“Wha-what the heck?!!”

“Please make us your underlings! Aniki!”

“Why?!!”

“We heard what you did to Boss and feel like changing for the better good! Please let us lend a hand in changing this school”.

What is happening? As soon as their suspension ended they came to this room and act like this….

“Kaichou…what should I do?”

“Not my problem”.

She answered my question without a single thought.

What should I do to them? They might be a nuisance but they do look genuine wanting to change.

“Ahh…..then do as you please…..”

“Thank you, Aniki!”

They just left the room after I agreed to them…damn this is weird, seems like I’m some kind of mafia or something…err what kind of mess had I gotten myself into?

After they left the room

“Nice gloves bro! Looks good”.

“Ah Sasaki-san, thanks, these gloves help me with recovering this hand”.

“Oh yeah..the acid…hopefully you get well soon bro”.

“What are you talking about? I’m as healthy as a horse! Hehehe,” I said with a convincing smile.

Making people feel worried is not my thing, I rather keep it to myself than for everyone to know.

It seems I am contradicting myself quite often these days.

“Let’s get to work! Yosh!”

The days passed by and I noticed that the other students seem to be acting weird towards me…not the usual disgust, more like….afraid…that doesn’t make any sense…

Additionally, they also had reduced the amount of insult to me, I wonder why…

They usually would be like ‘peasant’ ‘dog’ ‘mongrel’ something like that, but nowadays the harassment is more like ignorance in my existence.

Like when the teacher was handing out papers, I would be the only person to not get one, but Chiba is very kind as to take one for me every time, what a saint!

As I patrolled the school area, as usual, one day, I noticed the ex-bullies seem to be up to something no good cornering a student.

“What? Haven’t they learned their lesson yet?” as I run approaching them.

“Oy…are you guys still bullying? Come on-”

Wait, something’s different about this.

Upon further inspection, it seems that I have misunderstood their actions, but what exactly are they doing?

“What..are you guys doing?”

“Oh Aniki! We were just promoting you to the other students to gain more trust and respect in you!”

“Wh-what?! Please elaborate…”

“As you know, you are the most disgusted person in this school because you’re just a commoner that has no wealth whatsoever,”

Look who’s saying…

“So we asked ourselves, what can we do to help Aniki gain trust and respect in this school? Then we came up with this idea, by forcing the students to respect you using our intimidation technique!”

“You’re threatening them?”

“Precisely!” he said with a proud face.

“So that’s why the other students were acting weird around me…”

“How do you like it Aniki?”

“Please stop it, it’s taking an opposite effect…..they just feared me even though I don’t want them to…”

“But you said we can do as we please?”

As you please huh….

I should’ve phrased it better…

“Okay then, rather than doing this crap, I entrust you to keep an eye on the students from any wrongdoings, can you do that?”

“Yessir!”

“Oh, and keep an eye on them from within the shadows, become the vigilantes of this school that works from the shadows”.

“That’s so cool!! We won’t disappoint you, Master!”

“Now it’s Master eh…”

“Go! Perform your duties as if your lives depend on it!”

The group immediately went out of sight.

Sheesh..that should stop them from weird things…..I hope so.

…

“Class, today we are going to discuss the groups for the upcoming school trip to Kyoto,” Ishizaki-sensei said to the class.

School trip! From the countless animes that I have watched, school trips are where students usually strengthen their relationship and sometimes develop feelings for each other.

School trips are also events that students will remember like a memory to cherish during school days.

“You kids decide your groups for yourselves while I take a nap, goodnight…”

Just like that, she fell into a deep slumber.

The classroom is awfully loud today, they must be as excited to go on the trip as I am right now. But first, I need to find a team…

Looking from my friend list…not so much of a friend list I’d say, Chiba is the only one who is friends with me, it would be natural for me to ask him first.

“Chiba! Do you have a team already?”

“Yeah man, sorry we’re already full”

“Oh that’s fine, don’t worry”.

