Chapter 156 School Trip (5)

It was the first day of November, a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Toru Watanabe was reading a book at home. On the screen of his mobile phone on the table was a video that Kumiko had just sent him.

By the river, there were reeds as tall as humans, and a girl in a sailor suit was playing a solo on the euphonium.

"How's it going? Have you made a lot of progress?"

"The reeds are so tall. Kyoto's natural environment is really nice. Do you know the name of the river?"

"hold head high?"

He was about to reply when the phone screen suddenly showed an incoming call interface. It was Miss Qingye calling.

This is really the first time in history.

It could also be a once in a lifetime experience.

Watanabe Toru answered immediately.

"Missed me?" he said.

“…”

"Hello? Are you there, Kiyono-san?"

"Sophia University Library."

“Beep-beep-beep”

What's going on? Is this revenge for last night? Didn't he already use the dolphin doll as an apology gift?

Could it be that... you are shy because you are preparing to confess your love face to face?

Toru Watanabe took a light blue shirt and put it on over the white T-shirt with a Coke can printed on it, then took his keys, wallet, and cell phone and went out.

Starting from the apartment in Kioi-cho, walk along the slope called Kioi-zaka, and the ruins of Edo Castle will come into view in the distance.

Close to the ruins is the Marunouchi Line, which starts at Ogikubo Station in Suginami Ward and ends at Ikebukuro Station in Toshima Ward.

Toru Watanabe didn't have to go that far. He turned right halfway and arrived at his destination - Sophia University Yotsuya Campus in less than three minutes.

Miss Kiyono didn't say which campus, but for people living near Yotsuya Station, it should be the Yotsuya campus... right?

It doesn't matter if I made a mistake, Toru Watanabe has already found an excuse.

"I am not a local in Tokyo, and my goal is not to go to Sophia University. As a local and the inviter, it is your fault for not making it clear. Please reflect on it."

While he was looking for an excuse, he had already seen Kiyono Rin and Ikki Aoi.

It doesn't seem like a confession of love.

No, it's too early to give up now! There is still hope!

"Good afternoon, R-san, Ikki-san."

The two people who were chatting turned around and looked at Toru Watanabe who was walking towards them from afar.

He is handsome and elegant, brimming with confidence, and his every move carries the demeanor of a beautiful young boy.

"He actually came!" Ikki Aoi said in disbelief.

"What's really coming?" Toru Watanabe walked up the stairs and stood with them.

"I heard from the girls in Class 4 that you, Watanabe-kun, never agree to girls' invitations to go out and play. I thought you wouldn't come."

"It's because Qingye is so beautiful and rich. She will take the initiative to treat us when we go out."

"I see..." Ikki Aoi looked embarrassed as if she didn't know how to continue the topic.

Qingye Rin ignored such boring topics and did not expose Watanabe Toru's lies in front of others.

She looked Watanabe Toru up and down, her eyes resting on his open shirt: "To look cool?"

It's very cold in Tokyo in November.

Watanabe Toru looked down at the Coke on his chest and said, "What's so cool about Coke? If possible, I prefer Michelin..."

"Who said that?" Qing Ye Lin glared at him in dissatisfaction, "Why did you open your clothes?"

"This is cooler." Watanabe Toru said as a matter of course.

Qing Ye Lin paused for a moment and looked at him unhappily: "Are you kidding me?"

Watanabe Toru didn't answer, but changed the subject: "What's the matter with calling me out? Sunday is my precious study time. Are you ready to pay the price for delaying my chance to win the first place in the country?"

Kiyono Rin was not happy about Watanabe Toru's tricking her, but she did not continue to pester him and explained, "Ikki-san has already found out where Asuka Mai-san's school trip is going to take place."

"So soon? Where?" Watanabe Toru looked at Ikki Aoi, "Don't tell me it's Kyoto."

"Eh? Watanabe-kun, did you know about this too?"

"..." Watanabe Toru was speechless, and finally sighed, "Forget it. After all, the proportion of students going from Tokyo to Kyoto for school trips is 47%, so it's not surprising."

Ikki Aoi was about to say something, but Kiyono Rin, who had been being stared at by the passing college students, spoke first, "Let's go in first."

So the three of them walked into the library.

It is called the Central Library, and has 11 floors in total, from the 2nd underground floor to the 9th floor.

There are approximately 1.1 million books in the humanities, social sciences, and science and engineering, and about 11,000 journals.

"What are we doing here?" Toru Watanabe asked as he looked around the library.

"Find some travel magazines and see which places are suitable for confession!" Ikki Aoi looked up and suddenly said excitedly as if he had found his goal, "Over there! The magazines are over there! Let's go over there!"

The three of them split up and looked for magazines about Kyoto.

Toru Watanabe stood in front of the bookshelf, looking at the spines of the books arranged according to the 50-character kana.

He picked up a book at random, and the faint scent of books in the air soothed his pain of going to Kyoto.

After selecting two Kyoto travel magazines, he walked to the place the three of them had agreed upon - a round table by the armrests.

