<Roi POV>
It's the next day now and Akari seemed a bit shell-shocked for almost being caught. But he also looked like he reached a stage of euphoria so I guess it was mission success for them.
"So what happened after we all dipped from the hot spring?" Alto asked, folding up his bed.
"They thought I was a part of it so I had to convenience them it was just an accident. You know, because it was," I say while putting on my daytime clothes.
"You didn't snitch on us did you?" Akari said looking a bit worried.
"No, I told them I had no clue. Since I did that you can give me some money to make up for it," I say with a straight face.
"Bruh, fine," Akari said with a sigh. He then reached in his wallet and grabbed 2000 Yen and gave it to me.
"Much appreciated sir," I say as I grab the money from him.
"So what is the plan for today?" Ichiro said while looking at the different attractions we could see.
"Well whatever it is, I won't be able to join you guys today," Alto said to us.
"Why?" Ichiro says to him.
"Because, ummmm, uhhh, Izumi asked me if we could hang out today so we plan on walking around Kyoto," Alto responded.
"No way, you have a date?' Akari said with his jaw dropped.
"I actually know how to talk to girls Akari," Alto said with a blank face.
"Ouch low blow," Akari said hanging his head.
"Well good for you, not surprised since you both are popular but I'm sure you'll have a nice time," I say to Alto while patting his back.
"You gonna make moves on her?" Akari said with a sly grin.
"Who knows?" Alto said with a shrug and a smirk.
"I'm surprised no girls tried to pull you away Ichiro,' I say to him.
"Some have, might go with a few too," Ichiro simply said while looking at his phone.
"Then why did you ask if we wanted to do something?" Akari said to him confused.
"No clue, maybe we can do something tomorrow just us guys. The last time we all hung out as a whole group, you tried harassing my sister so maybe it'll be different this time," Ichiro responded.
"Guess it's just us two," Akari said to me.
"I'm sure we can find something to do," I say in reassurance to Akari.
<TIMESKIP>
All the students and the staff are in the lounge area where the Inn is serving breakfast. Not much happened just fellow students chatting up and teachers looked like they had a rough night. The table was just Akari and I, Izumi dragged Alto away so they could go check out the town as soon as we made it to the lounge. As for Ichiro, these randoms girls dragged him over to sit with them and it's funny to watch the other boys get jealous with the girls throwing themselves at him.
As we were getting ready to finish eating and make our way out of the Inn we were stopped by Sakura and her group of "Popular Kids".
"Hey guys," Sakura said to us with a smile.
"Uh, hey Sakura, you need something from us?" I asked confused because it's rare for us to really talk with each other in a group setting.
"Do you two want to hang out with us?" Yumi said to us two.
"Yes," Akari answered with no hesitation.
He looks over at me with a desperate plea for me to say yes.
"Sure, I guess," I say with a sigh.
"Anything you guys got plann-" I follow up but I was cut off by Ken running up to us.
"Can I please come with you guys!" He said while panting very hard.
"Ummm," I look over to them and Mikoto is about to say something but is cut off by Sakura.
"Sure you can come, the more the merrier," Sakura said in a cheerful tone.
"Thank you so much Sakura," Ken said with a massive smile on his face.
"Let's get going," Some guy in the group said. I assume he is popular because he is with Sakura and them but I have never seen this guy in my life.
"Let's just get going," Mikoto said looking annoyed, probably because Ken is going to keep bugging her for attention.
<TIMESKIP>
So after an hour of exploring Kyoto we all ended up at an arcade. We all voted to come here just for a break and to have some fun while we are here. I would say it is a group thing we are doing but it isn't really the case. Ken keeps bugging Mikoto for attention and she keeps shutting him down. The two guys in the group are all over Sakura not even paying attention to the games. Akari is just being Akari and trying to flirt with some of the local girls at the arcade and trying to show off to Yumi. So that pretty much just leaves me and no one else.
I played some games, I gave up on those stupid crane machines because they are the biggest scam that has ever been produced by humans. Other than that I was deciding whether to just leave and go explore some of the wonders of Kyoto on my own or just to kinda wait around and wait for something to happen. But I think I've made up my mind and just gonna go and do some walking on my own.
Before heading to the exit I take a final glance at the others and it seems they are even more occupied with some of the high schoolers in the area trying to hit on the girls and show off. Akari is facing off some guy in an air hockey game on dibs who gets to play against Yumi and Ken along with other guys are handing Mikoto gifts that they won for her but she doesn't seem too interested.
I make my way to the exit and go to my phone to try and find some local shops to grab some gifts for my parents when they come back from work overseas. There is some antique shop about 3km away so I decided to just walk there because it is only noon so there is much of the dau left.
In a way, the streets of Kyoto reminded me of Tokyo with the crowded areas of local residents and tourists but it was nothing overwhelming.
After 30 minutes I finally arrived at this small shop off the beaten path of the busy streets. Inside the shop, there was an old woman and what I assume is her husband.
"Hello, welcome to our shop. Is there anything specific you are looking for today?" The old woman said to me in a very calm voice.
"Yes ma'am, I am looking for something small that would work as a perfect gift for my mom and dad," I say to her in a polite manner.
"Hmmmm, let I think I have something you might like," The old man commented.