Seems like the only person with whom I socialize in this class already has a team for the trip.

Well, I guess that’s already been expected, looking at how he’s in a sports team, of course, he would have friends anywhere…..

Wait, there’s one more person, judging from the situation and how the person acts towards other people, the person will most likely……

I turned my head towards the middle front of the class,

Just as I thought, Kaichou, there she was sitting quietly in her seat….

No one seems to be around her meaning she doesn’t have a team yet!

Not wasting any time, I got up from my seat and approached Kaichou,

“Wanna group up?”

The whole class went into a state of silence.

Eh, what’s with this atmosphere?

“You’re……..grouping up with the council president?”

Chiba asked me as something is not right.

“Yeah, why? Is it not allowed sensei?”

“Ahh…uh…sure, go ahead…” she woke up from her slumber and went straight back into it.

The whole class seems a bit surprised, I know the fact that she doesn’t have any friends but this kind of reaction is uncalled for, it’s a bit rude I’d say.

“Well? Do you wanna?”

I said to her while squatting down, only my upper head from the eyes are visible to Kaichou.

I just realize that viewing her face from this angle, so damn gorgeous…

“Do as you please”.

Didn’t quite expect that answer, but ok.

“Well then, we gonna need one more person”

I went and asked everyone in the class whether they already have a group,

“Eh, everyone else already got a group..”

Suddenly the sleeping beauty woke up,

“Oh yeah…there’s going to be one group with two people, just like last year…..erh…nevermind…” sensei said something incomplete.

“Hm? What’s that?”

That unfinished announcement, I think I might be able to deduce it. This year’s student in this class is 42, and there appear to be 13 groups consists of 3 students in each group. So there will be one group consists of two students……then…..does that mean……

It all makes sense…their initial reaction when I suggested being in the same group as Kaichou, but why did I sense that Chiba was worried for me? Well….either way……

She’s alone…

“That’s….cruel….”

“Yosh! Kaichou, let’s make this trip the best you ever had!”

Kaichou looked at me as I spouted those words.

The only thing I’m confused about is that why did she not ask to be in any other team before?

I mean it won’t hurt to have another extra person in a team right?

Or is she the one who refuses to be in a group?

…..

On the night before the trip,

Everything had been planned and researched thoroughly the routes that our school is taking, there are a few hidden places that look very nice, I’m gonna show Kaichou those sights to make up for the lost trips that she had to walk alone.

Even though I’m not sure why I’m doing this…

It feels like the right thing to do.

Is this the reason for my existence? Because if I think about ignoring the whole situation, somehow I feel like it’s better to kill myself than letting this be as it is…

The morning arrived….but, I caught a fever all of a sudden…

“Why???”

This won’t do, I can’t let a mere fever stop my plan.

Then I’ll just hide it, I don’t see any other choices available right now.

As long as I’m not caught, I’m good to go.

The day has come that the students had been waiting for, the school trip of the last year in high school, this event is known to be the most exciting thing that students nowadays look forward to, traveling to distant places with friends, making sweet and perhaps bitter memories along the way that will forever be remembered.

As for me, this happens to be my first high school trip, so I’m super pumped up about it! Just can’t wait to enter the world of history.

“Here we are, Kyoto….” sensei said with a sleepy face.

How is this woman a teacher? She’s sleepy all the time…I can’t remember a time when she’s actually energized in the slightest.

Just a few minutes of walking from the station, we arrived at quite a nice looking hotel.

“This is where we will be residing for the next 3 days, get some rest and we’ll start the tour later…..goodnight”

Goodnight…it seems like someone is going to resume her slumber…

One room will accommodate 3 students, and they are already decided randomly, hmm? Seems like the class is the same but will they be pleased if I stayed in the same room as them? With this fever, I might infect them and ruin their trip…..

The room’s size is not too big and not too small, I would say perfect for 3 persons, I placed my bags and belongings beside my bed.

