Chapter 19

On a quiet afternoon the young members of the art club were gathered in the club room, most of them looking out of the window without really doing anything. They were enjoying the last bit of sun shine. Even though summer had already passed, and Autumn was on its way, the sun still had a lot of power. September had only just begun and the students could still feel the summer holiday taking its toll on them. Their bodies had barely gotten used to being back at school again, and they longed for those fun summer days.

Iyori, most of all, were missing those days. She still couldn’t get used to the long school days, especially since Shuya made sure she didn’t skip classes, and even after school was over, he wouldn’t let her go. That was also the reason for why she was sitting in the club room along with the rest of the members.

“I want to go back in time and relive the summer holidays again,” said Mei and rested her head on the table.

“I think we all want that,” said Keiko. “But we can’t wish ourselves back in time, what’s passed is passed.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” whined Mei.

“I... I was looking forward to coming back,” said Noriko, a bit hesitant, and everyone sent her a confused look. “W... What? I was looking forward to seeing you all again.”

“We just saw each other at the beach,” said Iyori, but seeing Noriko’s sad expression made her swallow her words. “I mean, it’s a nice thought, I’m happy you missed us.”

“I know we just saw each other. But now we can see each other every day! I know you all miss the holidays, but I like being with all of you, doing our club activities and hanging out every day.”

“I think it’s sweet,” said Yusuke. “don’t mind the others, I know they’ve missed it too.”

“Speak for yourself,”  said Iyori. “Yes it’s nice to hang out, but not in school.”

“Come on, school isn’t that bad,” said Shuya and nudged Iyori slightly with his elbow. “Maybe you don’t enjoy going to class, but I know there are some things you enjoy here. And at least you can look forward to our class field trip coming up.”

“Class trip! That’s right, how could I forgot!” yelled Mei and sat up straight, having regained a newfound energy from Shuya’s statement.

“I think someone is looking forward to our class trip,” said Keiko and laughed.

“Of course I’m looking forward to it, I have been since I was a first year,” said Mei. “A 5 day trip, first to Tokyo and then ending the trip in Kyoto.” Mei’s eyes were shining bright like the stars when she spoke.

“I’m so jealous,” said Noriko and let out a sigh. “Our trip is just a 1 day trip.”

“It’s the same for us 2nd year students,” said Yusuke.

“We’ve all been there, you just have to be patient,” said Mei.

“See, there is something to look forward to, right Iyori?” said Shuya and nudged Iyori again, but she barely gave a reaction.

“I’m not going.”

The club room went silent and everyone stared at Iyori, confused and shocked at the same time.

“What?” muttered everyone, almost simultaneously. 

“Why not?” said Shuya then.

“I already went,” said Iyori and everyone looked even more confused, so Iyori let out a sigh and continued. “I went with my class last year.” As if a light bulb turned on in everyone’s head, they again went silent, not knowing how to respond.

“Iyori, did you repeat a year?” asked Noriko carefully and everyone held their breaths.

“Yes,” answered Iyori in short. “And I know the class trip is the same every year, so I don’t feel like going. I’ve been to the Emperor’s palace. I’ve been to the art museum in Kyoto. I’ve been to Tokyo Tower.”

“We’re going to Tokyo Tower?” said Shuya, as if he hadn’t heard anything besides that one sentence. Nobody really paid any attention to Shuya’s remark, instead they kept their focus on Iyori.

“Are you really not going?” said Mei with huge sad eyes.

“Y... Yeah,” said Iyori without looking directly at her.

“But why not?” said Shuya, finally regained his senses. “yes, yes, I know, you already went, but that was with your old class and your old friends. What about us? Do we mean nothing to you?”

“Let it be, Shuya, you can’t guilt trip my into going, besides, why do you care so much whether I’m going or not? Just go and enjoy yourself with the others,” said Iyori in a firm tone. Shuya was about to speak up, but Iyori just continued. “Stop, don’t speak of it anymore, I won’t yield. Unless the school decides to suddenly go somewhere new, I’m not going!”

“So you’re saying that there’s still a chance you might go?” said Shuya with a smirk.

“What? Are you even listening to me?” said Iyori annoyed. The rest of the members just stared at the two as they went back and forth on the matter.

“You just said you would go if the school decides to visit a new place, a place you didn’t go with your old class.” Iyori looked at Shuya with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s true, I did say that, but only because I know the school will never change their plans, especially not last minute,” said Iyori. “The school has regular appointments and deals with all these places they go to visit, that’s how they can afford it, there’s no way they’ll change anything. Besides, I don’t want them to change it, because I don’t want to go, no matter what. I mean, I get some time off from school.”

“Actually,” said Mei and raised her hand. “I think you have to come to school everyday and study if you aren’t going.”