Outside the handrail, you can see the first floor of the library.

This is a place where even quiet conversation is allowed.

Kiyono Rin was the second one to come back, and what she was holding was not a travel magazine.

"The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima, "The Old Capital" by Yasunari Kawabata, "The Higashiyama Murder Case in Kyoto" by Misa Yamamura, and "The Night is Short, Go Girl" by Tomihiko Morimi.

"Are you here to read a book?"

"Don't force yourself to speak if you have a bad memory." Qing Ye Lin put the book on the table. "These are novels set in Kyoto. There are also many romance elements. It's possible to find good attractions that are not in travel magazines."

"That makes sense." Watanabe Toru nodded, "But I recommend another novel by Yamamura Misa."

"Which one?" Qingye Rin asked curiously.

"《Unethical Trip to Kyoto...》"

"You can shut up now."

"Okay, no problem. Whatever R-san says is what we do." Watanabe Toru considers himself a great man, so it's not surprising that he knows the current affairs a little bit.

Qingye Rin held her forehead against his, sighed as if she had given up hope on him, and opened "The Night Is Short, Go Forward Girl".

Toru Watanabe was flipping through the magazine out of boredom, not reading any of the text but only looking at the pictures.

After he finished flipping through the magazine and wrote down a few locations, Ikki Aoi came over with a large stack of magazines.

“I brought all the ones from the last few years!”

"Ichiki-san," Qing Ye Lin looked at the magazines that seemed to be about to overturn the table in surprise, "Although Kyoto is a thousand-year-old capital, there are only a few tourist attractions. Just a few magazines can cover them all. Any more would just be meaningless repetition."

"...Yes, then shall I go back?"

"Forget it." Qing Ye Lin sighed, "Anyway, we have nothing to do this afternoon, let's just flip through the books one by one."

"That's great! Thank you, Kiyono-san!"

"Ikki-san, these are the attractions I recommend." Toru Watanabe handed over two open magazines.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome. I'll go back first. See you at school tomorrow." Toru Watanabe stood up.

"Watanabe-san, wait a moment." Kiyono Rin pushed half of the magazines that were so numerous that they were almost exploding in front of Watanabe Toru, "You can only go back after you finish reading these."

"I don't want to see it?"

"I sincerely suggest that you should just watch it," said Qingye Rin with a bright smile.

"...Okay, I understand." Toru Watanabe sat down again and picked up the first magazine.

Ikki Aoi said embarrassedly: "If Watanabe-kun has something to do, you can leave first. You have helped me a lot, there is no need..."

"It's okay." The person who spoke was Qing Ye Lin. She continued to read "The Night Is Short, Go Girl" leisurely. "This is a club activity, and he has nothing to do when he goes back anyway."

"Studying is not a big deal?" Watanabe Toru was unhappy.

"I allow you to sit opposite me for the whole afternoon and enjoy my beauty to your heart's content." Qingye Rin lifted her long hair from her shoulders with one hand and said proudly.

"Why didn't you say so earlier? I'd be happy to do it!"

This is of course a joke.

Since joining the Human Observation Department, Toru Watanabe and Rin Kiyono have been seeing each other all day long, including this afternoon.

It's all because Kiyono Rin is his friend. If they were not friends and dared to speak like that, Watanabe Toru would have slapped her twice.

...Considering Kujo Miki's experience, let's forget about the option of attacking her.

He is not the kind of person who would argue with girls.

The three of them gathered around the pile of magazines, flipping through them one by one.

When we see a tourist attraction we like, we will discuss it with each other for a while. If we all feel it is good, we will keep it for the time being.

"Arashiyama seems nice, especially this bamboo forest!"

"Are there too many people?" Qingye Rin said thoughtfully.

"We can choose the evening, when there will be fewer people!" Ikki Aoi was very excited. "Watanabe-kun, what do you think?"

Watanabe Toru looked at the familiar scene and said, "It's better not to."

"What's the reason?" asked Qingye Rin.

"I've read a lot of light novels, animations, and comics, like the very famous "Oregairu," and none of them succeeded in any of the confessions I made there."

"Is this true? Is it so low?" Ikki Aoi was shocked.

"But light novels are light novels, and reality is reality. You can try."

"No, no! Let's choose some other place!" Ikki Aoi quickly skipped to the page about bamboo forest in the magazine.

"By the way, Ikki-san, how did you know the location of the Grade 3 Class 2 school trip?" Watanabe Toru asked as he continued reading the magazine.

A happy expression appeared on Ikki Aoi's face: "I asked Mai directly!"

"She told you directly?"

"Yeah!" Ikki Aoi nodded excitedly, "It seems that because she got the qualification recommendation from the University of Tokyo, Mai-senpai has been in a very good mood recently. We asked her to come to the wind band to help with training and she agreed. She told me the location of the school trip as soon as I asked!"

"What about your favorite confession scene?" Qingye Rin didn't care about her mood or not, but was more concerned about the key point of the matter.

