Chapter 11: Tripping Into Trouble

Scene: Homeroom – Monday Morning

Homeroom was unusually loud. Girls squealed, boys shouted over each other, and someone had climbed on a desk with dramatic flair.

"LISTEN UP, CLASS 2-B!" Yumi bellowed, witch hat already on. "We have been blessed with the best news of the semester!"

Aika, half-asleep at her desk, blinked. "Did we cancel midterms?"

"No," Rin whispered, face glowing. "Class trip. Overnight. Mountain inn."

Aika jolted upright. "Wait, what?"

Ren yawned in the back, legs up on his desk. "Sounds like a mosquito buffet."

Kaito smiled, flipping his schedule sheet. "You're just mad because bugs like you more than girls."

Girls near Ren: "That's not true!"

Ren: 😏

Tomo: "Can I bring my pickles?"

Everyone: "No!"

---

Scene: School Courtyard – Trip Day

Buses lined the front gates. Students carried duffel bags, pillowcases, and snacks like they were preparing for war.

Aika lugged her bag with determination.

Rin: "Excited?"

Aika: "Mildly terrified."

Rin: "Of sharing a room?"

Aika: "Of sharing a building with Ren."

Cue Ren walking past, one earbud in, suitcase casually slung over his shoulder.

"Morning, babe."

Aika flinched. "Don't call me that in public!"

Kaito appeared with sunglasses and a neck pillow. "Can't wait to sleep through your arguments."

---

Scene: Bus Ride – Two Hours of Suffering

The seating chart had been randomized.

Which meant...

Aika: "I'm going to kill whoever made this list."

Ren, next to her: "Hi, seatmate."

Aika: "I swear I'll jump out the emergency window."

Kaito in front, turning around smugly: "Don't worry, I'll film it."

Meanwhile, Yumi was casting protective travel spells, Tomo was handing out pickles like currency, and Haru was already asleep on someone's shoulder.

---

Scene: Arrival – Mountain Inn

The inn was gorgeous. Wooden floors, sliding doors, and views of green hills stretching out endlessly.

Aika stared in awe. "Okay… this might be kinda nice."

Then she saw the room list.

"Wait. Group rooms?!"

Girls in one giant room. Boys in another.

Chaos. Was. Inevitable.

Scene: Ryokan Inn – Night

The girls' room was already a warzone.

Pillows flew across the tatami floor, Yumi was chanting over a salt circle, and Tomo was chewing pickles while pretending to summon spirits.

Aika was trying to brush her hair, but Rin kept poking her cheek. "Tell me, who's the cutest in class?"

Aika rolled her eyes. "It's you, obviously, you narcissist."

"Wrong. It's Ren," Yumi said ominously, staring at her tarot cards.

Aika froze. "Don't start."

Yumi smirked. "He's cursed with hotness."

Meanwhile in the boys' room…

Ren had given up.

"Why are there five people in my futon?" he snapped.

Kaito was peacefully eating a protein bar in the corner. "They said you smelled nice, not my fault."

Ren threw a pillow at his head. "Get out."

Kuro: "Let's sneak into the girls' room."

Ren: "You will die before that happens."

Scene: Hallway – After Lights Out

Aika tiptoed outside with her toothbrush in hand, shivering slightly.

The ryokan's hallway was oddly cold. The lamps flickered. There was a creak behind her.

She turned slowly—

Yumi popped out of a sliding door, wearing a paper ghost mask.

Aika screamed so loud someone down the hall dropped a cup.

Ren came rushing out from his room in basketball shorts and a hoodie, hair messy from sleep. His expression screamed: what now.

Ren: "Do you wanna die this time?"

Aika: "Why would I?! Yumi's summoning the spirits of her exes!"

Yumi: "They're all still alive. Sadly."

Ren sighed, looked at Aika's trembling hands.

"…You scared of ghosts?"

She stubbornly shook her head. "No. I just don't like… invisible emotional trauma in mist form."

Ren blinked. "…what."

She didn't explain.

"Fine," he muttered. "Come here."

Before she could ask why, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her down the hall—toward the open-air veranda.

Scene: Veranda – Quiet Moment

The stars were out.

Aika sat on the wooden step, Ren beside her, elbows resting on his knees.

Neither spoke for a moment.

Then Ren muttered, "So, Miss Not-Scared-of-Ghosts, why are you shivering like a Chihuahua?"

Aika glared at him. "Because someone dragged me out in a tank top."

He casually dropped his hoodie onto her lap without a word.

She blinked. "Ren?"

Ren looked away. "…Just wear it. You're shaking. It's annoying."

Aika, softening, quietly pulled it on.

It smelled like… something warm and familiar. Soap. Cinnamon. Him.

They sat in silence again. Crickets chirped.

Then, she whispered, "You're… actually being nice tonight."

Ren snorted. "Don't get used to it."

Their shoulders brushed.

And for once—Aika didn't move away.

Then—

KTHUMP

A loud crack echoed in the silence.

Aika jumped.

Ren stood immediately. "What was that?"

They peered around the edge of the veranda—

To find Kuro, climbing out of a bush, holding a selfie stick and a half-eaten onigiri.

Kuro blinked. "Oh. Uh. Didn't see you there."

Aika: "What are you doing?!"