“Yes, yes,” said Iyori, everyone well aware of what she meant by those words. 

Having realized they probably couldn’t make Iyori yield, most of the members started talking about other things; Noriko even found her art supplies and Yusuke helped her with her sketches, but Iyori continued looking out of the window, not moving an inch, and Shuya stayed next to her, staring at her without knowing what to say.

Time moved by in a flash, and when the sun was about to set everyone started packing up their stuff to leave for the day. Iyori was quick to dash out of the door, but Shuya was faster and he quickly caught up to her and grabbed her hand.

“You... Are you really not going?” said Shuya and looked at Iyori, a hint of sadness visible when Iyori looked at him.

“No, I’m not,” said Iyori a pulled her arm away. “Why does it bother you so much? Isn’t it already enough that you force me to come to school every day? You force me to join the club activities? Do you just enjoy forcing me to do things I don’t want to do?”

“No... that’s not it...” said Shuya and looked at the ground.

“Then what is it?” said Iyori. “Is it because you’ll be bored without someone to annoy during the trip?”

“That’s not it!” said Shuya again, this time louder and more firmly, making Iyori widen her eyes for a second.

“What’s going on here, aren’t you guys going home?” said Yusuke, who had caught up to them and was now standing next to Shuya.

“I was, this guy won’t let me,” said Iyori. “He keeps telling me to go on the trip, but he won’t tell me why.”

“Well that’s easy,” said Yusuke and Shuya immediately sent him a glare, but to no avail. “It’s because he’ll miss you if you aren’t there.”

“What?” said Iyori and laughed, but there was no hint of laughter on Shuya’s face. “Why are you looking so stiff, Yusuke made a joke, you should be laughing too.” Shuya stayed quiet, Iyori and Yusuke doing the same.

“Nevermind, I’m going home,” said Shuya then and walked past Iyori without a glance. 

Left behind in the hallway, Iyori and Yusuke stayed in the same spot, until Yusuke was the first one to speak up.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said that,” said Yusuke and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Don’t mind him, he’s probably just tired or hungry or something,” said Iyori and brushed it off. “He teases people all the time, but he can’t take a joke when it’s about himself. Anyway, I’ll be going too. See you tomorrow.”

“Sure,” said Yusuke and waved at Iyori as she walked down the hallway. He then picked up his own bag and let out a sigh before moving along.

“I mean, it wasn't really a joke.”

***

Looking across the classroom where every student sat down at their desk after greeting the teacher good morning, Fuyoko cleared her throat and started speaking.

“Before we begin today’s lessons, I want to spend a little bit of time to discuss our upcoming class trip.” The energy in the class changed completely and everyone looked up in excitement, at least everyone expect one specific person.

Maybe I should’ve skipped classes today after all, thought Iyori to herself as she sneaked a peak at her phone, thinking about whether to check in to work or not. If she was quick she could pack up her bag while Fuyoko was busy explaining everything, and she would be out of there in no time.

Iyori took a deep breath, preparing for her grand escape, when suddenly, the classmate seated next to her poked her shoulder.

'What?' mouthed Iyori without making a sound, but the boy just handed her a folded piece of paper. Confused and curious at the same time, Iyori unfolded the paper and read the sentence written on it.

“Don’t you dare skip classes. Sit back and pay attention.” Iyori turned around and made eye contact with Shuya who sent her a glare. Iyori stuck out her tongue, but Shuya just made a gesture to get her to turn around and pay attention to Fuyoko.

Iyori rolled her eyes in response, but in the end she did as he wanted and turned around on her chair and looked towards the front of the class.

“I’m sure most of you already know the content of this class trip, you have been hearing about it since the beginning of your High School days and I’m sure the previous third years have told you all about it as well,” said Fuyoko, who had only briefly explained the stops they would be making on the trip. “But I have a surprise for all of you, because this year we will do something new. There will be an extra stop on our trip.” Everyone looked at Fuyoko with even more attention than before, and even Iyori couldn't hold herself back from feeling slightly curious.

I’m sure it’s something really boring and pathetic, thought Iyori.

“On our last day in Kyoto, we are going to be visiting the Kyoto Cake Museum.” Nobody seemed to bat an eye at Fuyoko’s statement, but Iyori’s eyes were wide open. “The entrance tickets, plus food and drinks are already payed for, all of it sponsored by Shuya’s father, Hayato Takahashi.” One would’ve thought Iyori’s eyes couldn’t open any wider, but one would have to think again, because they almost fell out of her head as she spun around on her chair and stared directly at Shuya. He just looked back at her with a satisfied smirk plastered all over his face.

