There's no way a side character like me could be popular, right?

Chapter 3

We’re in August now, only a few days into our summer vacation.

I find myself walking to school of all places. Yeah, I know it’s weird, especially on a day as hot as this one. There’s a good reason behind it, though, I promise. I’m doing this today because the fateful day has arrived: it’s finally time for our student council trip.

The moment I arrive, I head straight to the student council room—that’s where we’re supposed to meet. I knock on the door, and a voice from inside beckons me in.

“Oh, Yuuji. There you are,” Ike greets me.

“Looks like I’m the last one here,” I note as I look around.

We all exchange greetings. I’m 10 minutes earlier than the supposed meeting time, but everyone’s already here waiting for me. Yep, Ike, Tatsumiya, Tanaka-senpai, Suzuki, and Touka are all here. The only one who’s still missing is Makiri-sensei, who’s supposed to come pick us up with a minivan and drive us over.

“Apparently, Taketori-senpai’s too busy studying for an exam he has to retake, so he won’t be tagging along,” Ike explains.

“Hi there, Yuuji-senpai!” Touka exclaims in a cheery voice.

“Hey,” I reply.

As soon as I answer her, Touka heaves a sigh of relief and heads my way. Is she happy that I’m finally here?

“Ah! Touka...” I hear Tatsumiya cry.

Hah, Touka’s only relieved because Tatsumiya was probably hanging all over her and bothering her. Tatsumiya also notices Touka’s visible relief and shoots me a nasty glare. Oh well, whatever.

“Well, since we’re all here, we should go fetch Makiri-sensei so we can get going.”

“I’ll go to the staff room and call for her. You guys wait for us at the front gate,” Tanaka-senpai commands.

“I’ll come with you. I don’t want you to wait for her alone,” Suzuki adds, following behind him.

“Okay, then we’ll be at the gate. See you guys there,” Ike says.

Tanaka and Suzuki leave the room, and we follow suit shortly after. Ike locks the room’s door behind us, and we make our way toward the gate.

“Oh man, not gonna lie—I’m, like, totally pumped for this trip!” Touka exclaims in her usual cheery tone.

“Huh, weird to see you actually excited about something.”

“Oh, you have no idea! The fact that Hasaki-senpai won’t be there to spoil everything makes this all infinitely better,” she replies with a grin. I like it when she smiles like that.

“I heard that she’s preparing for an upcoming tennis competition, so yeah,” Ike explains.

“Well, if I may give my opinion on the matter... it would be quite bizarre if she did accompany us, considering she doesn’t participate at all in the student council or even assist in any manner,” Tatsumiya points out with her usual calm demeanor.

“Oh well. It’s a shame, but I guess that’s just how it is,” Ike says.

“Aw, I’m sooo sad that she can’t come! What a shame!” Touka says, her voice dripping in sarcasm. “Psych! Anyways, I can’t wait to have you all for myself on the trip, Senpai!”

“Wehehe, yes indeed. I must admit, I am looking forward to enjoying some quality time with you on our excursion, Touka,” Tatsumiya adds with a sinister grin.

“Uhh... yeah, sure,” Touka mumbles vaguely, trying to ignore her as much as possible.

“Goodness! Perhaps I’m being overzealous in my attempt to become friends with her! What will the president think of me now?!” she cries.

“It’s okay. I think you just don’t know how to go about this yet,” I try to assure her.

Tatsumiya looks at Ike with a fiery passion; Ike smiles at her, but doesn’t reply. I don’t receive an answer from Tatsumiya—I doubt she was listening to what I said. She’s too busy staring at Ike to pay attention to anything else.

It takes a few minutes, but we eventually arrive at the school’s front gate. The minivan in question is already waiting for us, along with Makiri-sensei.

“Hey, guys. Place your luggage in the back,” she directs, then hops into the driver’s seat.

I throw my stuff in the back as instructed and open the van’s door. As I’m about to enter, I take in the seating situation. Suzuki and Tanaka-senpai are already sitting next to each other at the very back. That leaves four seats for the rest of us—three seats in the second row, and one up front riding shotgun.

“Why don’t we sit next to each other, Touka?” Tatsumiya suggests.

“Uhh, I was actually hoping to sit next to Senpai, so I don’t know...” Touka replies hesitantly.

