The students of Utopia College are all chatting loudly as everyone is excited about the class trip. Yon, Sam, and Lincoln sit talking about who they will pair with. Yui enters the room and takes her seat, listening in on their conversation.
"Hey, Yui, who do you want to be paired with?" Sam asks curiously.
Yui turns around in her seat with the three staring at her. Her eyes meet with Yon's and she blushes. Sam gets a devilish grin.
"I see. You want to be paired with Yon, don't you?"
Yui turns around quickly to hide her embarrassment. Sam and Lincoln giggle while Yon sits confused. The teacher enters the class and quietens down the students.
"Now everyone, calm down. There's been a slight change of plans for the trip."
The class whispers about what could have changed.
"Instead of groups of three, we will do pairs of two."
The students all become rowdy again with excitement, with some getting upset that the groups will be smaller.
"Hush now! I'll now talk about what we will be doing. We will visit Osaka Castle Park and be staying at a hotel in Osaka. We will be there for three days. The last two days will be open for you to do anything you want in your pair."
The class whispers amongst themselves about what fun things they will do during their free days.
"Everyone will meet in the lunch hall after homeroom with the other classes for assigned groups. Now open your notebooks to write transport information and locations."
The class listens intently to the teacher to not miss any information. Some time passes and the teacher dismisses the class and everyone makes their way to the lunch hall. Yon, Sam, Lincoln, and Yui talk about their plans for Osaka. They enter the lunch hall where they see Ereen, Kanna, and Kareen standing together. Sam excitedly rushes over to them.
"Hey, you three! Are you excited about the trip?"
They all look at Sam, a little surprised by her sudden appearance. Kanna smiles brightly, happy to see her brother's friends.
"Oh yes! I love trips. I can't wait to see all the architecture at the park."
"So you're more excited about the park rather than the shopping and free time, huh, Kanna?"
Kanna blushes with embarrassment.
"I-I just really like cultural buildings is all..."
Kanna hides her face with her hands. The others all giggle a little when the principal comes over to the microphone in the lunch hall. He stands on a stage with the other staff members, patiently waiting for the students to quiet down.
"Alright, everyone. I need you all to pay attention as I assign groups for the trip. Classes might be mixed based on who we have paired you with, so please listen up."
The room goes silent with some whispers here and there as the students listen for their assigned partners.
"Sam Valentine, you will be with Ereen Hinata."
The two look at each other for a moment before smiling, both thinking the same thing.
"Time to make a plan to get Kareen's attention."
The principal moves down the list.
"Yon Kinichi, you are with Yui Kanazawa."
Yon and Yui smile at each other, both blushing at the idea of being alone together during the trip. Sam teases Yui, noticing her nervousness.
"Look at that Yui! You will have him all to yourself!"
This is too much for Yui, and she pops from the pressure. She covers her face and turns away from everyone who is giggling at her, while Yon cannot understand what is so funny. The principal clears his throat, getting the attention of everyone.
"The next group will be Lincoln Colt and Kanna Kinichi."
The two are very excited and match the others' energy. They press their hands against each other and smile.
"This is going to be so fun! I'll carry you if you get tired, Kanna!"
"Yeah!" she exclaimed.
Everyone looks at the two, wondering where they got all this energy from.
"They sure are excited."
The principal clears their throat once more, taking a sip of water, continuing down the list, eventually coming to Kareen.
"We will pair Kareen Kanata with Maka Maiuchi." the principal says firmly.
The group all look around, confused about who Maka was. Kareen, being the class representative, knows every student, and she immediately knows who Maka is. She walks over to a girl wearing a silver hairpin in her hair. The girls back to Kareen.
"So we are partners on this trip, let's have a great time ok!"
Maka turns around and smiles brightly at Kareen.
"Yes, let's have a good time Kar- um, Ms. Kanata."
Maka blushes and squirms in place, biting her nails. Kareen looks over her anxiety, thinking that the girl must just be nervous since they are just now talking for the first time. Meanwhile, Sam and Ereen notice the girl's weird reaction to Kareen and begin questioning what her intentions might be.
"Is it me, or is she acting weird?"
"Yeah, she turned red as soon as she saw Kareen's face."
"And what is with her brief movements there? It's like she can't control herself or something."
The two stare suspiciously at Maka. She notices the two looking her way and immediately changes her expression. Maka suddenly looks serious and unfazed by Kareen. Surprised by this, the two girls look at each other and both get a bad feeling about Maka.
The principal finishes pairing up the students, and excuses them for lunch afterwards. Yon and Yui sit talking about plans for the trip, trading ideas with each other. Sam and Ereen both begin plotting ways to get Kareen's attention while on the trip, so that maybe Ereen will have a chance with her. Lincoln and Kanna are sharing location ideas and showing each other pictures on their phones. The two are laughing loudly and getting annoyed looks. Meanwhile, Kareen and Maka are stiff as boards.
The two girls are stuck in an awkward loop, attempting to make conversation. Kareen breaks the loop.
"So, Maka, what's your hobby?"
Maka thinks for a moment, looking up and holding her finger on her chin.
"Hmm, I really enjoy taking pictures."
"Really? What kind?"
"Oh, any kind really, birds, buildings, people, myself. There really isn't anything I don't enjoy taking photos of."
"Could I see some photos?"
Maka gets really nervous suddenly.
"Oh, um. Sure, one second."
Maka pulls her phone from her pocket and frantically begins deleting photos. Kareen tries to look and see what she is doing, but can't see over Maka's shoulder. She finishes deleting a bunch of photos and sighs with relief.
"Sorry about that. I had to organize my library of photos."
She hands her phone over to Kareen.
"Oh, thank you!"
She scrolls through the photos Maka had taken.
"Wow! These are great! Did you take these on your phone?"
Maka blushes
"A few. I have a DSLR camera at home I use sometimes."
Kareen hands Maka her phone back.
"They look great! You should take some photos of us on the trip."
Maka blushes and squirms in her seat.
"That would be fun."
She plays with her hair and begins fantasizing about the trip.
"Three days of just me and Kareen."
Kareen smiles at her, wondering what she is thinking about. Meanwhile, Yon and Yui have come up with a plan for what to do in Osaka.
"We should visit the aquarium and then on our last day go to the amusement park!"
Yon happily shows Yui a video of fish swimming around in a tank, then switches over to a video of people going down a water slide at an amusement park.
"Wouldn't that be fun, Yui?"
She slouches down in her seat with a frown on her face.
"I don't think I can afford all that..."
Yon gets embarrassed. He didn't think about the cost or even consider Yui's financial position.
"How stupid can I be? I didn't even think about the cost for her."
Yon thinks for a moment while Yui looks down, upset that she might have ruined his plans.
"I got it!"
Yui looks up, surprised by his sudden outburst.
"I've been putting back some money to buy a bike. I'll use some of that money to pay for you, Yui!"
Yon smiles at Yui, pleased with himself for coming up with a plan. His charity took aback Yui, but she feels sad again because she doesn't want to be a burden, yet here she is, taking the money Yon has saved all this time.
"I couldn't do that. You worked for that money, keep it for the bike."
"No, trust me, it's no big deal! It's not like I'm spending all of it. It just means I'll have to save longer."
"Are you sure? I don't want to be a burden..."
"Positive. You're not a burden Yui, I want to do this so we both have fun!"
Yui blushes bright red, her heart pounds, and happiness fills her body at the kindness Yon continues to show her.
"Why is my heart beating so fast... This always happens around him..."
She stares at Yon with glistening eyes, holding her hand over her heart. Yon smiles happily at her and begins showing her all the rides available at the amusement park, the two sitting closely now, excited about the Osaka trip.