The Bus Dilemma Is Solved!

(Disclaimer: Everyone is an adult.)

[Character designs are in the comments.]

[The protagonist's name isn't Tomie. I've noticed a lot of people misunderstood.]

Early April, the start of the school year.

The lush greenery grew unchecked, while countless pink cherry blossoms lining both sides of the road danced wildly in the strong wind.

But perhaps the cherry blossoms here were simply blooming too profusely. Even the sparrows perched on the power lines seemed dazzled by them and had stopped chirping.

Of course, it was also possible that he simply couldn't hear whether the little sparrows were chirping, since he was currently sitting on a bus headed for school.

Mm, that was one reason.

"Haah~"

Lost in thought, Yuki Gyakukai let out an involuntary yawn. He was lucky enough to have a seat in the last row of the crowded bus.

His eyes half-lidded, he turned his gaze toward the passengers.

Familiar uniforms, unfamiliar faces, a somewhat different story. He wondered whether he'd run into a seat-giving dilemma on this bus.

Most of the passengers wore the same outfit he did: a red blazer, white shirt, and slacks. That was true of the boys, at least.

The girls looked more youthful and lively, their slacks replaced with pure-white pleated skirts. Beneath the hems, their pale thighs were on full display.

Come to think of it...

Weren't they worried about running into some pervert on the bus dressed like that?

This wasn't some school bus. There were plenty of office workers on board, too.

If one of those greasy middle-aged men happened to touch them, it would surely ruin their good mood at the start of the school year.

After all, tuition was free for all three years, and once they graduated, they could choose any job they wanted.

Anyone would be traumatized if something like that happened on the first day of school...

Thinking about it, Yuki couldn't help frowning.

That inadvertent gesture seemed to have an unintended effect.

When several girls turned to look at him, they whipped their heads away almost immediately. Then, like a covey of quails, they clapped their hands over their faces, trying not to make a sound.

But, girls, your stares are so intense—and so obvious.

Even with their heads lowered, he could still see their shoulders trembling with excitement and their pale pink necks and red earlobes.

So delicate. Kind of cute.

"He's so handsome! Judging by his uniform, he must go to our school!"

"How can someone look like that? It's practically against the rules!"

"And that beauty mark at the corner of his eye is totally unfair! I feel like my heart's about to leap out of my chest. Is this what falling in love feels like?"

It seemed that men weren't the only ones who liked looking at beautiful people. Women couldn't help being attracted to handsome men, either.

How vulgar.

The passengers had all gathered from different schools, and they hadn't known each other before. Now, they were excitedly huddling together to talk about a handsome guy.

So this was the power of being sexy?

Mention something sexy, and suddenly nobody cared about gender wars or sensitive topics.

Those girls had nothing but that on their minds...

The bus continued down the road at a slow pace. Reflections of buildings flickered across its transparent windows.

The window beside Yuki offered intermittent glimpses of his face.

His black hair was slightly messy, as if its owner had only just woken up. His half-open eyes were hazy.

His nose was straight, his skin fair, and his body was tilted slightly to one side.

Half his face glowed in the sunlight. Beneath the outer corner of his slightly curved eye, a black beauty mark sat like a touch of divine artistry.

Though he was still a high school student, he was lounging in his seat like a married man, radiating a lazy air.

From the other passengers' perspective, he was the very picture of a laid-back pretty boy.

The commotion had already caught the attention of quite a few people, and many of them turned to look toward the back.

Several men in the bus looked at his devastatingly handsome face and couldn't help clicking their tongues.

Compared to the men, the women were much more vocal.

"Ugh, I'm so jealous of the girl being held while she sleeps. If only that were me!"

"One less top-tier bachelor on the market..."

"Maybe they're siblings. I think I still have a chance."

"Give it up. What siblings are that clingy? And if they really are siblings, that makes them kind of a fun ship."

Seriously, if you shipped everything, it was bound to catch up with you eventually.

Yuki ignored the chatter around him. The girls' conversation was veering toward incest, but he felt it was still under control. He turned his gaze back to where it had been.

The girl at the center of the conversation was his fiancée. With her eyes closed, she was leaning against him, catching up on the sleep she'd missed the night before.

His fiancée was stunning, with skin as smooth as jade. Beneath the outer corner of her left eye was a black beauty mark, accenting her flawless face.

