CH 2

Aramiya Remi and Friends and Selfie

The first day of the outdoor school arrived, with all the participants, including the peculiar future course support club, riding the bus to the Owens Izumigatake In-Nature Inn, located in Izumigatake. So, I acted like a proper loner, even on the bus there. In other words…

“Hey, Kujou.”

There, Hirahara-sensei pressed one finger on her temple, as she spoke up.

“Yes, Sensei?”

“Sitting next to the teacher during a bus drive, that’s a bit…you know?”

Indeed, I wasn’t sitting next to Kasuga, but Hirahara-sensei. This is the special seat of a loner! Hah! All you guys who think of me as pathetic, I don’t care about you! This is much better than having people be noisy close to me, or people unnecessarily speaking to me! The problem is that this Sensei is already talking to me…Well, she’s at least not that loud, so I can deal with it. By the way, today she wasn’t wearing a bunny girl outfit, but her simple hiking outfit.

“No, not really.”

“But, wouldn’t it be more efficient if you sat with your friends?”

“Efficient? Are you not going to ask me if it would be more ‘fun’?”

“It’s worldly wisdom. Rather than being with a teacher, sitting with the people who think of you as their friend is much more simple, and comfortable. You know, if you just think of talking with them as reading a book, everything goes much smoother, and you can avoid all the painful gazes from others. Take that as a reference.”

“So you’re the type of loner who wants to avoid any trouble. What a shame, I actually am the loner who treasures his time more than anything.”

“Ahhh, I see. That’s what I was like back in high school. In the bullet train during our way to the field trip, I sat next to the teacher since I didn’t have any friends. I do feel sympathy as a loner, but at the same time, it’s going to be tough in today’s society for you, is what I thought.”

As for what a loner would do in today’s time…

“Are you making fun of me?”

“No no, I’m worried. Right now, I’m a teacher.” Hirahara-sensei showed a shit-eating grin.

It’s like she was bragging that she just said something cool.

“Huh…is that so…”

“Also, why don’t you have any friends?”

“Because I don’t need them.”

“Seriously?”

“I mean, if I had some, I’d have to give them attention, right?”

“Well yeah, that’s what friends are…”

“Right?”

“Also, aren’t you and Kasuga dating? Why didn’t you sit next to her?” Hirahara-sensei glanced back at Kasuga.

She sat in the center of the Kasuga and Ooba group. Akizuki sat close, but she kept a bag between her, building up a guard so that nobody would approach her. Yeah, I get it. As for Aramiya, she sat in her Aramiya group, and Chisaka-senpai was brainstorming with those self-absorbed girls. The theme of that would be how to preserve nature in the modern day and age. Just as some side information, but we actually reserved two more buses besides this one.

“Do you know why?”

“Well…If I had to guess, you probably want to be with her, but that would have you surrounded by her folks, and that would leave you exhausted?”

“Half correct.”

“What’s the other half?”

“……” I grew silent.

I messed up. Of course she’d ask for the second half.

“Well, I won’t tell you to keep secrets from your teacher. It’s important to keep your secrets even in high school, so if you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to.”

“…I promised.”

“You promised?”

I told Hirahara-sensei about my relationship with Kasuga. We’re not a fully-fledged couple, but Kasuga is working hard for my sake. I also told her about Kasuga’s final goal of getting married with me, which we are working towards during our high school days. Of course, I had proper reason to tell her about all of this, and not just a plain desire to be heard.

Rather, since she’s the club advisor, and considering Kasuga’s open personality, even if she doesn’t show herself in the club room often, she’ll eventually find out. Secondly, even if I continue to hide it, whenever she has any doubts, it’ll take up far too much time to explain it every single time, so I’d rather get it over with now, honestly speaking. Thirdly, since she’s our teacher, she might complain about any illicit relationships, but she definitely isn’t someone who would spread this sort of stuff to others. A few minutes later, after Sensei heard everything…

“Ahahaha! This is pretty interesting, alright! But, you really shouldn’t tell others about this, you know?”