If I sit in the second row, with Tatsumiya and Touka, I know for a fact that Touka will ignore her the entire trip—that won’t be fun for the other girl. Honestly, the best bet would be to have her, Touka, and Ike sit together. That way, she can sit between them. Plus, I don’t want her to think badly of me, so I’ll let her have the spot.

“I’m too big for the back. I’d just hog up all the space. I’ll take the copilot seat instead,” I quickly say and jump to sit beside Makiri-sensei before anyone can protest.

“Whaaat? Sigh, oh well. I’ll sit behind you, Senpai,” Touka says.

Well, even if she’s disapleased with the outcome, at least she didn’t object to my reasoning. That’s nice.

“Very well. President, you may enter first,” Tatsumiya ushers Ike forward.

“Alright.”

Ike goes in first, getting the seat right behind Makiri-sensei. Tatsumiya follows after, then Touka, who sits right behind me. I swivel my neck to check on Tatsumiya. She’s got a wide grin on her face, so I’m assuming this is the arrangement she wanted. Good. When I turn back around, I see Makiri-sensei staring straight at me. Uh, crap. This is awkward.

“Um... Thank you for all the help the other day,” I whisper to her. “I wasn’t expecting to be able to come on this trip, but you’ve made it all possible... so, uh, thanks again.”

“No need to thank me. This is a good chance for you to be with your friends, after all,” she replies in a dejected tone.

I finally realize that she’s worried about something. “Is something wrong?” I ask her.

She smiles awkwardly in response. To be honest, I’m still worried about what my dad pulled when she came over. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been quick to get herself a lawyer right after, but fortunately, nothing has happened so far.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just...” she mumbles.

“Yes?”

She avoids eye contact with me and doesn’t reply. Instead, she quickly whips out her phone from one of her pockets and starts typing. In just a few seconds, my phone vibrates. Makiri-sensei pockets her phone once more.

“Okay, guys, put your seatbelts on. We’re heading out,” she calls out to everyone, immediately and effectively ending our previous discussion.

Everyone does as she says while I pull my phone out. Makiri-sensei had obviously sent me a text, and the unread notification pops up on my screen. What does it say?

“Well, you’re the first guy who’s ever been up here next to me, so I’m a little nervous! Don’t mind me!”

I whip my head up and stare at Makiri-sensei. She gives me a cold look in response and mutters, “Could you not stare so much?” Her beet-red face only indicates to me that she’s saying that out of embarrassment.

I guess it’s a good thing my dad didn’t creep her out enough to sue us. I can sleep peacefully now.

“Uhh... yeah. I guess you can’t concentrate on driving properly if I’m doing that. Sorry,” I apologize awkwardly.

“Is it just my imagination, or have you grown bolder recently?” she whispers to herself.

And with that awkward exchange out of the way, she starts up the car, and we drive toward our destination.

Everyone’s having a nice time in the car. Tatsumiya seems to be having fun talking to Ike and Touka. Ike’s always been a social butterfly, so chatting with people and naturally caring about others is the norm for him. Touka, on the other hand, is clearly not having the time of her life. Still, Tatsumiya is managing to engage in a normal conversation with her, which is a huge step ahead of what was happening before. She’s a tenacious girl, so eventually she would’ve managed to do it.

Meanwhile, Makiri-sensei and I are making small talk up front, chatting about this and that.

After about two hours, which pass by fairly quickly, we arrive at a stretch of mountains. Makiri-sensei slows down and follows the trail up the mountain that leads us to our destination—an elementary school that’s been renovated into a lodging house.

“Alright, guys—we’re almost there, so sit tight,” Makiri-sensei informs us.

We all look out the window to check the place out. I can’t remember which prefecture we’re in now, but we’re completely surrounded by nature.

Once we arrive, Makiri-sensei parks the minivan at the designated spot in front of the building.

“Damn, I wasn’t expecting the countryside—er, mountainside—to be like this,” Touka muses as we all walk toward the building.

“Unfortunately, I’ve heard that the nearest supermarket is approximately a half-hour drive from here,” Tatsumiya adds.

“Damn...”

There’s already a man waiting for us at the entrance. He’s pretty old, but clearly appears to be someone who works here.