Why are they being somewhat awkward? Perhaps they’re not pleased with me being here.

“Oh, don’t mind me, you don’t need to socialize with me if you don’t want to, please make yourself comfortable, I’ll be heading out soon”.

“Wha-what are you talking about? We don’t dislike you, we’re just a bit afraid of you….” one of them said.

Afraid? Why?

“Eh? Why?”

“Well, earlier in school, we were threatened by some guys saying we should respect you or something like that, if not we’re going to get hit,”

Should’ve seen this coming……

“Ahah..that’s just a joke by those guys, don’t take them seriously,” I said to them with a reassuring facial expression.

“Is that so, then let’s be friends,”

One of them said while offering a handshake to me.

Friends…

“Of course!”

“My name’s Narukami Masahiro and this guy is Uehara Takeo, nice to be friends with you fuku kaichou”.

*Fuku Kaichou means vice president

“Eh, don’t call me that, just call me Hitori”.

“Ow, okay then Hitori-san”.

What a surprising turn of events, I made new friends and the trip hasn’t even started yet….no no I don’t have time to enjoy myself too much, I need to focus on giving Kaichou the best trip!

As we begin the trip, the smaller group split up and formed bigger groups, but sensei doesn’t seem to care.

If this was the case, then would Kaichou at least followed one of the big groups?

“Kaichou, are you all alone during past school trips?”

“I told you I don’t need any friends, touring alone is interesting in it’s own way”.

“Ohh…is that so…”

Somehow I can sense that every word in that line is a total lie.

We toured around a temple for quite some time, I just let Kaichou follow me around, little did she know that I had something to surprise her.

It appears that we are closing in on the first hidden attraction.

“Ah here, let’s go here Kaichou”.

“Where does that lead to?”

“You’ll eventually find out, let’s go!”

Kaichou proceeds to follow Hitori into the hidden path. The scene along the path was as if she’s in a movie, the vines covered in flowers, old-looking pavements with a moderate amount of moss covering the floor in a line, and the sight of someone desperately trying to navigate through the path. It was heartwarming, her eyes sparkled in amazement by the beauty of the sight.

“Here we are……eh……no way…..”

Why is the tree not here?

But the site said that there would be a small tree with the height of a human here, but all I could see was a speck of empty dirt in the middle of this place…

“What am I supposed to be looking at here?” Kaichou then asked me.

“There was supposed to be a nice looking tree here….maybe it got chopped down….”

“Well, that’s unfortunate”.

“Huh…..don’t worry! Let’s get back and continue our original route,” I said while trying to catch my breath.

“Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine, look I can still run!” I then ran in a circle around Kaichou to prove I’m fine.

“Ladies first,” I said to Kaichou for her to go ahead of me.

She then went to the path to go back first leaving me here alone for a while.

Haaahhh……just a bit more….better catch up.

“Wait for me Kaichou!”

After I exited the entrance to the path, Kaichou asked me,

“How do you know about this place?”

I guess it wouldn’t be fun if I told her I used a lot of time to search for this.

“Oh, I just happened to notice it along the way”.

“Look, the views from here are also nice in a way, quite a lot of tourists I’d say”.

People enjoying themselves here, the looks on their faces are filled with joy, setting aside their problems and simply enjoying the moment with their friends and families, it’s a very heartwarming scenery I’d say. It’s so great to be alive.

We strolled along the path looking at monuments, historical buildings, and such before returning to the hotel rooms. It’s getting dark and no activities are allowed past 8 to avoid any trouble.

Meanwhile in the hotel room,

My body feels very warm…the cold’s not going away…but I got another place to show Kaichou tomorrow…just a bit more…I can do it.

“Hitori-kun, wanna play a game, we brought some card games, eheh,” Narukami invited Hitori to a game of cards.

“Oh! Watch me beat your asses kih kih”

The night went along like that after a few hours when they finally went to sleep.

