"Komako and Chihiro, sorry to trouble you, but go find Kanzaki now and make preparations based on Aoyama's suggestion." After giving it a little thought, Ichinose immediately gave Shiranami and Amikura their instructions.
Shiranami and Amikura readily accepted the important task entrusted to them. They set off without wasting a moment.
They were leaving at five tomorrow morning. There wasn't a lot of time left, but there wasn't too little, either.
"How can I ever thank you, Aoyama?"
After the two girls left, Ichinose looked at Aoyama, troubled. She wasn't the kind of person who could accept someone else's kindness without a second thought.
Although she often helped others without asking for anything in return, she couldn't bring herself to accept help for free.
"Didn't we already agree on the payment? And it's not like you can pay me back right now." Knowing Ichinose would be busy tonight, Aoyama stood up from the bench.
"But the value isn't equal at all."
"Whether it's worth it is up to the seller to decide. Don't get hung up on something so trivial. I have things to do, so I'll be going."
Not giving Ichinose time to fret, Aoyama patted Sakura on the shoulder and gestured for her to come along.
"Goodbye, Ichinose."
"Mm, goodbye, Sakura, Aoyama."
They waved goodbye, and the three of them parted at the gym entrance.
As he walked back to the dorm with Sakura, Aoyama could tell her mind was elsewhere. Perhaps it was because of the news she'd just received.
"You don't have to tell her. Horikita Suzune already knows, and I'm sure she's made some preparations, too."
"Oh, I see."
Sakura nodded, a little surprised. Some of the confusion faded from her face as her icy blue eyes quietly watched Aoyama.
"We'll be traveling for fourteen days. There's no way we'll all have single rooms." Aoyama ruffled Sakura's hair as she wondered what he meant. "I have a task for you. By the end of the trip, bring a friend to meet me."
"As a reward, I'll agree to one request, as long as it's not too difficult."
Although Sakura still wasn't very good at starting conversations, she no longer got nervous around Ichinose and the others.
He felt it was time to take the next step.
Chapter 66: Motion Sickness and Boarding
The next morning.
Yawns sounded from time to time at the school entrance as four buses slowly pulled to a stop on the road.
After the four first-year homeroom teachers each boarded a bus, their students filed on in groups.
As the tallest student in Class A, Aoyama Shiki naturally brought up the rear. By the time he boarded, only one seat remained on the full bus.
"Excuse me, sir. Could I ask three people to squeeze together?"
Seeing Yamamura and Kamuro sitting together, Aoyama immediately made his request to Teacher Mashima.
The remaining seat was at the aisle in the first row, jutting out. The person sitting by the window was Sakayanagi Arisu, wearing a somewhat amused expression.
"What are you thinking? Sit down. We're about to leave." Mashima gave him a stern look and flatly refused.
With no other choice, Aoyama quietly took the seat beside the little brat.
They had never sat this close to each other before.
Comparing them up close, he felt that Sakayanagi Arisu seemed even smaller than he'd thought. Her lustrous silver hair shone even more brightly in the sunlight, making her look like an oversized doll.
What would it feel like to hold her?
The thought crossed his mind. Aoyama closed his eyes and pretended to nap, making it clear he didn't want to be spoken to.
With a gentle push against their backs, the bus began to pick up speed toward its destination.
More than half an hour later.
"Ugh—"
Amid the students' occasional whispers, the sound of a girl struggling not to throw up reached Aoyama, who had been lost in thought.
Judging by the sound and where it came from, he knew it was Sakayanagi, even with his eyes closed.
No wonder she'd been so quiet.
Amused that someone as forceful as Sakayanagi could get motion sickness, Aoyama opened his eyes and turned his head.
When she'd first boarded, Sakayanagi had still had a faint smile on her face. Now she was deathly pale, a sheen of sweat on her snow-white forehead, with a few unruly silver strands stuck to it.
The frail, fleeting air that clung to people in poor health was even more pronounced now.
"If you don't mind, give me your hand. I can massage a few acupressure points to help with the motion sickness," Aoyama said to Sakayanagi, whose eyes were tightly shut.
He didn't like Sakayanagi's self-centered, arrogant personality, but he'd suffered from motion sickness himself in the past and couldn't pretend not to notice.
Besides, Sakayanagi Arisu was quite cute. From a purely selfish perspective, holding her pretty little hand would be nice, too.
"You know how to do that, Aoyama?" Sakayanagi half-opened her eyes. Her voice sounded weak, and she held out her left hand partway.
Her slender, delicate hand, with its clearly defined joints, looked almost limp.
"I know a little," Aoyama replied calmly.
He turned Sakayanagi's palm upward and held her hand from beneath. With the thumb and forefinger of his other hand, he pinched the soft spot between her thumb and index finger.
He had Sakayanagi close her fingers. The highest point of the muscle near the base of her thumb was the Hegu Point.
Pressing it could help with motion sickness.
"Rest your head against the seat and keep it still."
