6:12 AM.
Trip day.
I was packing my bag for the third time.
Then I heard it
the doorbell.
Followed by my mom shouting from the kitchen:
"Kuroyuki! Your friend is here! She's... very loud!"
Of course she is.
I opened the door to find Hinata Shoyo, already in full field-trip gear: cap, hoodie, cargo pants, and a duffel bag that looked like it contained three weeks' worth of supplies.
She held up a bag of chips like a trophy.
"I brought breakfast!"
I blinked. "At 6 a.m.?"
"It's the most important meal of the day, Kenyu."
---
My mom gave her tea. Hinata promptly dunked a rice cracker in it.
I tried not to cringe.
She glanced at my open backpack. "That's all you're bringing?!"
I shrugged. "Just the basics."
She gasped. "Girl. No. We're going into nature. Nature is evil."
She yanked open my bag and started tossing in emergency snacks, bug spray, two power banks, and a mini fan.
"Hinata! That's my school bag, not a bunker."
She held up a pair of socks dramatically. "Do you want foot fungus or not?"
"You're insane."
---
After fifteen minutes of packing sabotage, we left for school.
Together, we looked like two extremes:
Hinata, the over-prepared survivalist.
Me, the emotional disaster trying to keep her heart from cracking around one boy.
---
7:30 AM, At school.
The bus was already there.
Students were crowding around, lugging bags and yawning.
"I call window seat!" Hinata yelled, racing ahead like it was the Olympics.
I spotted Itsuki standing near the teachers with a camera slung over his shoulder. He smiled when he saw us.
"You look ready to take on a forest fire," he told Hinata, eyeing her survival kit backpack.
She blushed. "Always be prepared."
He laughed. "Let's hope you don't need half of it."
Hinata turned to me the moment he walked away and whispered, "He's too cute. If I die in the woods, bury me next to him."
---
We climbed onto the bus.
Guess what?
Assigned seats.
Because of course.
I slid down the aisle, checking the list taped to the front.
And there it was:
Seat 17A: Kuroyuki Kenyu
Seat 17B: Shinbou Ryusei
I turned to Hinata. "Did the universe eat my diary or something?"
She smirked. "Maybe fate ships you two."
I groaned, dragged my bag to row 17, and sat down.
A minute later, Shinbou climbed aboard calm, tall, headphones slung around his neck like always.
He sat down next to me without a word.
Not even a glance.
Just like usual.
But I wasn't ready for what happened next.
He reached into his bag…
and offered me a piece of gum.
I blinked. "What?"
"You've been chewing your lip since we left school," he said, looking out the window.
I stared at the gum like it was an alien artifact. Then took it with trembling fingers.
"...Thanks."
He didn't answer.
But for the first time…
I didn't feel like a stranger sitting beside him.
---
Behind us, Hinata was loudly quizzing Itsuki about camera settings.
"ISO is a number, right? Or like... a vibe?"
Itsuki chuckled. "Kind of both?"
She grinned. "Then I'm basically a photographer now."
---
As the bus rolled forward and the city slipped away behind us, I leaned my head slightly toward the window.
Beside me, Shinbou put on his headphones.
But he wasn't listening to music.
I could hear it.
No sound.
No song.
Just the headphones.
And his eyes weren't closed.
He was staring ahead blank, expressionless.
Like his mind was somewhere far, far away.
And for a second, I wondered…
Was he remembering something?
Or was he trying not to?