“No no no, of course I won’t!? Raising a girl like that, it’s far too embarrassing!”

“No, not that, lol.” She put her elbow on her hip, resting her chin on her hand. “Are you happy with that current relationship you two have?”

“I bet Kasuga couldn’t be happier.”

“But, the closer she gets to becoming like you, the more distant she’ll end up from her friends, right?”

She sure is quick on the uptake. This lonerfication plan that we’re having will eventually make Kasuga lose all her friends. If we want to avoid that, we’ll have to stop with turning her into a loner. I’m aware of that, and Kasuga should have caught on to that. At first, it was just dubious to sharp gazes, but she must have realized despite that. However, we haven’t properly talked about that.

“Generally speaking, growing distant from your friends is not very good, and not seen well.”

“A common idea, yes.”

“Even if you two are fine with it, other people around you, the Ooba group in particular, or even other people from Kasuga’s group, probably don’t like it.”

“Well, I know as much. The future of our relationship means that we’re basically alone together.”

Hirahara-sensei let out a sigh.

“Well, don’t bully Kasuga, will you? Making her choose between her boyfriend’s ideals and her friends is far too cruel, even for a kind girl like her.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“I was a loner myself, so I know. The people who say ‘I’m aware of it’ usually aren’t at all.”

****

The bus arrived at the Owens Izumigatake In-Nature Inn. Reaching there, we got off at a different parking lot specifically for busses, as we were surrounded by nature, a gentle breeze going through Izumigatake. More specifically—We’re far away from the big city of the north-east, Sendai, as my sight was filled with green everywhere.

The mountains looked bigger than the buildings built by human hand, and with this much nature in front of my eyes, it really made us human beings feel so insignificant. Yet, I didn’t dislike that at all. I heard the sound of water gushing down a river nearby. This much nature felt so relaxing, so emotional, that I couldn’t help but feel moved. Luckily, we were blessed with good weather, and although we had to be careful of heatstroke, it was a treat to look at the endless blue sky.

“Ohh, this is a great place.”

“Oh my god! Shizupai actually let out words of praise!?”

This energetic voice…could only belong to Aramiya. She’s properly wearing her hiking attire.

“That’s the first thing you say after getting off the bus?”

“Well, you’re like a shut-in, Shizupai. That’s why, Remi thought you’d probably be bad at this.”

“What? Are you worried about me?”

“Huh? Of course Remi is! We’re friends after all.”

“…Friends?”

“Yup.”

“…We are?”

“Who else is here?”

“Since when?”

“Eh? You care about that?”

“Then, what was the reason?”

“None in particular?”

“So…why?”

“Remi thinks of Shizupai as a friend. That’s why we’re friends! Right? That’s just how it is.”

“………”

We’re not friends or anything. I was merely forced to join their club, and am now her senior. But of course, there’s no way I could say that. Well, you know…I could deny that all I want, but it’ll cost her affection for me, and it’ll also take too much time.

“ Cough! A-Anyway, I prefer being alone, so if I can achieve that, nothing else matters. Even more so since this is a location further away from civilization and a crowded city. With the amount of freedom, and possibilities, I actually prefer the countryside more.”

“But, when you’re living in a small rural area, you tend to have stronger connections with the people around you, right? They’d figure out that you’re an outsider immediately.”

“That’s the problem…”

There, a male who looked to be in his 50s, the teacher who is responsible for student and future course counseling, spoke up.

“Before we enter the inn, let’s line up in five rows~! Also, Ooba and Kasuga are the representatives, so I need you to come with me~!”

I knew that Kasuga would be the representative, and that sure sounds like #justnormiethings, but I couldn’t tell her to step down from it. After all, I was worried about her receiving negative influence because of her desire to become my ideal girl.

“Ah, Shizupai, that’s Miura, the teacher for student and future course counseling, as well as the advisor of our peculiar future course support club, right?”

“I mean, sure I know him, since I’m a second-year.”

So, after we finished lining up…

“Shizupai…” “Akizuki-san…”

“What?” “What?”

