Rinse couldn’t shake the thought of what Ishi did yesterday. How did that boy not get himself beaten up? All the things he said certainly wasn’t to be nice, yet he was able to win the battle with words. There was no way she couldn’t talk to him about that, which is the first thing she did when they got to their first break from class.

“What was that all about?” She asked him. “You know, yesterday after school.”

“You’re still on about that?” He wasn’t in much of a mood to talk as he rested his head atop his right hand. “What’s there to talk about? The dude wanted to hurt me, so I just told him the truth.”

“But how did you even know all that?” It made no sense to her. He didn’t seem to talk with a lot of people, so the rumor mill was out of the question. And he didn’t seem particularly close to the boy either, so there was no way that person confided anything with him.

“I don’t think I’m-” He was cut off by the oohs and aahs from the rest of the classmates. It was the boy from yesterday that threatened Ishi coming in. Everyone was wondering why he would be coming in here of all places. Especially during their first break. Rinse felt her heart tightened, as she feared that he might be here to finish the job. That perhaps her seatmate wasn’t as successful as they believed him to be.

Ishi didn’t react to the appearance, outside of quieting down. He didn’t even turn to look at the boy, instead his gaze was pointed to the location where he knew were going to go down at. This boy wasn’t looking for him, he was heading towards a spot not far in front of him. He stopped right in front of a desk where a girl was sitting at.

“E-eh?” She was shocked to see him here of all places. The girl wasn’t exactly known for her looks. Her fashion choice was tame, her body was a bit chubby, and those glasses made her look like a dork. This was the last person everyone but Ishi would’ve thought this boy would go to. “I-Izuru, wh-what are you doing here?” She whispered quietly, feeling all the eyes on her.

“Fuma.” He placed both his hands down around her desk. “Please... I’d like to ask you, if you would like to go out with me?” The question certainly was a shock to everyone in the room. No one could believe it, this had be some type of joke.

“You’re kidding, right?” One of them asked.

“Yeah, you’re just messing with all of us, right?”

“No!” He was resolute against their assumptions. “The truth is… I really like Fuma, and I’d really would like to be her boyfriend.” Izuru was dead serious, his tone made that clear as day. The entire room was stunned into silence, as he returned to the person that he cared about. “So, I would like it if you could accept this confession.”

“Oh, Izuru.” Her voice was breaking up. “Of course I will.” She got up and took both of his hands. This turned out to be quite the happy ending after all.

“Isuru and Fuma, that’s definitely not a couple I ever saw coming.” Otoya had a laugh about the scene he had the privilege of watching.

“But you did.” Rinse was astounded by Ishi’s apparently knowledge. How could he be able to gather that type of information being the type of person he was.

“I wasn’t going to tell you, but I guess after that. Everyone deserves an explanation to what just happened.” Hearing him say that, everyone student in the classroom turned towards him. “Okay, I was only planning on telling this to just Hattori and Otoya, but I guess this is fine.”

He wasn’t one to be the one spreading rumors, but now the truth was out. So might as well make sure the story was understood when this got around the school. It all began in the library of all places. “By the way, if you ever see me in the library. Don’t talk to me.” Ishi wanted to make sure that point was made first.

Anyway, he was occasionally there to do some reading whenever he wanted to avoid everyone, including Otoya. There was a good spot that he enjoyed going to because most people couldn’t see him when they entered. Which is also why he was able to not be detected by those two when they were privately there.

Note, no they were not doing anything inappropriate or anything. Certainly nothing that would cause Ishi to take issue and let them know of his presence. All they seemed to do was talk a lot between each other on a lot of topics that he didn’t care to remember. Basically take it as seeing a side of Izuru that no one else knew about.

However, through out the few times he had the chance to see and hear them. Ishi came to the realization that Izuru really liked this girl. To the extent that he was certain this boy had fallen for her. Because he was always the one seeking her out. This boy had tons of girls coming to him, yet he was the one that wanted to talk with the girl no one talked about.