It was like the finishing touch on a masterpiece. Her face was already perfect without a trace of makeup, but the beauty mark made her even more alluring and bewitching, like a total bad girl.

Her long black hair fell loosely down her back. A soft breeze stirred it, and the faint scent of shampoo from her morning shower drifted into Yuki's nose.

It smelled lovely, but it made his nose a little itchy.

Before he knew it, the bus had been traveling along this stretch of road for quite some time.

If not for the growing noise, Yuki might have stayed lost in his fiancée's beautiful face.

A few office workers on the bus looked anxious, repeatedly checking the time.

"Why's there suddenly a traffic jam on this road? It's always been clear."

"Damn it, I'm going to be late for work! I shouldn't have taken the bus!"

"I'm done for! If I'm late today, I'll lose my performance bonus and my chance at an award for the whole year! Can't we take another road?!"

Watching the adults grow more and more agitated, the students—who were only in their teens and about to start high school—couldn't possibly understand.

But as the tension mounted and the office workers' expressions darkened, the students instinctively lowered their voices or fell silent.

After all, this was right before the start of the school year. They didn't want to cause any trouble.

This was the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, where tuition was supposedly free for three years and graduates could choose any job they wanted!

If they got into a fight here and were refused admission, they wouldn't even have a chance to cry about it. Their parents would surely beat them twice as hard.

So the students quietly lowered their heads. Those seated ignored what was happening in the bus and stared out at the traffic, while those awkwardly standing in the aisle helplessly took out their phones and pretended to chat.

In an unnoticed corner, the camera inside the bus flashed red, recording everyone's behavior.

More than ten minutes later, the bus had moved only about fifty meters.

The office workers still on board grew increasingly irritable. The already noisy air began to feel stifling.

Yuki watched the time slowly tick by on his phone and understood.

This was probably the school's test, but what exactly were they testing? The ability to control a crowd?

Was it a test where the bus couldn't open its doors between stops, leaving the students to calm everyone down inside the bus?

No, didn't whoever made the test understand how society worked in Japan?

The biggest taboo in Japan was defying the senior-junior hierarchy.

If they made a bunch of teenagers who were considered rude talk to these middle-aged office workers, the current situation would probably end with a samurai duel.

More accurately, it would be a one-sided beating.

Adults had the natural advantage in strength and stamina, after all.

"Hey! Why aren't you driving?"

As Yuki was still thinking, an unfamiliar voice rang out inside the bus, cutting through the argument.

Red hair? Judging by the uniform, he was probably a new student at Gaoyu, too.

There were only a few famous redheads among the first-years, but Yuki didn't know which one he was.

While Yuki wondered who the redhead was, someone nearby explained the situation to the delinquent-looking boy.

After hearing what was going on, Ryuen Kakeru was annoyed. He'd gotten up early to catch the bus, planning to head to his new school and start an entertaining reign.

But after waking from a nap, he was still stuck on the road.

That was infuriating enough. Then the endless racket around him was like a flame, finally setting off the powder keg that was Ryuen.

BANG!!

He stood up and kicked the bus door hard. It shuddered violently, and the entire noisy bus fell briefly silent at the crash.

"Bastard! What the hell are you doing?!"

Ryuen brushed aside the finger pointed at him and glared viciously at the office workers around him.

"Bunch of boring adults. What are you yelling about? You never shut up."

The commotion finally drew a response from the driver, who had been silent for a long time.

He glared angrily at Ryuen. "Don't damage anything on the bus. I'm already doing my best to get us there."

"Your best? You've spent more than ten minutes going fifty meters. I could walk faster than that!"

"That's because of the traffic! You think I don't want to go faster?"

"The sidewalk's pretty wide. Why not drive on it?"

Everyone on the bus froze. It was an idea no one had even considered.

"You... is that how you talk to your elders?" The bus driver's face visibly flushed red.

Watching all the shouting, Yuki couldn't help feeling a little troubled. Both his hands were gently covering his fiancée's ears, afraid the noise would wake her.

Still, he wanted to put an end to this farce. He quickly freed one hand, took out his phone, and sent a message. Then he covered the girl's ears again.

Less than three minutes later, the road ahead seemed to clear. The traffic was noticeably moving more freely.

Once they'd left the congested stretch behind, many of the passengers let out a sigh of relief.

Before long, the bus finally reached the school where Yuki would spend the next three years.

—Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School.

"Tomie, wake up. We're at school."