"Shouko-chan, over here! Over here!"
As soon as the two entered the school gate, before their eyes could even scan the neatly lined buses, they were drawn by Ajitani's shouts.
Tsuna pulled Shouko toward Ajitani, who was waving. After a few steps, they realized that more than half of their classmates were already gathered there, waiting.
"Ajitani-chan, what is this…?"
Ajitani looked at the backpacks behind them and explained, "Once the rest of the people arrive, we'll take the bus to the Shinkansen transfer."
Then she asked doubtfully, "Shouko-chan, are you two only carrying one bag each?"
"Yes," Shouko nodded. "Change of clothes, pajamas, some preventative medicine, plus charging cables and a power bank.
All the miscellaneous stuff is in Tsuna's bag. That's all I have."
Hearing her say that, Ajitani subtly glanced at the suitcase at her feet, could only give a dry laugh, and changed the subject.
"Nanase-sensei said that we only need to wear our school uniforms on the day we leave and the day we return."
"Mm-hmm."
"And also, I've already planned out these two days. For this four-night, five-day school trip, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer! Hahaha…"
"…"
The few students still in the classrooms, upon receiving Ajitani's gathering message, also rushed to the sports field.
And as soon as Takagi and Nishikata's figures appeared, her arm impatiently shot up, waving at them while she bounced.
When there were only a few minutes left until departure, Nanase-sensei also arrived at the sports field, and her first question was to Ajitani:
"Ajitani, is everyone here now? Is anyone missing?"
"Everyone is here, except for Ishida Shouya, who took leave."
"Mm-hmm, then everyone get on the bus and prepare to depart."
Seeing Nanase-sensei nod in approval, the bus driver immediately pressed the door button. The students, who had already been waiting outside the bus, surged inside under Ajitani's organization.
After approximately thirty minutes of driving, they arrived at the Shinkansen station.
Under Nanase-sensei's guidance and Ajitani's assistance, all the students, without a single omission, boarded the Hikari train bound for their destination.
From Tokyo to Osaka, three hours swayed on the rails. The scenery outside the window didn't hold Tsuna's attention. After less than ten minutes, he became drowsy and quickly fell into a dream.
On the other side, Shouko and Takagi surrounded Ajitani, asking her to pull out her portable playing cards. The three of them used the cards to pass the long journey.
As soon as they exited the station, Nanase-sensei led all the students onto the waiting bus.
Not long after the bus started moving, students in the compartment began to feel the continuous bumps and the accumulated fatigue from the long journey. Some started turning pale and dry heaving.
Tsuna and Shouko, however, didn't show much discomfort, as they had been taken on many excursions by Shizuka over the past few years.
"We're here, we're here."
No words of comfort from Nanase-sensei could compare to this single sentence from Ajitani.
Before the bus had even come to a complete stop, many pale-faced students stood up, some still desperately covering their mouths.
Shouko, walking last with Tsuna, was about to get off the bus when he already saw classmates dry heaving by the trees on the roadside.
Worried that this sight would make Shouko associate it with the discomfort of riding the bus, he immediately covered her eyes without a word.
Only then did he begin to take in the hot spring inn where they would be staying for five days and four nights.
The hot spring inn was built against the mountain, completely surrounded by dense forest. The inn was like a small world hidden in the forest, with steam hissing out from various places, creating a hazy white mist.
He guessed that the backyard was where the hot springs were located. From the outside, the hot spring inn didn't look big, but it could accommodate two classes, over sixty students.
This didn't even include some tourists who came to visit.
"Tsuna, if you didn't say the name, I'd think this was Grandpa's hot spring inn!"
Shouko said, gently prying open his fingers covering her eyes, peeking through the gaps to look around. Before she finished speaking, she let out a soft gasp. "Wow…!"
"…"
Tsuna lowered the hand that was covering her eyes. "If there's nothing going on tomorrow or the day after, we can go see Grandpa."
"Okay!"
Shouko agreed immediately without hesitation, but then began to waver afterward. "It seems we need to report to Nanase-sensei if we go out, right?"
"Mm-hmm," Tsuna nodded.
His peripheral vision noticed Nishikata among the dry-heaving crowd, and beside him was Takagi, constantly poking his back with a small twig. He didn't pay too much attention and continued, "It's fine. We'll just bring our versatile class monitor with us, and Takagi and Nishikata too."
"Then—"
"Clap, clap, clap…"
Once the students' vomiting gradually stopped and their breathing calmed down, Nanase-sensei clapped her hands twice forcefully. The crisp sound immediately suppressed the surrounding chatter.
She turned and spoke briefly with another teacher, then began to efficiently arrange room assignments and key distribution.
Rooms were assigned by class, six rooms split evenly between boys and girls. Shouko and her friends naturally ended up together, and Tsuna and Nishikata also happened to be in the same room.
After everyone had put away their luggage and other belongings, Nanase-sensei called everyone from Class 3 to gather in the open space outside the inn.
After explaining the precautions, Nanase-sensei turned and left.
The long journey had already exhausted the students' energy. They barely thought of anything else and staggered toward their assigned rooms, wanting nothing more than to collapse onto their beds.
As for exploring the novelty and mystery of Osaka, that would have to wait until they had rested sufficiently in the afternoon.
As soon as she returned to the inn room, Shouko took off her wooden clogs and stepped onto the tatami mats in her black stockings.
Seeing that the girls sharing her room hadn't returned yet, she turned her gaze to Ajitani, who was chatting with Takagi, and asked, "Ajitani-chan, what's our plan for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Hold on, let me see," Ajitani replied, turning to grab her backpack from the pile of bags by the wall.
She deftly unzipped it and rummaged for a few moments, quickly pulling out a miniature notebook and flipping through it rapidly.
"Hmm… Osaka Castle Park in the morning, and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan in the afternoon!" she said, holding the notebook's contents up to Shouko.
"This…"
"What's wrong, Shouko? Do you have something to do tomorrow?" Takagi, who was beside them, asked, voicing her confusion.
"Mm," Shouko nodded. "Tomorrow I want to go see Tsuna's grandpa, and I wanted to invite you all to come with us."
"Go see him tomorrow?"
"Grandpa?"
"Isn't that inappropriate?" x2
Takagi and Ajitani spoke in unison.
"Miyamura is going to see his grandpa, and you, as his girlfriend, are going to be introduced to his grandpa. There's nothing wrong with that…"
Before Takagi could finish her sentence, Ajitani naturally picked up her last words. "But it wouldn't be appropriate for us to go, would it?"
"No, you misunderstood me. Tsuna's grandpa knows me already, so there's no introduction needed…"