Ten minutes before the bell rang, I was already seated in my seat. It was my morning routine, so to speak. Assuming nothing else got between me and my ritual, I would open my textbooks, open my notes, and read through everything once more to help me mentally relax. I've been doing this ever since middle school. However, in my second year in high school, there was always something that got in the way.
"Sakiii!"
And that something's name was Maaya. She's been at it for a while now, but it seems like the more seasons pass, the greater the level of energy she keeps up every morning to talk to me. I wonder why. I can't fathom it. Oh well…
"Class is gonna start, you know?"
"What are you talking about?!"
"…Huh?"
"The bell hasn't rung yet, right?"
I mean… it will ring in five minutes max. And isn't that the point at which you should prepare for the next class?
"Seriously, what? Our field trip starts tomorrow, right?!"
…Wait, am I the weird one?
"It's the one and only field trip in high school, remember?"
"That is true."
"How could I not be excited about that? I can't just sit still. I wanna jump up and dance! That's how crazy excited I am!"
"I think that's just crazy, yeah."
"Not at all! Gaze at it, Saki! Let me show you the world!"
So she said as she wrapped her right arm around me. I followed her movement and looked at the other students. They were all sitting in circles, talking about this and that. I swear, class is about to start… And looking over, I even found a group of six, boys and girls alike, totally excited. The person in the center must be Shinjou-kun. Our eyes happened to meet and he waved his hand at me. But… why did he remind me of a puppy who looked up at me all happy when we were on a walk?
"Shinjou-kun's really nailing it as the group leader."
"Ah, right. Also, I'm impressed. You know who's in all the other groups?"
"I remember every single group and member of this class."
That is impressive. I don't really have any friends, so I didn't even know what to do when we had to get into groups, but she's completely different from me. I just spaced out until she got invited by Maaya herself. Still, I don't really see any reason to get this excited. But when I told Maaya that, she just sighed at me in disbelief.
"Whaaaaaat?!"
"…You're exaggerating again."
"Saki, do you really get it? We're going overseas! It's so out of the norm for us! And you're basically living with your classmates for a few days! There might even be a love or two blooming amid these special circumstances and environment."
"We're not living inside a novel."
"You just don't get it! Just like heroes of justice have their goodwill pre-installed, we youthful 17-year-old girls have a healthy interest in love hankered deep inside of us! And what awaits us in a foreign country is a blossoming love… as well as a farewell!"
So a breakup is still gonna happen?
"That's what transient love is all about. Ever seen 'Roman Holiday'?"
"Sure."
I know the basic gist. I've studied all the famous works, after all. And on that note, a blooming love, huh? It's just a single trip, so I'm not sure if such a thing will really be born only to disappear immediately after. Asamura-kun and I started living together eight months ago, and it took us about five months from becoming interested in each other to confess our feelings. From then on, the other three months passed without any major change. In fact, with this field trip coming up… won't we end up more distanced than we've been before?
We'll be apart from each other. And we might not even get to see each other for the next four days. Upon realizing this, I became aware that I was feeling a lot more anxious about this than I would have liked to admit. Every time I think about him having fun with his classmates in his group, a gloomy feeling fills my chest. But feeling like this isn't healthy. It's not good for me. I should think about something else.
Since this is just a regular field trip, I should find a simpler way to enjoy it. And the original goal of a field trip is to learn. I should find an academic drive for this field trip. Any wicked thoughts should be expelled. My maiden-in-love train of thought switch flipped off. A student's main motivation should be to study. There's nothing to be anxious over. Nothing at all.
"Hey, Saki! How do I say 'Hey lady, wanna grab some tea with me?' in English?"
Huh? That sure came out of nowhere. But either way, I booted up my English mode and thought about it.
"…Young lady, why don't you drink tea with me? Maybe?"
"I see, I see."
"Who are you going to invite with that?"
"I'm not inviting anybody. I just needed to know in case I get invited! And, what about I'm sorry, I'm actually waiting for someone, then? Wooo!"
