People nowadays have nothing to do but browse their phones and share the images inside their galleries to famous social media accounts. As I scan the students on the road, aligning themselves beside the buses, all I discern are pocket gadgets gripping and sliding in their hands.
After a few seconds, the students aim their phones and let out a flash. The clicking sounds follow the cameras and rings inside my ears. I also have a cellular phone with me, but I would hesitate to capture every single thing I would see pretty on the scenes.
"Hey! Please keep your phones inside your pockets!" I yell, but the freshmen would not listen.
These miscreants refuse to obey me. How dare they mock the great I!
But something disrupts their attention. As soon as the shadow behind me walks in front, all the students shut their mouths. They also lower their mobile phones to give praise and attention to the figure welcoming their presence. Their eyes materialise into crimson shaped hearts pulsating inside and out from their sockets. I discern their lips, drifting apart from each other while releasing sexual moans of orgasm.
The scene becomes mature content ripping into reality from adult movies. I do not know if I would feel delighted about it since they all shift the noise into utter silence.
"Today, we will have a field trip and visit the historical places in Ueno Park. But, of course, we will pay attention to the Sakura trees growing on the side of the road-," I close my lips at the sudden mumbling sounds coming from the mass.
"Is that Nickson?"
"Was not he the vice-president of the council?"
"He looks so gorgeous!"
"I want to eat him!"
Those persisting comments break through the quietness and disrupt the assembly once again. Some pupils even utter an indecorous jest, making the innocent bystanders catch their eyes with disgust.
"What did you say to me?" Nickson growls at the audience with his fist clenching for a fight. If he smacks someone on the face, I will be the first person to knock some sense inside of his ostrich brain.
With the help of the council members, we calm the raging mood of Nickson and invite him to sit on the corner and watch the tranquil pinkish leaves. Fortunately for us, he takes the bait and soon indulges himself within the environment, like a bird that has found his nest.
His stir is the first time we have witnessed throughout our moment spending together on the boards, especially for me. Nickson is a person who would wink at other girls that catch his attention. I have seen it before, so he can never fool me again.
But the mangaka changes his view and acts like a decent human being. I cannot wait to see Nick ruining my expectations again.
All the first-year students follow the instructions of the supervisors, professors, and the tourist guide.
The guys at the back gawk their eyes at the lady, marking her hands at the environment. Despite the rosy-coloured petals drooping from the branches, these boys preoccupied themselves with the two watermelons jiggling between the buttons as the docent beckons her body from side to side.
Five of the student council members are checking the back ranks, while five of us, including Roxanne, Nickson, and the two, are leading to the front. We want to have an equal distribution of observing the students since we are in a public place prone to the risk of accidents.
"I can see this becoming a disaster, Yuki." Roxanne, who carries two humongous grey shades below her eyes, comments.
"Should I tie you up somewhere, so nobody can infect us?" I propose to the zombie-like features of my best friend, who seems to have her mind floating around the breeze.
She nods at my sentence, accepting her fate of becoming a creepy crawler of the living dead. Roxanne afterwards rummages inside her pocket and presents a cord strong enough to bind a human person. But the question does not stop there.
I tilt my head in confusion while directing my gaze at the random, benign weapon inside her patches. Roxanne is like that cartoon character that pulls limitless objects out of her pants.
As my best friend puts back the cable away, we head march off from the Ueno Station in central Tokyo and meet step foot in the borders of Ueno Park. All the information that the tourist guide has said is all in front of our eyes.
Beside the Sakura lie the temples of the Edo Period. We are currently at the southwestern end of the park to visit the Shinobazu Pond, one of many reminders of Kaneji Temple's former grandeur. Alongside the entrance, we notice the statue of Saigo Takamori, the general in the Battle of Ueno.
"Kaneji rose in the northeast to protect the city from evil, much like Enryakuji Temple in Kyoto," the chaperon reads the article from her tablet in her hands while leading us closer to the temples.
We carry on and view the body of water that represents Lake Biwako. On an isle in the pond stands Bentendo, a temple hall dedicated to the goddess of Benten.
It shocks me to see that the first-year students have not given up yet with all those overloading historical data with the guide. But with a gorgeous-looking girl with her knee-length skirt leading the way, I cannot help but sigh at those rascals.
"I want to file a complaint to the person who chose that lady as our escort." A violent grunt flees from my lips as I head over the mushy soil.
Someone whistles next to me as that person hears my remark. As I turn to my side, Roxanne averts my gaze and races through the font, acting like she wants to keep the gate open for the next tourist spot.
"Hey, hey, I heard we were going to a zoo."
"The Ueno Zoo? No way!"
"Am I going to see a hamster?"
Dozens of murmuring sounds like bees ring through my ears as they chit-chat with each other. My batchmates cannot stop their mouths from suggesting that we visit the zoological garden, famous for the modern Ueno Park.
All of them turn their heads around in unison, asking for the same thing to us five officers.
I nudge Nickson's shoulders for him to make his move. But the mangaka seems interested enough to view the insides of the wildlife park because of his references.
I cannot blame him for it since I want to watch and study these animals too at an up-close distance. My hands have been itching to write something realistic, and animals are the best way to portray those motivations.
But I push those thoughts aside, thinking that it will bring more work than benefits to us officers if we change the rules right now.
"Even if we could, we would not." I give them a cold and blunt reply with their uninteresting proposals.
However, that does not stop them from rebelling against our schedule. These students are still growing teens and show their motivation to parade inside the zoo.
"I knew this was going to happen," Roxanne comes back from the tavern and gestures her hand, catching the attention of all the students in a hurry.
Upon turning their focus, Roxanne announces. "Lucky for all of you, we will head over to the zoo instead of the museums."
My best friend turns the tide around and shocks everyone with those few words. Nickson, who has this poker face glued on his lips, gapes her mouth, thunderstruck by the sudden event.
The crowd cheers for the news and prepares themselves to barge in the closed door. They are so excited to enter the caged animals and forget all about the president of the class.
Roxanne-who has lost all of her temper, snickers like a psychopath. To those brave individuals who notice the sinister aura, tap the other students, and, like dominoes, halt their ruckus.
"Thank you," the president says while retracting the cold beam. "Line yourselves up before stepping foot inside."
With a nod, the students run to their positions. Even the young adult guide who has heard Roxanne fixes her skirt and turns it into a longer one.
She knows that someone has been watching her this entire time.
"I already prepared the papers needed for this." Roxanne pumps her chest, beaming with confidence.
I am just staring with my mouth wide open, like Nickson standing beside me.
Upon entering such divine space, the warm gust touches my cheeks with a shell-pink leaf resting on my nose. I really wish to sneeze, but I could not since Roxanne knows what she must do to me.
"Hurry, or else this will fly away!" Roxy heeds my instruction.
She lifts the phone sky-high and flashes me a photo. The leaf afterwards falls on the ground after taking the image.
"Did you get it?" I ask.
Roxanne shakes her head up and down and reveals the screen of her phone. I hate to admit it, but she captures the sublime setting of the pink leaflet on my snout. She even glimpses the pond behind me, making the entire scene spotless for critics.