I can’t sleep, my body’s too hot I might literally melt right here, guess I’ll take some fresh air outside.

Oh, a vending machine, might as well get something to drink, this looks good.

I brought the drink with me on a walk,

Whoa! What a magnificent view, it looks like I’m in some kind of isekai or something.

“Gotta share this with Kaichou”

I quickly pulled out my phone

“come outside, nice view :)”

I sent her a message with an attached picture of my selfie with an eye-catching view of the nighttime.

“Not coming?”

“Guess I’ll just spam her some pictures then”.

I began spamming pictures to Kaichou as I stroll around the place.

Little did he know someone was following him around while he took the pictures.

…

“What could that idiot be doing at night”.

Once she noticed the view,

“Whoa..it really is beautiful…”

As Hitori walked further, I just followed him from an undetectable distance.

Hitori looks so happy taking those pictures, they are just a bunch of pictures, nothing to be excited about.

My hand reached the pocket to grab my phone,

“Eh, I didn’t bring my phone?”

Being without my phone, Hitori appeared to walk further, I decided to follow him.

As I kept following Hitori around, the views that he walked through mesmerized me in different ways.

The chilly night breeze also brought about a nice sensation.

A thought came to my mind, isn’t what I’m doing the same as Hitori when we first met?

How ironic.

As I was savoring the beautiful scenery, I can’t seem to find Hitori anywhere…

Have I lost him?

“Hitori-kun? Wait I don’t recognize the roads here, I’ll just use my GPS then-”

I didn’t bring my phone….

Oh no….what do I do? What do I do?

Relax….no need to panic, let’s find a place to sit first and think of a way then,

I hate to admit that my sense of direction is terrible, why didn’t I think before following him…

The night is not very dark here as there are a lot of light sources, but where I’m sitting is quite secluded I’d say, there are multiple routes here, it’s as if I’m in a maze of flowers.

The night breeze kept on blowing the beautiful hair of a lost girl sitting on a bench.

This loneliness, just like before….I wonder if my life will always be filled with this feeling of being alone….it hasn’t changed a bit since that time, and I had also grown accustomed to this over time, something like a companion of mine…..but then, somehow, his presence made me feel like that loneliness never existed….now...

“I’m kind of scared to feel lonely again…”

“Why are you alone miss?” a voice of a man is heard from under the shadow of the trees.

A man? Why is he asking me with that sinister tone of voice?

Is he a bad guy? Judging by his appearance, dark color clothing that blends well in the shadows could possibly be a bad guy.

“Wha-what do you want? Sta-stay away”.

He’s approaching me slowly, his body gestures don’t seem like someone with an intention to help.

At that time, I remembered the conversation I had with Hitori that talked about being powerless in the eye of fear.

Is this what he meant by that? I can’t seem to be able to move my body, it’s trembling non-stop, what should I do?! Somebody help me!

“He-he-help”

No use, my voice won’t come out.

The man approached me slowly from the shadow, I can feel my face turned pale and my palms getting sweaty, before I knew it my body is trembling.

The man then came out of the shadow, he looked like he’s in his thirties.

What’s he going to do?! Please, anyone! Help me!

It’s no use, why’s my voice not coming out??!!

As the man came closer to me, he seems to be ogling at me with lecherous eyes.

“Hey, missy, wanna come to my house? I’ll treat you to some food hehehe~~”

“Do-don’t come a-any closer…”

“Why not? You seem like you’re not capable of doing anything either, let me help you find your way home okay~~”

NO. Somebody! Please…..I’m scared…

My body feels very weak, I can’t seem to gather enough strength to do anything.

I know it seems like I might be relying too much on you…

But at this moment there’s nothing I can think of that can save me except, you

“Hitori-kun!!”

I let out a shout, wouldn’t even call that a shout, more like a cry.

“Eh….what’s this? Some old pervert wanna take my woman home? That’s not nice….”

The voice of the person that sometimes annoy me appeared suddenly.