Kuro: "I was… birdwatching. At night."

Ren: "With a selfie stick?"

Kuro: "Advanced techniques."

From behind them, Tomo popped out with a flashlight taped to her forehead.

Tomo: "You saw the ghost too?!"

Aika screamed again.

Ren muttered, "I'm going to throw all of you into the lake."

---

Scene: The Next Morning – Breakfast Mayhem

The dining hall was traditional: floor seating, tatami mats, and one very angry teacher yelling at students to sit in rows.

Yumi: "I predicted misfortune in my cards. Someone will spill miso soup."

Cue Haru tripping and dumping a full bowl onto Ren's lap.

Ren: "I swear to—"

Aika, through laughter: "Don't say I never warned you."

Kuro: "That's the hottest breakfast I've ever seen."

Scene: Morning Mayhem – Day Two at the Inn

If anyone thought a school trip meant rest, they clearly hadn't met Class 2-B.

The girls' room looked like a battlefield of empty snack wrappers, hair straighteners, and broken salt circles (Yumi swore it was a ghost attack).

Aika groaned, dragging herself toward the breakfast hall.

Tomo (still munching pickles): "I heard someone snuck out at night."

Rin, winking: "Wasn't me this time. I had Aika's snoring to keep me company."

Aika: "I don't snore!"

Tomo: "You talked in your sleep. Something about 'stupid basketball jerks' and 'give back my hoodie.'"

Aika choked on air.

Across the hall, the boys were already causing chaos.

Ren had one sock on, hair wet from the bath, abs peeking through his half-buttoned shirt like it was casual.

Three girls from Class 2-C peeked around the corner.

Girl A: "He's like a model…"

Girl B: "I heard he plays basketball with university teams."

Girl C: "I just wanna know what shampoo he uses…"

Kaito passed by them with bedhead and a sleepy scowl, stretching his shoulders like a pro athlete warming up.

Girl A: "And Kaito's the quiet prince type…"

Girl B: "Baseball guys are so underrated…"

Girl C: "Do you think he writes poetry?"

Meanwhile—

Kuro (slick black hair and piercing eyes): "You both should start charging for oxygen."

Ren smirked. "Jealousy doesn't suit you."

Kuro: "Don't flatter yourself, hair gel."

Scene: Hiking Time – The Suffering Begins

The teachers led everyone on a scenic mountain trail.

Scenic = torture.

Ren carried his bag one-handed, passing students with ease.

Aika tripped over a root and nearly fell onto Kaito, who caught her by the wrist, steady and calm.

Kaito: "Careful. You always rush downhill."

Aika: "I wasn't rushing! It's the gravity!"

Ren behind them: "Or your balance. Or your ego. Hard to tell."

Aika: "Why are you even behind me?"

Ren: "Because watching you trip is my cardio."

Kuro (to Haru): "So these are the idiots running our class."

Haru (laughing): "Yep. Beautiful chaos, isn't it?"

Scene: Lunchtime – At the Hilltop Pavilion

Everyone spread out their bento boxes. Laughter echoed through the trees.

Yumi was trying to read fortune from leftover rice grains.

Tomo was bartering pickles for chocolate.

Kuro sat with Haru, surprisingly chill now.

Aika sat between Rin and Kaito, finally relaxed.

Until—

Ren dropped his bag next to them.

Aika: "Don't you have fan girls to sit with?"

Ren: "They kept feeding me weird seaweed snacks. I feared for my life."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "So you fled to your enemy's picnic blanket?"

Ren shrugged. "Better than getting married to pickled kelp."

Aika handed him a water bottle. "Here. Hydrate your stupidity."

He took it, glanced at her once, then back at the mountains.

It felt… strangely calm.

Until—

Yumi shouted from another table: "Hey, Aika! What's it like being in a love triangle with two heartthrobs?"

Aika: choked on her rice

Ren: "What triangle? This is a disaster polygon."

Kaito (cool as ever): "I'm not in any shape. I'm just passing through."

Yumi: "LIES."

The class howled with laughter.

Aika: "I hate this school."

Scene: Evening Bathhouse Chaos

Boys and girls took turns in the open-air bath. The boys' side was louder than the girls'.

Kuro: "Why is everyone yelling?"

Ren: "Because I brought a water gun."

Haru, soaked: "You shot me in the face!"

Kaito, hair slicked back, leaned against the edge calmly. "You all are so loud. Some of us are trying to soak and reflect."

Ren shot him next.

Meanwhile on the girls' side—

Rin: "Let's play truth or dare."

Tomo: "I dare Aika to confess to Ren."

Aika: "Dare rejected. Try again."

Yumi: "But why? He gave you his hoodie last night."

Aika: "Because I was cold! He was just being… momentarily human!"

Everyone: "Suuure."

Aika dunked herself under water in protest.

Scene: Night Again – Hallway Mischief

After curfew, quiet whispers and creaky floorboards filled the air.

Ren and Kaito were sneaking back to their room with stolen pudding cups.

Then they ran into Aika and Rin.

Rin: "Thieves."

Ren: "Guilty."

Kaito smiled. "Want some?"

Aika narrowed her eyes. "This feels illegal."

Kuro popped out of nowhere: "That's because it is."

Rin: "WHO EVEN ARE YOU?!"