“Anyone with half a brain could’ve figured that out if they were in my position.” Even after telling everyone about it, they still had a hard time believing it. This was certainly going to be the talk of the school for the day all right.

And while it was, it wasn’t the one thing that was important to Ishi. That would be his responsibility with planning out this field trip with Youna. So that’s what happened again after school as he met with the girl after school. However, there was one thing that was different than yesterday.

“Can I help you two?” Rinse didn’t leave the classroom like everyone else. She had made the decision to want to offer her services to them.

“Really?” Ishi shook his head in disappointment. Just when he thought things were going his way, this girl had to throw a wrench to grind his gears. “I’m sure the two of us can take care of things on our own.”

“B-but…” Youna spoke unsteadily, worried about how he was going to take her disagreeing with him. “More help is… Always nice.” Her voice trailed off towards the end.

“She’s the rep.” Rinse had a grin on that he would’ve loved to wipe clean off. “So it looks like I’m on the team.” She sat down with them, and with her being new, they had to explain what this trip was going to be about.

This was a field trip for all the third years as this was going to be their final year in high school. Everyone was going to be heading to a famous aquarium to learn about the nature of the sea. Of course, this was also located by a well known beach. So most of the students were mainly excited for a chance to enjoy the Summer weather and views presented there. Particularly of those in their bathing suits.

Ishi wasn’t looking forward to it. In fact, before he was asked to aid in the preparation, he was planning on just sticking to the back and taking in the sun while everyone else was enjoying themselves.

“We’ve already taken care of the finances.” He informed her. “So all that’s left is putting together a plan to ensure a proper mix of safety, fun, and education.”

“But aren’t we just going to the aquarium? That sounds pretty simple.” Rinse asked. Youna did agree with her, but there was some discussion between her and Ishi yesterday that had yet to be completed.

“Sure, but we all know that people are going to be grouping up with the ones they’re closest with.” All the clubs were certainly a factor, but there were also the ones with friend groups to pay attention to. “For starters, there are dozens of exhibits and activities to do there.” Which meant there was no way for the entire class to be able to meet all of them. Some would have to be cut out, or they could have it another way.

If one were to consider the types of people that were going to be there, then they’re could be sections cut up among common interests. For example, the artist types would like to see more colorful creatures for inspiration. They could be with the gyarus, and they’d be able to set a plan for them.

“I see, you want to divide the flow.” Rinse was getting into his thought process. She was surprised that he was able to come up with a strategy involving people he didn’t care for.

“But, won’t it be hard to keep track of everyone?” Youna asked.

“As much as I may hate kids my age, I still hold out hope that they’ll at least be responsible enough to not get hurt.” Even that belief of his wasn’t held that strongly. “Plus, there’s going to be a lot of teachers there to chaperon, so we’ve got more than enough eyes to keep track of everyone.” In fact, that was the limiting factor of his plan. The number of groups that could be created would have to be equal to the number of teachers that could lead them.

So the trio worked together to come up with a foolproof set up that could work with the various students within their grade. Well, it likely wasn’t to be perfect, but at least it could be designed to be most optimal.

“This should be good enough.” Ishi commented on the job well done. Of course, despite caring that they should at least have a good base to work with. He was a lot lazier about working out the finer details. If he was going to be made to work on this, there were going to be some corners cut.

“Actually, I don’t see your name anywhere on here.”

“Darn, I guess you caught me.” He was hoping to just bounce around some groups so some people wouldn’t get the wrong idea of talking to him. “Whatever shall I do?” His sarcasm was abundantly clear.

“You should’ve just put yourself in our group.” Rinse wrote down his name alongside hers, Youna’s and Otyoa’s.

“What makes you so comfortable to make us a group?”

“Well, I’m not really close to anyone else yet. And aren’t you friends with the other two?”

“I’m not friends with Hanada.” He stated in a way to make sure there was no wiggle room to counter.

“Yeah… Um, the two of us don’t usually talk to each other like this.” Youna spoke while turning away from him. She was always tense around him.

“It’s too late now, I’ve already written it down in ink.” Ishi sighed from hearing the bad news.