“Well…Remi was just thinking that it was only Shizupai and Sakupai in the final row…”

“If you have a natural five rows, and space for five people each, having two people in a row is just…”

A loner does what a loner has to do! Then again, now I have Akizuki with me.

“Are you jealous?”

“That can’t be helped, Kujou-kun. Everybody is stuffed into this narrow area with people around, and only we had freedom to breathe in the back. It was just you next to me, and nobody behind me.”

“It’s the best, right? Even if they told us to sit down, only Akizuki and I could stretch out our legs.”

A few minutes later…an employee came from the inn.

“Thank you very much for inviting us to your wonderful inn!”

Wait, it’s not like Ooba in particular was invited, right? He probably looked up ‘invitation greeting’ online, but normally the school should take care of that.

“During this outdoor school, we wish to find ourselves, create irreplaceable memories, and form bonds that stay intact the rest of our lives!”

So, if I don’t have any people I can form bonds with, I don’t have to bother with any of that, right? Still, it was rare to hear Kasuga speak so politely. After Kasuga finished her own greeting, the employees introduced themselves, explained everything about the hiking, the tents, the facility, other important things, as well as warnings for the inn itself, and finished it with an energetic ‘Okay everyone, let’s create some wonderful memories!’.

Alrighty, guess hiking comes first.

****

Mt. Izumigatake reached up to about 1km above sea level. Looking through the guidebook and the various routes, the ones we’ll be taking will take us around 90 minutes upwards, and another 80 minutes down. Of course, we have breaks planned there, and once we reach the summit, we’ll eat some rice balls, take pictures, and chill for about four to five hours before we go down again. We departed at roughly 10am. Can we really get up there before 1pm?

“Shizuki-kun.”

“What’s up, Kasuga?”

“Why are we walking at the end of the line?”

Around 15 minutes after our departure, Kasuga asked me that. By the way, the Kasuga and Ooba group were walking up at the front, which means that she was away from her friends. Honestly, I do feel a bit guilty.

“Think about it. It would be weird for a loner to be at the start of the group, leading it while hiking.”

“That makes sense!”

“Or, do you not want to be with a loner at the very end?”

“No! That’s not the case. I’m having fun like this, and I belong next to Shizuki-kun after all.”

“Then…”

“Yeah, let’s go back to being quiet again. Ah, one last thing…”

“What’s up?”

“I don’t know. Until before, when I was friends, I’d talk a lot, and I thought that even if we didn’t talk it still feels normal.”

“Yeah.”

“But, when I’m with you, even if we don’t have anything to talk about, as long as it feels comfortable, then I’m fine with it. Even if we don’t talk, as long as things aren’t awkward, we’re still close…I think that…outgoing people feel awkward if there’s nothing to talk about. So, I realized that every person has their own type of ‘normality’, even if it’s the exact opposite…”

“…? Sorry, I’m starting to lose you…”

“Basically, if I’m with you, I don’t mind that we don’t talk. I’m starting to feel that even this peace and tranquility isn’t as bad, and I guess that’s what it means to be a good loner.”

“I see.”

“Yup~”

After that, Kasuga and I continued to walk up the mountain without saying anything. Without anything to talk about, anything to smile about, we simply walked next to each other, amidst the overwhelming nature around us. Now then…I guess it’s time. My favorite protagonist one said: I avoid things I don’t have to do. The things I have to do, I get over with immediately, and swiftly.

“Aramiya.”

“Yesh?”

Aramiya was walking a bit in front of me and Kasuga. Although she had her back turned towards us, it was still easy to call out to her. By the way, she had Chisaka-senpai next to her, and Akizuki next to them. We’re moving in our group after all. That is half the reason as to why she’s walking next to me, and not up ahead.

“What will you do with your faux loner plan?”

“Ahhh, well…”

“No plan, huh…”

“What might you be talking about?” Akizuki asked.

“Aramiya-san said that she didn’t want to achieve a breakthrough with her idol activities even during this outdoor school, so she asked my secretary to become her producer.”