Ikki Aoi became frustrated and pouted, saying, "I did ask that, but when I mentioned that, Mai-senpai immediately stopped talking."

"Do you hate this kind of topic?" Qingye Rin guessed based on her own experience.

"No, Mai-senpai's expression was very good and she seemed to be in a good mood, but she just wouldn't say it."

Watanabe Toru tapped the white plastic table, thought for a moment, and asked, "Ichiki-san, does Asuri-senpai know that you're in the Human Observation Department?"

"Don't worry about that!" Ichimoku Aoi said proudly, "I took the initiative to tell my senior, and I used the same reason of asking for advice on playing techniques. She won't guess that I'm going to confess to her."

“…”

Finished.

"Senior Mai has been very nice to me recently. I feel like it's not just because I got the university recommendation, it must be... hehe!"

Looking at Ikki Aoi immersed in happiness, Watanabe Toru had a complicated expression.

"Congratulations, Ichiki-san, you have successfully paralyzed Asuri-senpai and have been treated as my spy."

"Ichimu-san, I must remind you that it is best to be prepared for failure. From my point of view, this confession is almost impossible to succeed."

Even though he was disliked, told that he couldn't understand the atmosphere, and was always pouring cold water on her, Toru Watanabe still decided to prepare her for the possibility of failure.

"I know about this kind of thing." Ikki Aoi's answer was unexpected, considering she was so excited and expectant just now.

She lowered her eyes and fiddled with the hem of her skirt: "I know, but what does it matter? Mai-senpai will be going to college soon, and we won't see each other again."

No one in the trio could open their mouths to speak for a moment.

Toru Watanabe looked at her drooping face and felt sorry for her.

He started liking her in middle school, chased after Kamikawa, joined the wind orchestra, and won the national gold medal. In order to increase his chances a little bit, he even believed in the Human Observation Club, a club with unknown origins, and told others that he liked the girl.

Who has the right to laugh at her little pursuit?

Toru Watanabe wanted to say something, but when the words came to his lips, he didn't know what to say.

The words 'come on' are so hypocritical.

"This is love." Qingye Lin whispered to himself, "Even though you know it's nothing, you still keep trying to move forward."

"R-san, let's talk about Ikki-san. Please don't use such a cold expression and suddenly start observing humans. Also, if possible, please use more concise language to summarize..."

"Shut up."

"yes."

Watanabe Toru admitted his mistake so decisively and skillfully that Ikki Aoi, who was unhappy just now, burst out laughing.

She clenched her fist and said, "That's right. Now is not the time to summarize the reasons for failure. Please continue to work hard with me!"

"That's right, it's just a failed confession anyway. Who doesn't fail once or twice?" Watanabe Toru agreed.

"Eh?" Ikki Aoi felt that what she and Watanabe Toru said were not the same thing.

But she was more curious about one thing.

"Watanabe-kun, can someone like you also fail in confession?"

Watanabe Toru did not answer her question, and said to Kiyono Rin: "R-san, please date me."

"I am feeling extremely physically uncomfortable right now. At least, don't say such things to me until you break up with your Meiji."

Watanabe Toru looked at Ikki Aoi and said, "Look, it failed."

"...Oh, yes." Ikki Aoi squeezed out these words from her throat.

…

After reading all the magazines and selecting a few locations, Ikki Aoi left gratefully.

Kiyono Rin and Watanabe Toru were on the same path, and the two walked together towards where they lived.

On the way, Qing Ye Lin thought of the funny thing Watanabe Toru had done just now, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect you to be so gentle."

"That's right, I'm a gentle male protagonist in a light novel. The world has a huge misunderstanding of me." Toru Watanabe nodded in agreement.

Qing Ye Lin pondered for a while: "Now that you put it that way, I begin to doubt my own judgment again."

"…R-san, you are good in every way, except that you are so rude sometimes."

After separating from Kiyono Rin, Watanabe Toru walked alone on the way back to his rental house.

The sun in the distance was about to set, and the shadows of the telephone poles became lazy, as if they were about to finish get off work at any time.

It seems like I have forgotten something, but what have I forgotten?

Forget it, since it has been forgotten, it is not a big deal. I should hurry up and organize my math notes so as not to be a dishonest person.

Wait, math notes…

Toru Watanabe took out his cell phone and finally remembered what he had forgotten.

He opened Line, and sure enough, the chat history with Kumiko was filled with weird geisha emoticons that could never be scrolled to the end no matter how hard he scrolled.

The pale face and weird smile are chilling.

If I received it in the middle of the night, I would probably look back even when going to the bathroom, for fear that a ghost was following me.

Just pretend you didn’t see it.

Before Toru Watanabe put his phone back into his pocket, Kumiko had already sent him a message.

"Finally 'read'! I thought you were dead!!!!"

"Kumiko, I have a serious matter to discuss with you."

"What?!!"

"What is that river called?"

"..."

Then there was another series of Kyoto geisha emoticons.

"As a high school girl, your aesthetics really worries me. Also, the location of my school trip has been decided."

"Kyoto?!"