on the day."

　Takuya ignores his own failure to notice and says that he will support Yui if the time comes. It's as if he hadn't taken Yui's words seriously earlier, and that he had thought about it properly too.

(Takuya, your actions are small and out of proportion to your physique...)

"That's right. If we're careful, we can ease Yui-chan's burden a little. Let's do that."

　The two men make a verbal agreement.

　However, this agreement will likely not be kept during the actual school trip.

　This is because at that time Takuya had been rejected by Yui and was probably in no state of mind to join Yu and the others.

　On the day of the school trip, Yu wonders what Takuya is feeling and what he is doing. Yu, who has been stealing the precious time he could have spent with Yui, secretly laughs at him.