“Remi never said anything like that though!?”

“Wah!? Y-You said that in front of me though!”

“In Japanese, yes. Aramiya didn’t use any of that language.”

“Urk…Damn it…”

Also, can Chisaka-senpai turn everything into Chisaka-nese in a matter of seconds? No matter how I think about it, Aramiya never said anything like that, and I don’t think she feels that bad. Maybe Chisaka-senpai is just making up nonsense? By the way, all of us are properly wearing hiking clothes.

“Well, I figured that would be the case, so I came up with a plan myself.”

“Shizupai, you’re actually pretty motivated, huh! Seems like you’ll be a reliable partner~ So, what exactly did you come up with?”

“A photoshoot.”

“Eh? S-So normal.”

“It’s not just any photoshoot, okay?”

“Meaning?”

“From what I’m guessing, we’ll do the exact opposite from what you usually do, namely having you in the frame all alone, adding a description along the lines of ‘I was hiking all alone today because I don’t have any friends~’.”

“Waeh!? I-Isn’t that pretty depressing!?”

“I don’t feel that way, but I bet it must be for some people. And, this is where we get the sympathy from all the otakus. ‘Ah, this idol is just like me’, you know. ‘I have to follow her’, is what they’ll think, and that’s our key to victory.”

“I-I see…”

“So, since we’re close to the first break, why don’t we take a picture there? You can still upload the tweet later.”

“OK! Thanks, Shizupai!”

“By the way, Shizuki-kun.”

“Hm?”

“I think Kasuga-san doesn’t like it very much if you tell her to be quiet, while talking with another girl like this.”

“Ah…Sorry, Kasuga…”

“Hmpf, dummy. You have to make up with a kiss after this.”

“No, that logic doesn’t add up.”

“Ehhhh?”

****

About two hours later, we reached the summit of Izumigatake. Just on a side note, but the three different groups, as well as all the other ones I didn’t know, reached before us.

“Still, this is quite the fulfilling scenery.”

From our location, we could see the small foot of Izumigatake, continuing endlessly. Beneath us was endless green, above us endless blue. It all feels much more unnatural than simply sitting at home in front of my computer. It felt like my heart was being washed of all the dirt it had gathered over the recent years. With this kind of scenery, every picture you upload would go viral, most likely. Well, to sum it up, this is a scenery you can’t miss.

“Time to take some pictures~!”

Naturally, I wasn’t the one who said that. In fact, it was the teacher currently watching over us, basically telling us to line up.

“Shizuki-kun, let’s stand next to each other.”

“Hold on, Kasuga, that’s what a normie would do.”

“Eh, really!?”

“A loner would stand in the furthest corner, maybe even next to the teacher, always keeping a solid meter from any other student.”

“Urk…Okay! I’ll be more careful. Now that I think about it, I remember seeing some people back in grade school taking up the loner position. But…”

“Hm? Is there a problem?”

“I mean, there’s only two corners for every group photo, right? So…if Sakuya-chan is taking up one side…”

“Ah, you’re right.”

That’s Akizuki for you, she already gathered at the most beneficial location right after the teacher declared so.

“Then, if Akizuki is on the left, from the cameraman’s point of view, then we take the right. However, people may assume that we are taking the picture together, but we just keep a one meter distance between us.”

“Understood!”

No matter the reason, I definitely can’t. Even 30cm is way too close. I think I contemplated it before, but when it comes to 50cm, and the other person isn’t fine with it, they feel unpleasant. If you’re interested in any loner, you should always give them personal space.

“By the way, Kasuga, are you trying to take some weird pose for the picture?”

“Ehehe~ Secret~”

What? She has her hands as a plate, puffing out her lips on top of said plate…But, the picture was taken before I could say anything.

“Ah! Kasuga, this…!”

“Yup. I used perspective in order to make it seem like we’re closer!”

