Ch.262School Trip (1)

Thanks to the democratic process at school, we ended up going to Kyoto after all.

‘Well… we did go to Kyoto in the original game too.’

I had hoped we might go somewhere else since they presented multiple options for voting, but no such luck.

However, even though the faculty got their way, the students were like excited puppies. Everyone had already entered field trip mode and was discussing what to do. Whether it was Kyoto or anywhere else, a school trip was just plain fun.

It was standard practice to form groups for the field trip. Out of the four days, two would be spent following a guide, and the remaining two would be free time—a solid lineup.

“This is your only field trip during your first year of high school, so form groups with whoever you want,” our homeroom teacher said with a smile.

Forming groups with people you want to be with… that would be brutal for loners. Someone would inevitably be left out!

‘Well, that’s not my problem right now.’

I wanted to spend plenty of happy time with my girlfriends. For me, forming groups freely was exactly what I wanted.

I packed my group tight with me, Eri, Umi, Taiga, Tina, and Kana. It was my class’s harem all-star lineup.

“Everyone’s a girl except for him. Hehehe. Lucky bastard,” Taiga said with a snicker.

“Yeah… I’m the happiest man in the world,” I nodded in agreement.

But… I was lacking in male friends.

Then I spotted Sasitsu with my eagle eyes. It seemed he was planning to enjoy the trip in a group of just him and Prill, leaving me behind.

“Hey!!! Sasitsu!!!! That’s not cool.”

I immediately blocked Sasitsu as he was about to submit his group members.

“Shota!! Are you trying to get in my way?!”

Sasitsu immediately got angry.

“We’re friends!! We should hang out together in Kyoto!!!”

I blocked the teacher’s desk. At this moment, I was like Zhang Fei stopping Cao Cao at the bridge.

“Argh!!! I want to go on a date with just the two of us!! We’re always together during nighttime activities anyway!!”

Sasitsu tried to break free from my pressure. However, I blocked him with fancy footwork.

“Hehehe. Not happening.”

I blocked Sasitsu like a stubborn defender.

“Fine!! We can be in the same group!!”

Sasitsu finally gave up.

“Victory!!!”

I immediately absorbed Sasitsu’s group into ours.

“Are you two… really friends?”

Eri threw in a sarcastic comment watching us.

Anyway, that’s how our full party was formed.

———-

The excitement of the field trip filled the entire school.

Umi was reading a book she normally wouldn’t touch.

It was a Kyoto travel guidebook.

“Umi… reading a book.”

I shed tears of emotion.

“Hey!! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Umi immediately got angry.

“Anyway, where should we go? Since we’re traveling, we should make the most of it!!”

Eri shouted enthusiastically.

I also… enthusiastically kneaded the inside of Eri’s chest with my hand inside her shirt.

“Seriously… Shota. Every chance you get!”

Eri giggled and smacked me repeatedly.

“Eri… you’re showing your leopard-print bra through your shirt!”

Seriously… everything about her was so gyaru-like and incredibly sexy!!

“I know you like leopard print, Shota. Hehehe.”

Eri was faithfully fulfilling her boyfriend’s preferences.

“Really!! You temptress!!”

I became even more enthusiastic.

“Shota. I’m wearing leopard print too!”

Umi slightly revealed her chest.

“Umi, come here too!!”

I immediately began to indulge in Umi’s chest as well.

“Shota. I bought one online too.”

Tina also started showing off her leopard print.

“I have good compatibility with leopard print too!! My name Taiga means tiger, after all.”

Taiga also lifted her shirt like Superman changing clothes.

“Everyone come here!!!!”

I was falling into a frenzy. I was surrounded by pretty and cute tigers!!

In this atmosphere, I couldn’t help but ask Kana too.

“Kana… are you wearing leopard print too?”

I looked inside Kana’s shirt. Damn!! The weather had cooled down so Kana wasn’t sweating enough! If she had been sweating, her shirt would have been see-through!!!

“N-no matter what, I couldn’t wear something like that outside!! It looks too trashy!”

Kana shouted with a blushing face.

“Hmm… can’t be helped! But Kana is cute anyway!!”

I just hugged everyone.

“Tigers everywhere!! I can’t take it!!! I need to call the Mountain Tiger!!”

This calls for the Mountain Tiger song.

“The Mountain Tiger’s birthday has come!!! All the forest animals gather for a ball!!!”

I immediately sang the children’s song.

“You’re too loud! Shota!!”

Sasitsu shouted loudly. Yeah, I was being a bit too noisy.

Plus… I could feel the jealous stares from the guys around us. Right. I should restrain my displays of affection.

“So. Where are we going? Pointy-head. I don’t know much about Earth.”

Prill directed a question at me.

“Well… when in Kyoto… KyoAni!!”

I stated what was obviously common sense. It’s Kyoto’s pride, after all.