What's she getting so excited for? But alas, her fantasies continued until the homeroom teacher entered the classroom and reprimanded her. Recently, this is what my before-class routine has become.
Classes ended for the day. Since I didn't have any work, I just had to make my way home.
"Hmm…"
After passing through the school gate, I looked up at the white and cloudy winter sky. There was still plenty of daylight left, and quite some time until evening would arrive. Which makes sense, since we were halfway through February. From here on out, afternoon time would stretch out more and more. And the long nights I dreaded during the winter days would grow shorter and shorter. Finally, the plums will grow, cherry blossom petals will fill the trees, and we all will become third-year students—and examinees.
Once the field trip ends, I'll probably have to put even more attention and focus into my studies. Maybe I won't even get much time to go to the pool. Or watch a movie. Or do some window shopping… Will all my time be stolen away by my studies?
"Well, that's to be expected from an examinee," I blurted out.
And as I caught myself feeling like that, I shook my head to get rid of these thoughts, sighing along. Wanting to hang out with others… I never would have imagined myself to one day wish for these things. It must be Maaya's influence. Or possibly even—No, I shook my head again. All this thinking is just pulling me down. I can't be feeling down with the field trip right around the corner.
While making sure I walked on the corner of the road, ensuring I didn't get in anybody's way, I took out my phone, opened my map, and checked where I currently was. Hm… Tomorrow, we'll be overseas… Overseas, huh? I typed "Embassy" into the search window. Immediately after, I was shown various embassies here in Japan.
"Ah, there's one near here."
It's called the 'Denmark Embassy.' I clicked on it and checked the details. Going from the school near Shibuya station, you have to cross Hachiman Street, and then walk for about ten minutes. The distance says it's around 1 km away. It's not too far of a walk there, and it's also not too far from our flat, either.
Well, it'll at least clear my head, I guess. I made my way to the embassy in an attempt to get excited about the field trip, but that didn't really work out too well. It's more like practice. Granted, Maaya would say something like 'Why not go to the 'Embassy of the Republic of Singapore,' but that's an hour away on foot. It's not close enough for me to just nonchalantly walk to. That's why I went with the Danish Embassy. It took me on a different route than I would usually walk to our flat, so I first made my way to Hachiman street to the south.
After passing the Shuto expressway Shibuya station, I made my way farther. I know I live here near Shibuya, but I don't know all the street names by heart, so I periodically stopped and checked the map again. Once I came across Hachiman street, I made my way south until it met up with the old Yamate street. From there, I returned to the Shibuya side and eventually reached the embassy. It was an old building made of brick. Judging from the number of windows I could count, it seemed to be three floors tall. The side facing the road was slightly curved, creating a space for cars to park.
The sign at the front read 'Denmark Embassy' in Japanese, with large English text on the top, reading Royal Danish Embassy. Since I encountered unfamiliar words in that, I first looked them up. A direct translation would be 'Denmark Kingdom Embassy', huh? Oh, right, Denmark's a kingdom, isn't it? I could see the coat of arms on top of the logo. A red ellipse framed the portrait, and there was a crown and a shield inside… A crown, even! It really set in then that Denmark was a kingdom.
The world is a vast place and there are countless things I don't know of. I was just fine indulging in this feeling of experiencing something foreign when I realized that a lot of the people passing by were giving me dubious glances. I guess I must have stood out a bit since I was just staring at the building for a while. I stopped looking up at the building and turned around. I instead glanced down at the opposite side of the street, spotting a cafe directly adjacent to a national bookstore chain. They even had benches there. I might as well take a break there, I figured. I looked for the pedestrian crossing to then make my way back to that cafe.
I imagine it must have been because I was near the embassy, but I could clearly pick out a lot more foreigners passing by. And I saw a lot of couples consisting of a Japanese person and a foreigner in these groups. It's a familiar scene I'd often see when walking down the entertainment district in Shibuya, but the frequency is a bit higher here. I wonder what it feels like to go out with someone who speaks a different language and has different traditions than you. But then I realized that people from the Kanto and Kansai region are also quite similar in that regard. It's probably a byproduct of places where there's lots of traffic.