"Are you from here?" The old man said.
"No sir, I'm from Tokyo. Our school is taking a trip here for the next few days so I just want something that could capture the trip here for my family," I say to him.
"Ah okay then we definitely have something," The old man said and his wife nodded.
They both then walked away in search of whatever item so in the meantime I decided to take a look around the shop. There wasn't much space as they had a bunch of small trinkets that would be fine for my parents but since they already put the effort into finding this specific item I'll just wait.
After a couple more minutes the old couple came back looking a bit confused and nothing in their hands.
"That's weird I thought we left the small statue in the back," The old man said with a puzzled look.
"Let me ask Chio," The old lady responded.
"Chio! Come down please!" The old lady yelled.
"Coming!" Chio yelled in response and from what I heard she is pretty young. Probably around my age.
After about 15 seconds I see a teenage girl come down from upstairs wearing some lounge clothes. She is actually really pretty, these nice old people must be her grandparents.
"Oh, a customer," The girl said in a pretty unenthusiastic tone.
"You want an autograph or something?" Chio said to me.
"Uhhh, no?" I say to her confused.
"Oh my! No Chio, this nice young man is just looking for something for his parents while on a school trip. I was looking for that small statue in the back but I couldn't find it. Do you know where it is?" The old lady said to her.
"Oh, I'm sorry then," Chio said with a bow to me.
"I think I know where it is let me go check," She said with a faint smile.
She then walked away from us. Now I wanted to know if this girl is famous or something. I know that name is familiar but I can't really pinpoint where I've heard that name before.
"Umm that girl, is she your granddaughter?" I ask the old couple.
"Why yes, she is. Her mother and father agree to send her with us for a few weeks sometimes to have her interact with normal people for once," The old man said proudly.
"I've heard that name Chio before. If you don't mind me asking sir and miss. What does she do? Because from what I've gathered she is pretty popular and I mean more than a school life popular," I asked the couple.
"I'm Chio Hada, I play in a couple of movies," Chio said after coming back with the small statue.
The light then went off in my head. This girl played more than just a couple of movies. She is a huge star all across Japan playing in a bunch of major movies as a starting role. I knew that she looked familiar.
"Oh, I knew I've heard that name somewhere before. Actually, my friends and I plan on seeing that movie you are starring in, the high school romance one. 'Love Birds'" I say in somewhat shock.
"A guy like you watches rom-com?" She said with a sly smile.
"Hey! No shame, we are in the 21st century let guys enjoy ourselves a little," I said with a small laugh which caused her and her grandparents to laugh too.
"But anyway, here is the statue I found gramps," Chio said as she handed him the statue.
"Ah yes, this is the right one alright!" The old man said with a smile on his face. He then looked over at me and handed the statue to me.
"Oh thank you," I then bow and take the statue to take a better look at it. The statue is a fox on a rock in front of a shrine that says Kyoto on it. Pretty simple but I really like it. I think this is the perfect gift that I needed.
"Wow, this looks really good," I say smiling.
"How much is this?" I ask them.
"Well, since you seem like a good young man we can give it to you for about 3000 Yen," The old lady said to me.
"Holy! Are you sure miss?" I say with shock on my face. A nice statue like this for sure could have gone for a lot more than 300 Yen.
"Yea, we are practically retired anyways so this shop is something we like to do for fun. We are more than happy to help you out as long as you promise to come by and stop again when you are in the area," The old man said in an upbeat tone.
"I'll make sure to come as much as possible," I say with a bow to them.
With that, I went to the cash register and handed them the money. Chio decided to stand by near them which kinda surprised me because I thought she would've gone back upstairs.
I finished and as soon as I was about to leave as I was waving to them but Chio walked up to me.
"What's your name?" Chio asked me.
"Roi Sato," I simply respond to her. Kinda weird to ask but I got nothing to hide with my identity.
"You seem like a normal person. Want to hang out sometime when we both are free?" Chio asked shyly. This threw me off but you know I can't look like a loser in front of someone like her.
"Yeah sure, should we exchange contact info or?" I say to her not trying to push my boundaries with a girl I just met.
"Sure," She said as she put her phone out which is a queue for me to do the same so the info can transfer.
"Alright then Chio, maybe we can hang out within the next few days?" I ask her.
"Does tomorrow work?" Chio asked bluntly.
"Oh, of course," I say trying to hold back my shock at her actually agreeing to all of this.
"Well, I gotta go now and help the shop out. Please don't go telling people about this. my grandparents like this quiet life so I wouldn't want to ruin that for them," Chio said softly.
"Of course, I respect people's boundaries. Have a good day Chio," I say to her with a smile.
"You too Roi," She simply said back with a slight blush on her face.
And with that, I made my way out of the store. I guess today wasn't totally lame. As I start walking down the street back to the main area I check my phone and see I have 20 missed calls from Akari. I guess the others were wondering where I went off to and got a bit worried. They are eating at a restaurant not to far from where I am so I start jogging to the others. Tightly holding onto the mini statue I bought earlier.
I don't mind the harem being of popular girls, it makes mc alpha status higher, but yeah i'm not against a bit of variation. Thanks for the chapter. \o/
I laughed so hard reading this