“Welcome to Mikura. My name is Yamamoto, and I am one of the staff members. There are other people working here, of course, but I will be your host during your stay here,” he greets us, then looks over our group in surprise. “Oh, by the way, where is your teacher? Will it just be you students, then?”

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Makiri. I believe this is the first time we’ve met, so I understand why you wouldn"t recognize me. I’m their teacher, and I’ll be in charge of supervising them while we’re here,” Makiri-sensei introduces herself. Although she’s smiling, her voice is firm and commands seriousness. I can’t imagine she’s very pleased to be mistaken for a student.

“Oh! I apologize! That was quite rude of me! You just look so young that I didn’t even consider the idea. I should’ve assumed you’re a recent college graduate. Please forgive my rudeness,” Yamamoto apologizes while placing his hand behind his head and laughing a bit. Before Makiri-sensei can get a word in, however, he continues, “Okay then, I’ll be handing everyone a map of the place. Your rooms are marked down. You can leave your luggage there.”

Apparently, the guys have to stay at the first floor of the building, while the girls get the second floor. Makiri-sensei has her own place on the second floor, as well.

“Very well. Listen up, everyone! We’re going to our rooms to unpack. Once we’re done with that, let’s all meet here again in around... 15 minutes. Understood?” Makiri-sensei commands in a cold tone. Yep, she’s definitely pissed about what happened just now.

Ike, Tanaka-senpai, and I arrive at our room, leave our belongings there, and return right back to our meeting spot.

Yamamoto is already there waiting for us. When he takes a good look at my face, he jumps a little. Upon realizing I noticed that jolt of his, he gives a forced smile and chuckles. Oh well, this is what usually happens. I don’t blame him for reacting like he did.

The girls take a little longer to come back, but eventually we’re all gathered together again.

“Looks like everyone’s here. Let’s get going, then. I know you guys have just arrived, but we’re going to take a long hike now, so brace yourselves,” Makiri-sensei warns.

Yamamoto hands us another map and explains what it depicts.

“Very well. You see the checkpoints here, the ones that are marked on the map along the road? Each of those contains a riddle, let’s say. We’ll split you guys into two teams—both teams have to solve all the mysteries; once they’ve done so and completed the track, they need to return here. The course is meant to be finished in around an hour and a half, but there’s no time limit, per se. However, the closer you return to the hour and a half mark, the more points you’ll receive. It’s not all about arriving first, though! That alone won’t guarantee your victory! Solving the riddles can grant you points, as well, so be sure to complete them all if possible.”

We’re given some materials before being told that we need to relinquish our phones and watches over to Makiri-sensei. This is to prevent monitoring the time we’ll take to do the course.

“As for the teams, the student council members will form one—they’re the ones this course is directed toward, after all. It’s meant to improve their bonds and increase cooperation.”

“Which means... Senpai and I will be together ALONE?!” Touka shouts.

“Nice try, but no. I’ll be tagging along,” Makiri-sensei replies dryly.

“Oh, right...” Touka grumbles. Hah, she sure is disappointed.

“Are there any questions before we start? If not, then I’ll be taking your phones and any watches on you,” Makiri-sensei continues.

No one has anything to say, so we do as told and hand her our stuff.

“The student council team will be doing the course clockwise, while Makiri’s team will start counter-clockwise. Please wait until I give you guys the signal to begin,” Yamamoto explains. He peers down at the stopwatch he’s carrying in his left hand.

“Senpai, Makiri-sensei, let’s do our best, okay?” Touka pipes up.

“You know it,” I reply.

“Yes, Ike-san, let’s,” Makiri-sensei says.

“Alright, everyone, you can start now!” Yamamoto exclaims.

Ike is the first one to make a move. “Okay, guys, see you later.”

Good thing this is meant as a team-building project, not a competition. I’ll take it easy and chill out as we walk along the path and solve the little mysteries.

Touka is smiling a lot as we’re walking along, so I’m assuming she’s thinking the same thing I am. “Damn, Teach,” she suddenly says, breaking the silence of our peaceful stroll. “I didn’t notice before, but you’re, like, totally different when you’re not wearing your work clothes and makeup. I bet you could totally pull off wearing a student uniform, and no one would be any the wiser! I mean, I’d have trouble telling, at least!”

Makiri-sensei wearing a school uniform? Man, now that I gotta see.