“Ugh… more otaku talk…”

Umi made a disgusted face.

“Why!! It’s Japan’s pride!!”

Regular people might not be able to enter the studio… but they should at least sell merchandise, right?

“KyoAni… hmm. Not bad.”

Sasitsu’s expression showed a hint of interest. See, you like it too.

“No. I hate it. Last time we went to that otaku-ish game show place, it drained all my energy. I really hate it.”

Taiga cut me off firmly.

“I see…..”

I immediately deflated.

“Then let’s go with the recommended course in this guidebook.”

As expected of Eri. She suggested the most standard option.

Yeah. The guidebook had all the courses that every otaku knows—Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto University walking path, the Philosopher’s Path—along with subway route maps. Actually, just visiting these places would be fine. The subway map was the most helpful part. Japan’s subway maps are absolute chaos. There are so many lines that it’s not optimized. The map was more complex than most metroidvania games.

“If… possible, Ikedaya too…..”

Sasitsu timidly voiced his opinion.

“Okay.”

Ikedaya. It was the kind of place Sasitsu would like. Otakus like the Shinsengumi and such. They’re organizations that often appear in manga, like Ru*ouni Kenshin or Gin*ama.

“Sasitsu. Don’t get caught up in the atmosphere and buy a wooden sword or something.”

I seriously advised him.

“I-I graduated from that in middle school!”

Sasitsu immediately got angry. Hmm… he’s probably going to buy something.

Anyway, we roughly planned our free activity route.

And then, Tina opened the conversation.

“But… are we all going to go together? I want to be alone with Shota…”

Tina asked.

At those words, the atmosphere suddenly froze.

“Wouldn’t it take too much time to allocate dates with each person one by one?”

I cleared my throat and said.

“Well, that’s true.”

Eri took my baton and summarized the conversation.

“We can all have fun together, and Shota can work hard to make us all happy.”

Eri said with a bright smile.

“Yeah… that’s right.”

I nodded. Well, it was the duty of a harem owner. I had to satisfy everyone.

The field trip was from the first Wednesday to Saturday of September.

“Will the September dungeon appear whether we go on the field trip or not?”

Sasitsu sighed with a tired expression.

“Yeah, it will.”

We could tackle it after the field trip, but… between recovering from travel fatigue and doing other things, time would fly by. Some people might unfortunately become shut-ins while the dungeon was open.

“Let’s get it over with during the field trip.”

I said.

Our specs were sufficient anyway. We could clear it in advance.

‘I’ll raise the community levels as I go.’

Sasitsu needed to unlock his final psycho-robot soon. While writing for the contest, I planned to raise community levels as much as possible.

———-

So, after school, we went home. It felt sinfully good to have only morning classes until third period and then go home. I felt like an elementary school kid.

I went to the kendo dojo early as usual and trained. After finishing at the dojo, I worked on my contest entry and continued my existing series. Even for me, serializing two works simultaneously was tough. My existing work was heading toward its conclusion.

As evening approached, I got up and changed my clothes.

“Shota. Are you going out? It’s almost dinner time.”

Eri addressed me in an excellent pose, wearing just an apron over her leopard-print underwear.

“Ah. Eat without me today. I have something to do.”

I shrugged and said.

That’s right. There was a community event that only opened in the evening. It was a generous community where levels rose steadily just by meeting, without needing to do individual intimacy tasks.

“Hmm… Shota. You’re working for us, right? Then go ahead.”

Eri seemed to have guessed that what I was doing was necessary. I was grateful that she trusted me like that.

“I’ll be back later.”

I smiled and walked out.

——–

At a famous fast-food chain downtown. There was a boy with a backpack.

The boy was standing in front of the fast-food place with an expression that said he wasn’t having any fun at all.

And the event appeared exactly as in the first encounter.

“Hey kid. Don’t want to eat alone? Want us to join you?”

Some obviously sketchy men surrounded the boy.

“You’ll… eat with me?”

The boy said with a smile.

“Of course. But you pay for everything. And if possible, hand over all the money in your wallet too.”

The men grinned as they threatened the boy.

It was pathetic even when I saw it in the game… but seeing it in reality made it even more disgusting. Were they so desperate for money that they had to extort a child?

“Hey high schoolers! Got nothing better to do than extort money from a kid?”

I called out to the guys.

“Who are you? Pointy-head.”

The thugs immediately turned their attention to me.

At that moment, the thugs’ expressions hardened.

“You’re… Arigiri Shota? Heard you’ve been making quite a name for yourself.”

The thugs surprisingly recognized me.

Oh. Have I become somewhat famous in this small town?

“Get lost. Stop intimidating a kid. Go home and jerk off or something.”

I said.

“Fine. I’ve been thinking about stomping you someday… this works out.”

The thugs immediately cracked their knuckles.

Yeah. These aren’t the type to listen to reason. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

“………”

The boy was looking at me with surprised eyes.