And in fact, all people are different. Asamura-kun and I might have a lot in common, but we differ from each other in a lot of ways, too. How we eat our fried eggs, for example.
"Excuse me."
I heard a voice calling out to me, which was immediately followed by my realization that it was English. Turning around, I saw a blond man who should be around Stepdad's age. He was even wearing faintly-brown sunglasses. I returned his gaze, and he started asking me something in English. Since he spoke a bit too fast for me to follow, I was lost in thought for a moment. Thankfully, he repeated himself but at a slower pace, which allowed me to directly translate what he was asking me.
'I'm looking for the embassy. Could you help me?'
Since the word Embassy popped up, I figured he was probably about the only one around here.
'Do you mean the Danish Embassy?'
'Yes! That's right! Do you know it?'
'Let me show you the way,' I said as I walked back the same way I came.
I guided him to the embassy, and he thanked me several times. Honestly, I didn't do anything that major. In fact, I was worried if he understood my English.
'I'm sorry if my pronunciation was a bit hard to understand,' I said with an apologetic tone as we were about to separate again.
'Hm? It wasn't an issue. At all.'
'Really?'
'You spoke very clearly, which made it easy to understand. And even if English is used globally, there are a lot of different accents and dialects. Once you get used to that, it's easy to understand most of it.'
Even the stiff pronunciation I felt I had could be regarded as just another type of accent, and he said there was nothing I should be apologizing for. Considering he even tried to cheer me up, he was really a polite person. On my way back home, I once again realized that some things can only be understood by interacting with others. And firsthand experience is the best teacher. This might be the reason we have field trips in the first place. And this realization allowed me to look forward to the field trip a bit more.
Once I made it back to our flat, I saw that Asamura-kun was busy preparing for tomorrow. I had to follow his example and get everything checked. Then again, I had already packed most of my belongings, so I just had to do one final look over everything. And once that's done, we should probably eat dinner. Since this was our first trip overseas, Mom said she'd make dinner today and breakfast tomorrow for us. After checking everything over, I called out to Asamura-kun through his room door. Immediately after, I got a response, saying he'd be right there. I finished preparing everything on the dining room table. I scooped up some rice from the cooker and put it inside a bowl, placing it in front of Asamura-kun. And then I decided to test him a bit.
"Let's eat!"
Asamura-kun hesitated, his eyes blinking at me in confusion.
"Um… Let's eat?"
I'm glad he understood me. Actually, I was probably feeling a bit excited at the fact that I had managed to properly talk with that blond-haired gentleman from before.
"I've been working hard on my listening and hearing this past month, so I felt the urge to test myself," I said and suggested we try to talk in English for the rest of our dinner.
Asamura-kun agreed, so we switched to English. However, that didn't mean I was suddenly super confident in my English skills, and I wasn't too confident in my pronunciation, either. That's why I chose to keep the topic limited to our field trip. Where are you going? What are your plans? Are you looking forward to something in particular? After listening to all his answers, I realized I had pretty much just questioned him about his group's plans for the trip. Surprisingly enough, some of the places they planned to visit were on our list as well, so we might actually run into each other.
And at the same time, a certain thought crossed my mind. I realized how fun it may have been if we got to enjoy this trip together… and that it might be a bit boring. After all, I won't get to eat dinner with Asamura-kun like this for the next few days. Not to mention that we won't have any shifts at work together, either. We'll walk to Narita together, which is where all the classes are going to meet up for departure, but once we get to the airport, we'll have to say goodbye, since we're in different classes and groups. I won't even be able to see his face for the next four days.