Kasuga showed me the photo on the teacher’s digital camera. S-She got me…! It looked like I was standing on the plate she formed with her hands. Well…now that we’ve taken it, it can’t be helped, really. Anyway, time to eat lunch.

“H-Hey, Ooba…Hina and Kujou are eating together, and yet neither of them is saying anything…I’m surprised they’re still together…”

“Y-Yeah…if that isn’t awkward for them, then what kind of relationship do these two have…”

I heard Ooba and friends talk about us from a distance……Just leave us alone, okay? Even if other people may not understand us, both Kasuga and I are living in our own small bubble of happiness. That’s right, we are having a loner lunch right now! By the way, these rice balls were actually made by Kasuga. Before we started the loner lunch, she said ‘Here, before we end up silent, take this~’, so that’s what we’re at.

It’s a bit of a shame that we only have rice balls here, but at least they’re homemade?

“…Well, if I had to say, I guess this is pretty good…”

“!”

“Not like anybody is around to hear my impression…”

“Ehehehe~ I think I just heard the wind giving me a compliment~”

Right behind us were the other three of our group—

“Harupai, Sakai, what is Remi looking at…?”

“At the outdoor school, it is basic to move in groups…and I had thought that we would get to see them flirting a lot longer than usual, but this is…”

“He could have done the same with me in the library room, so why…”

According to my degree on Chisaka-senpai language, she probably said something along the lines of [Hmmm, well, you’re supposed to work together as a group! I figured that we’d see them flirting around more than usual, but now I’m starting to feel embarrassed!] , maybe? Also, what even is Akizuki talking about?

“Baaaang!”

“Woah!?”

Someone suddenly hugged me from behind!? Big breasts! So soft!

“Hey, Remi-chan! What are you doing to my Shizuki-kun!?”

“Hey hey hey, Shizupai, have you gotten too engrossed in your lunch with Hinapai that you forgot about your promise with Remi?”

“First of all, I haven’t forgotten. Second, even if I did, maybe you should consider a more gentle way of reminding me.”

“Then! Shizupai, let’s take pictures! It’s time for the faux loner operation!”

“Before that…Chisaka-senpai, can I have a moment?”

“? Me?”

I took Chisaka-senpai with me, a bit further away from the other group. I felt Kasuga’s sulking gazes stabbing me in the back, but I tried to ignore that.

“You don’t want the others to find out about your company right, Chisaka-senpai?”

“Of course!?”

“Then, what we promised at the StarBa before coming here.”

“Which was?”

“Of course, I plan on keeping it a secret, but…”

For a moment, my words got stuck in my throat. I had already decided what to say, but not my choice of words. However, with Chisaka-senpai’s gentle smile…

“You are quite honest, dear secretary.”

“Eh? Why?”

“It’s fine. You basically want to keep it a secret in front of the others, right? For that reason, you need to consider the others, which means that I might end up late, right.”

“Well, something like that…”

“Don’t worry about it! I’m forcing you to help me, and although I’m quite serious myself, I know how important Aramiya-san’s dream is to her.”

Hold up, she’s such a nice person!?

****

Now that we’re back, it’s time for the photoshoot for Aramiya!

“For starters, Aramiya.”

“Hmmm?” Aramiya approached me.

“Only you’ll be in the picture, okay?”

“Yeah, well, Remi might be fine with uploading her face to the internet, but the same isn’t necessarily the case for others.”

“Yeah, but that’s also part of it.”

“?”

“If you uploaded a photo with people around you, then people won’t think of you as a loner, and complain that you’re trying to keep up that fake image.”

“Ahh, that makes sense! You’re pretty clever, Shizupai!”

“I’m not clever, you’re just careless.”

And, for starters—

“First, we’ll take a picture of you hiking with the view from the peak as the background. Naturally, once you’re uploading it online, you’ll add something along the lines of ‘I put my phone on a rock for this~’.”

“OK!”

Then, secondly—

“If you want to raise your likeability with a picture while you’re hiking, you should take a picture that really shows off your hiking clothes. If you wore any normal clothes, people might get suspicious, but luckily you’re already equipped.”