I looked around attempting to find the source of the voice.

A person seems to be standing under the light pole facing me.

“Who are you? don’t stick your nose around in someone else’s business, scram before I teach you a lesson kid!”

“Oh, sorry, guess I’ll just head back then”.

What do you mean head back?! Help me! Seems like I can’t get my voice out again.

The person then approached me from the light pole, his face become clearer as he gets closer.

My heart felt at ease when I see that face, Hitori.

As Hitori got closer to the man, he turned around to hit Hitori,

The gaze that Hitori gave him made his heart beating so fast that made his body collapsed from hyperventilation……

I could tell because I also felt that gaze, after all, I was just in front of him.

Looking at the gaze, nothing but murderous intent is present in them.

Looking at his eyes also felt like I’m looking at something empty that I can only see my clear reflection and somehow that made my vision very blurry…I might pass out…

…

“Heh, such big talks from a trash doesn’t intimidate me in the slightest,” I said and spit on the guy’s head.

If Kaichou weren’t there…your life won’t still be intact right now, scum.

I turned my head at Kaichou, she doesn’t seem conscious.

“Oh, Kaichou! Are you hurt anywhere?”

“She….fainted….I already knew you were following me…sorry to scare you like that…”

I carried Kaichou in my arms like a bridal carry back to the hotel which was quite a distance, I didn’t even realize that I had walked this far in the middle of the night…

Why did I do this? Well, it’s because carrying her in my back feels weirder to me at the very least, and she’s wearing a long skirt, doesn’t feel right…

…

I then woke up to the sensation of being carried around…

As I slowly open my eyes, the face of a man appeared in front of me, it somehow made my heart beat a lot faster.

“Eh…what happened?”

In confusion, I asked Hitori who was holding me.

“Oh you’re awake, don’t worry I called the securities near this area to catch that guy, he turned out to be quite a wanted man around here…lots of girls got molested by that man, hearing that……I regretted not giving him a beating…but you’re more important to me than just beating some stinky old man, hehe”.

Why are his words able to ease me?

Realizing how embarrassing it is to be held like this,

“Put me down!”

“Oh, sorry….can you walk properly? Your body seems awfully weak…”

“I’m fine, let’s go back before anyone notices”.

“Uh, yeah”.

We quickly went back to the hotel without saying anything to each other.

After getting ready to sleep, I checked my phone and found out that the pictures he took were sent to me,

He does look very happy taking these photos, but why?

He also called me his woman….what’s that supposed to mean, idiot.

…

The next day, we walked through a different route than yesterday, this one has more of an old city vibe than yesterday which was filled with nature.

Everything about this town felt like the original structure of the town is preserved here perfectly.

Such an awe-inspiring scene to behold.

“Whoa, they really do have cities like this back in the days huh, must be fun wearing those kinds of clothes everyday…”

Amidst my admiration for the beautiful town, I noticed that Kaichou is looking somewhat troubled.

…

This guy, how can he act like nothing happened last night, what did he mean by woman? How did he know I was there?

“Kaichou?”

I can’t seem to find a conclusion on the events of last night, why did I fainted? That feeling…..I felt like my soul had been taken away….. is that what he meant by the fear that overtook one’s mind?

…

“Kaichou? Hello, earth to Kaichou, earth to Kaichou”.

“Oh, what is it?”

“You kind of spaced out there, anything bothering you?”

“No-nothing, what is it then?”

“Are you hungry?”

“What’s with that question?”

“Well, I found a good place that sells these amazing takoyaki! Wanna go? Wanna go? Please~”

“Isn’t takoyaki available anywhere?”

“This one’s a bit different, I guess, either way, let’s try some!”

Kaichou just followed me around until we arrived at the place,

“Here we are, I think?”

I’m not very sure as I haven’t been here before.

“Looks like a normal takoyaki stall to me”.

“Well, my mother said that never judge a book by its cover,”

“...”

“Two sets please!”