After a while, I switched the topic from the field trip to dinner today. Asamura-kun made me burst out laughing because he tried to awkwardly translate a word he didn't know the English equivalent of. And with that as a signal, we returned to speaking regular Japanese. I think I may have laughed a bit too much because Asamura-kun seemed really concerned with his "Japanese person's pronunciation." In my mind, I gasped. It's exactly what I'd been worried about when I spoke to that gentleman. He's worried about the same thing as me.
That's why I told him exactly what that man said to me earlier. The English speakers in this world all have their own accents and dialects, so it's fine if your pronunciation is a bit off from the "norm." Even Japan has dialects that are incredibly difficult to understand, so to repeat what that man said, it's most important to speak slowly and clearly. In that regard, Asamura-kun should be fine. He should just do as he did with me during dinner, and he'll be fine for the field trip. That's how I tried to cheer him up, and I'll be going in with the same mindset.
We finished cleaning up the dishes when Stepdad came home.
"Would you like me to warm up your dinner?" I asked him.
"You've got your field trip starting early tomorrow, right? Just get ready and head to bed. Don't worry about little old me," he said and smiled.
"Okay… Thanks a lot. We'll do just that."
"Yeah. Also, I've gotta wake you both up at 4 am tomorrow, right?"
Both Asamura-kun and I nodded. Of course, we planned on being up by then, ourselves. And since Mom was coming home around that time, I don't think there was any chance of us oversleeping. However, Stepdad asked about our schedule a while back and promised to wake us up in time, and said that he'd even drive us to the train station if it looked like we'd be late. And since he offered to take his bath in the morning, Asamura-kun and I went to take ours now, with him taking his first.
I headed back to my room to do one final check. I got my passport, and I even packed the 'Trip Guidebook — Doujin Version'…although I'm still lost about what this doujin version is about. It's probably another of her weird jokes. But that should be all. I'm pretty sure I haven't forgotten anything.
At around the same time, Asamura-kun finished his bath, so I took mine. Once that was done, I immediately headed to bed and closed my eyes. And yet, the only thing on my mind was the ridiculous exchange Asamura-kun and I had during dinner. I mean, come on. Translating aji no hiraki as AJI-OPEN! How could I not laugh at that? A snicker escaped my lips, passing through the quiet room and eventually disappearing into the night. These exchanges weren't anything special. Just clumps of words. And yet, they made my chest feel so warm and puffy.
And yet, I was once again reminded that we won't be able to see each other for a while once tomorrow came. Recently, Asamura-kun and I haven't exchanged that much skinship… like hugging… or kissing… But we can only really be together at home, where we live with our parents. And in front of them, we have to act like we're just close siblings. And when we made that promise, that was exactly how I felt.
However, this field trip will last four days and three nights. Finding any chances to even engage in any physical contact will be pretty hard. And for this field trip, the groups are generally split up into three boys and three girls. Asamura-kun is going to walk around Singapore with other girls from his class… and I won't be anywhere near him.
I kicked the blanket off of me and got up, putting on a thin jacket over my pajamas. I'm scared of catching a cold like this right after my bath. After that, I quietly opened the door to my room and looked outside. I headed to Asamura-kun's room, knocked on his door, and took him back to my room again. I closed the door and then turned off the lights. We both voiced our desire… that we wanted to kiss, and we agreed. The moment I called out to him myself, I started to feel guilty that I was just using him to satisfy myself, but when he stood in front of me, I couldn't turn back anymore.
He placed his hands on my shoulders, allowing me to feel his warmth passing through my body, enveloping me in a sense of relief. I also placed my hand on his shoulder. Since he's a good bit taller than me, I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach his face. And through our lips pressing against each other's, I could feel his burning heat. I subconsciously put more strength into my fingertips, and his face moved away from mine. The sensation of his lips on mine slowly began to fade, and as I was riddled with a sense of longing, I muttered a few words.
"Good night."
"Good night… Ayase-san."
After this brief exchange, Asamura-kun returned to his room. Inside my bed, I touched my lips and realized that this hazy and gloomy feeling inside my chest had yet to subside completely. What's going on with me? Will I be able to be apart from him for the next four days and three nights?