Fuyoko kept explaining about the Cake museum, while the students listened as closely as their short attention span allowed them to, whereafter she went over the practical things for the trip and everything else they needed to know. When she finally finished going over everything, she quickly moved on to the normal lesson, but Iyori hadn’t heard a word she had said, and she wasn’t able to pay attention to anything she taught during that lesson. She just counted the seconds until the bell finally rang and she quickly dashed off, grabbing Shuya before he could even stand up from his chair.

“What is going on?” said Iyori as she stared intensely at Shuya. “Why is your dad sponsoring a trip to the Kyoto Cake Museum?”

“Well, you were so sure the school wouldn’t change anything on this trip. I just love to prove you wrong,” said Shuya with the same smirk he wore on his face earlier.

“You really went through all that trouble just to annoy me?” said Iyori, her expression slowly changing from confusion to frustration. “And why would your dad even agree to this?”

“Because I asked him,” said Shuya, but Iyori looked like she didn’t quite believe him and Shuya let out a sigh. “Fine, maybe I asked him a lot of times. And maybe I got my mom in on the idea so she could help me persuade him.” Iyori just stared at Shuya with her mouth agape, barely able to make sense of the words coming out of his mouth.

“B... But why? Why the Cake Museum?”

“I wanted to prove you wrong, but I also wanted to do it in a way that would ensure you would go on the trip,” said Shuya and continued. “I remember you talking about it during one of our study sessions.”

“I did?” said Iyori. “Why do you even remember that? I say so much crap, I thought you just let it pass right through your ears.”

“Most of the time yes,” said Shuya and laughed. “Anyway, are you gonna join the trip then?” Iyori looked at the floor for a while, thinking about how to respond, all the while Shuya felt his heart beating faster and faster.

“I... I don’t know...” said Iyori, a bit hesitant. “I don’t think so.”

“What?” yelled Shuya and made Iyori jump. “But you said–”

“I know what I said, but that wasn’t something I said to make you pull all your strings and connections to change the plans for me. I don’t want to go, can’t you just leave it be already? I never asked for any of this.”

“No!” said Shuya, anger and frustration written all over his face.

“Why?” answered Iyori who was also starting to become more angry.

“Because!” said Shuya.

“Because what? Because you want me to walk around with the constant reminder that I went on this trip already since I failed and had to repeat a year? Do you want to break me mentally or what?”

“No...”

“Then what? What is it?” Shuya opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again, looking down at the floor, unable to come up with a convincing reason.

“Ah... ah I see...” said Iyori then and Shuya lifted his face again. “Maybe Yusuke was right. Maybe you really will be lonely without me there. Is that it? You will miss me if I don’t go on the trip?”

“Yes.” The words came fast, and they surprised Iyori, but Shuya’s face was plain as day.

“W... What?” stuttered Iyori.

“It’s true. I will be lonely if you don’t come. I know it’s selfish. I know you don’t want to go. But you’re the first friend I made in this school and I want to go with y– I mean I want to go with everyone. I want to make memories in my last year of High School.” Shuya stopped talking and looked at Iyori whose eyes were still staring at him in shock. No one said anything for a while and it was completely quiet around them. Almost every student had left and gone to the Cafeteria, or went outside for a bit of fresh air, so the classroom was almost empty. A few more seconds went by until Iyori shook her head, finally waking up and getting back to reality.

“I didn’t know you were such a softie,” said Iyori, a bit snarky. “Making memories? What are you, a girl? It sounds like something taken straight out of a Shoujo manga.” Shuya let out a sigh and got up from his chair.

“Nevermind I said anything,” said Shuya and started walking to the door. “Go, don’t go. I don’t care.” Shuya took another step forward, one foot in the hallway and one foot in the classroom, when Iyori’s voice stopped him.

“I’ll go.” In a quick motion Shuya turned around and looked at Iyori.

“What did you say?”

“Friendship... making memories... all that crap... I’ll go and do it all...”

“Really?” said Shuya, a huge smile making its way to his lips.

“Yes, I already said so, how many times do you want me to repeat myself?”

“Awesome!” said Shuya and made a fist in joy.

“You know, for a top student, you really act like a kid sometimes,” said Iyori and walked up next to Shuya. “Get a move on, we need to hurry if we want to eat lunch before next period.”

“Ah sure,” said Shuya and started walking, Iyori right beside him.

“Oh, just one last thing,” said Shuya and looked to the side, making eye contact with Iyori. “Are we really going to the top of Tokyo Tower?”

Hello everyone!

I hope you're doing well and are staying warm in these cold months, at least it's cold in Denmark right now, but I'm rather enjoying the Winter. We had a lot of snow and I love to stay inside, sitting under a warm blanket and watching TV.

I also hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. The last few chapters have been a lot of build up, but I mean, that's necessary too sometimes. 

Thank you for reading and take good care of yourself!

Love, Annalise~