“Coming right up!”

The sizzling sound of takoyaki being cooked and the aroma that it releases made my stomach even hungry while my mouth is filled with saliva…such delightful components.

I watched as the takoyaki being cooked from the start, staring at them while I almost forgot that Kaichou was standing right beside me all this time.

The only thing in my mind is takoyaki at that time…

“Here you go,”

I paid for both of the sets while leaving Kaichou hanging her money that was meant to pay for her takoyaki.

I purposely ignored her.

“It’s on me, hehe”.

“Are you purposely making me feel indebted to you or something?”

“What? How could you say that? My heart is all broken to pieces now..arghh,”

I tried to joke around...

“Consider this a token of my appreciation, believe it or not, meeting you somehow made my life a bit more meaningful…ah that sounds creepy as hell….pretend you didn’t hear that, let’s try the takoyaki shall we! Itadakimasu~”

As I took the first bite which was a whole takoyaki, the flavor burst and all that I could feel is heaven in my mouth…

“So good!!”

…

Kaichou wondered a bit,

They look pretty normal, but the look on his face seems like it might be good,

As I took the first bite,

This taste, texture, very delightful, how is this different than a normal takoyaki? I can’t really figure it out. It’s genuinely good. The taste even lingers around quite a while after swallowing it. Why am I feeling happy from consuming this spherical-shaped delicacy?

…

Noticing that Kaichou had taken her first bite, I looked at her savoring the takoyaki,

What a gorgeous smile….

“I see you have taken a liking towards those pretty normal-looking takoyaki”.

“It’s qu-quite a delight I’d say”.

“Be honest with yourself for once Kaichou, ki ki ki”.

“Let us continue our tour”.

“Hehe, got it, let’s go this way then”.

We both then continue touring around the historic city.

The second hidden attraction, it’s here.

“Oh, here, I found another hidden route, wanna come?”

“If you insisted”.

“Let’s go then”.

“This route seems a bit uneven and steep, watch your steps”.

Just as I finished that sentence, Kaichou misstepped on the pavements and was about to fall.

I quickly grabbed her hand to prevent her from falling…

“What did I just say? What a clumsy girl you are hihihi”.

“Silence! I was just a bit tired”.

I noticed her face had turned a bit reddish, was she blushing?

“Tired huh? I wonder where all your usual bravado had gone to….hihihi I’m joking, I’m joking, please don’t hate me”

After she got up, we continued walking along the irregularly shaped pavements with extra caution.

“Here…we….are…wooaahh! Hurry up Kaichou! You have got to take a look at this”.

Damn, that was too exhausting…I think I might die now…

…

“Let me guess, another tree-”

As I viewed the scenery that Hitori brought me to, I was speechless, the scene was….a mix of nature and old craftsmanship, it’s as if this place was from a different version of the world.

This view is indescribable, no words in this world are worthy to be used to describe such a view. But if I were to describe it, majestic is what I would use.

Looking at this scenery, my heart feels at peace, I feel very happy to be able to witness this. And it was all thanks to this idiot right here panting as if he needed respiratory support.

But why is he very kind to me? All I did was treat him less than an average person would. I just don’t get it.

…

“So how’s the view, Kai-”

Eh, I’m feeling dizzy…what’s…happening…is this my limit?

No, no, I need to at least get Kaichou safely back down first..that terrible sense of direction last night is going to be problematic to her if I pass out here.

“Kaichou, let’s get back, it’s getting quite late…”

“Just a few more minutes, it’s not every day you can see a view such as this,”

That’s the first I’ve seen her getting excited honestly. Well, a few minutes won’t hurt.

“We made it down, fuh fuh,”

My breathing is very rapid and might get noticed by Kaichou.

“Are you alright? Just now you talked down on my bravado, look who’s laughing no-”

“Eh? Hitori-kun, why are you laying on the ground? Hey, stop joking! Hitori-kun! Somebody! Help!”

…