“Well, I would get hurt if I wore my usual clothes…”

Thirdly—

“This is a chimaphila.”

“The name of a flower? Shizupai, you sure know a lot!”

“Not at all, I just like reading books.”

“So, what about that flower?”

“I want you to crouch down, and take a picture together with this flower. I don’t know how effective it will be, but it won’t hurt to show off your feminine side.”

“Understood!”

“Wait, don’t rip it out.”

Then, finally—

“Shizupai, why don’t we take a selfie together? One that I won’t put on Twitter.”

“Huh? Who? With who?”

“Remi and Shizupai.”

“Why?”

“To make it a lasting memory.”

“Are memories that important?”

“Are there any memories you’d rather not have?”

“Of course, I have a lot of bad memories.”

“For example?”

“When I was in grade school, I was called Kujou fungus, and hide-and-seek was turned into ‘Hide from the fungus’. Since I was the origin of the fungus, I was always the one searching.”

“Ehh…W-Well, you don’t only have bad memories, right? Whenever Remi made new friends, she would take a selfie with them, so Shizupai as well, come on.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously, seriously. Ah, once Shizupai and Remi are done, let’s all take a picture together.”

“All together…”

“Sounds good, right? Between friends, this much is normal.”

“…Only this once, alright? Not more than ten.”

“Ohhh, Shizupai is such a tsundere!”

In the end, I went and took a selfie together with Aramiya. Of course, this is just an exception, as I actually have a girlfriend called Kasuga, but…I see. It feels weird. Aramiya and I are friends, huh. I’m not too confident, but the same probably goes for Akizuki and Chisaka-senpai…No, even as friends, it’s weird for us to link arms during a picture, but…

“What are you doing, Aramiya.”

“Eh!? Miura!”

“I’m your teacher, so address me that way!”

Oh, it’s Miura-sensei, the teacher who is responsible for student and future guidance counselling, as well as the advisor of our club. I think a technical retreat will be impossible now…

“Isn’t that obvious? Remi is taking pictures for Twitter.”

“Ah, playing idol again?”

“It’s not playing, Remi is serious.”

“That makes it even worse. What if you fail, and ruin your prospects for the future? Choose a more reliable path, will you?”

“Is following one’s dream really that bad of a thing~”

“It certainly is not, but it depends on your dream, is what I’m saying.”

“For example?”

“A doctor, judge, police officer, lawyer, or a teacher like me.”

“It’s just as Shizupai said…”

“Shizupai?”

“Kujou Shizuki-senpai said that school isn’t there to support the individual traits and quirks of students, but rather to raise them into template adults, and that they wouldn’t want us to leave the rails set up by them~.”

“Hey, don’t try to run away, Kujou.”

Damn it, I was too late.

“Don’t teach your juniors weird stuff like that.”

“W-Well…you know, I just wanted my junior to care about teachers, and maybe aspire to become one…”

“Anyway, today is outdoor school, so go enjoy it. Aramiya, maybe get a good look at reality again. Kujou, I’ve been hearing rumours, so maybe make some friends.”

“U-Understood…” “Bleh!”

There, Miura-senpai walked away…Ahh, I’m tired. Both my physical endurance, but also mentally.

“Shizupai.”

“What’s up?”

“The Shizupai stocks inside Remi are going up in flames right now.”

“Oh?”

“Well, she’s thankful that you are willing to help her, and she’s happy as well, but before, you said you had no interest in Remi’s future path, and just now, you tried to run away as well.”

“Because it’s not my problem. If I see myself receiving damage, I’m going to run away, and I’ll act accordingly if I don’t manage to.”

“This is why you’re a loner, you know?”

“Just to let you know, but being called a loner is the biggest praise you can give me.”

“Hey, Shizupai?”

“What is it now?”

“Remi’s dream, does it really look that weird in the eyes of an adult?”

“Who knows? Not like I care.”

“Wow…Right when Remi started caring about you. She could never fall for you. Just when she was excited to have a boy join the club.”