"It's best to keep your eyes open and look straight ahead. Don't pay attention to the scenery outside the windows, and that can help, too."
Seeing Sakayanagi close her eyes again, Aoyama continued to share his tips for easing motion sickness while massaging her Hegu Point.
"You know a lot, Aoyama." Sakayanagi gave a weak smile and obediently looked straight ahead.
"I used to get motion sickness as a kid, so I made a point of learning a few things."
Aoyama answered casually. After massaging her Hegu Point for two or three minutes, he turned Sakayanagi's hand over and found the Neiguan Point near her wrist.
"Feeling better? If you're still not okay, pressing your temples might help a little, too."
After spending the same amount of time massaging the point as before, Aoyama asked her again.
"No, I'm much better now." Sakayanagi looked up at Aoyama's calm face, the corners of her mouth curling slightly.
"That's good."
Aoyama placed Sakayanagi's hand on the armrest between them and closed his eyes again.
A little over ten minutes passed without incident before the bus slowly came to a stop. They had arrived at Tokyo Bay.
"Wow, it's huge!"
As soon as he got off, Aoyama heard Kanji Ike from the Three Idiots of Class D shout.
His raised hand pointed at an enormous cruise ship that looked dozens of meters tall and just as wide.
The crew members on the highest deck looked tiny from where they stood, almost impossible to make out clearly.
"Are we really going to travel on a cruise ship this big?"
"I've got to take a picture to remember this!"
Amid the bustle, quite a few students pulled out their phones and held them up to take pictures of the ship.
Plenty of them also asked their friends to take photos with them.
"I'll take one of you, too."
Noticing that Yamamura, standing beside the bus with Kamuro, seemed interested, Aoyama walked over and offered.
"No need."
"Sure."
As expected, Aoyama got two completely different answers.
With her arms crossed, Kamuro watched coolly. She didn't look interested in taking pictures.
"Don't make me beg you." Faced with Kamuro's refusal, Aoyama chose to press her.
"What's the point of taking pictures?"
Kamuro sighed helplessly and started walking toward the pier.
Yamamura looked happy and hurried after her.
For Yamamura, traveling with a friend and taking pictures to remember it by was something to be very happy about.
"Watermelon."
"It's eggplant, isn't it?"
With a little trick at a scenic spot near the pier, Aoyama got Kamuro to play along and tease him.
He pressed the shutter at just the right moment, capturing a fresh photo of two pretty girls, both smiling.
"My turn."
Knowing Yamamura wouldn't mind taking a picture together, Aoyama handed his phone to Kamuro.
By the time the school finished coordinating with the cruise ship's staff and they were allowed to board, his phone had gained quite a few new photos.
They gathered, lined up, and boarded.
In the lobby of the accommodation area on the cruise ship's second deck, the homeroom teachers told each class that four students from the same class had to share a room.
The students could decide for themselves how to divide up the rooms.
"Don't we have plenty of empty rooms?" A gyaru from Class C challenged the school's decision.
For a massive luxury cruise ship like this, accommodating just over a hundred students was an incredibly easy task.
There was more than enough room for everyone to have a single room.
"The school has its reasons. This is also a way to train your ability to communicate."
"If you can't even get along with classmates who are on the same side, then that's your own problem."
Mashima replied to Nishino Takeko's challenge in a steady voice over the loudspeaker. He handed the room cards to the homeroom teachers, who then passed them on to the leaders of each class.
Amid the chatter, temporary groups of four students quickly formed and collected their room cards from their class leaders.
Within minutes, most of the students had cleared out of the packed lobby.
Class A had four boys left, Class C had four girls, and Class D had four boys and four girls.
It went without saying which class was the most united.
Chapter 67: Amikura Mako's Sneaky Little Scheme
Koenji Rokusuke, Yukimura Teruhiko, Nishino Takeko, and Kito Hayato were all lone wolves in the lobby. None of them showed any intention of approaching others to form a group.
Even though they had no other options left.
"Can we use personal points to buy a single room?" Aoyama asked Mashima, who was clearly in charge.
He wasn't against sharing a room with four people. He just had his own little plan.
How could he trick Yamamura, that little lamb, into getting affectionate with him if there were other people around?
"One million personal points."
It was as though he'd been waiting for Aoyama to ask. A subtle smile appeared on Mashima's usually serious face.
The other three homeroom teachers looked incredulous when they heard him.
Aoyama gave a bitter smile. "Isn't that a bit too much like targeting me, Teacher Mashima?"
Damn, one million personal points for a single room that could only be used for seven days was obviously unreasonable.
It was easier than robbing a bank.
"Why would the school target you? This is entirely for your own good. Spending more time with your classmates is a good thing."
"That doesn't sound convincing at all, but I have another question." Desire made Aoyama's mind race. "The school shouldn't interfere with which teacher gets to stay in which room, should it?"
You have your stratagem, and I have my way over the wall.
Before you continue