Yay! Thank you to those who have stayed with me so far! I think maybe you guys may like this chapter...So hope you enjoy! :D
"Every time I find a key to happiness, someone changes the lock…"
"Everyone here?" Yuu asked just before they got on the bus. The entire grade was going on this trip, so there were a lot of people and a lot of buses. "Please see if all your group members are here."
After a few minutes of bustling around and looking for their roommates, the students of class 2B answered in unison, "We're all here."
Natsume nodded and called for them to get onto the bus one by one, and sitting close to their group members.
"I'm so excited." Sumire squealed as she got on after Mikan. Sumire and Mikan sat together while Hotaru and Ruka sat across from them (Hotaru claimed that she could not sit with Mikan because she was too noisy and that her idiocy will contaminate her from sitting so close. Sumire was disappointed she couldn't sit with the 'prince' but rather not argue with Hotaru).
The bus ride was about four hours and forty minutes, with a few bathroom breaks in between. Most people were exchanging snacks, taking selfies and blasting music. And of course, on school trips like these, students become a little bit bolder.
"Ne, Hyuuga-sensei, do you have a girlfriend?" A girl who was sitting right behind Natsume asked, making her voice a few pitches higher to seem 'cute.'
"That's a secret." Natsume answered with a sly grin and the girls whined.
"What? That's no fair." Another said and the others nodded their heads in agreement. "Then, how old are you?"
"That's a secret too." Natsume didn't even bother looking at them this time.
"Such shameless girls." Sumire clicked her tongue in annoyance. "As if he would answer any of those stupid questions."
"You would probably go and do those shameless things as well if you didn't know he was related to Mikan." Hotaru stated while flipping through a magazine she brought.
"I would not." Sumire flipped her hair and huffed. Mikan tried to stifle her laugh.
Nishikawa town was warmer than expected, and was a small town filled with trees of all colors and the Sagae River runs through the town. For the first three days of the trip, it was fairly easy going with some team-building activities such as climbing trees (which team can get to the top the fastest), riddle-answering (they had to go around and ask locals about things in order to answer the questions), and, of course, shopping.
The inn that they lived in was small and traditional, girls and boys on different floors and they were not allowed to go to each others' rooms (which of course, they all ignored and snuck out to each others' room either way).
But the real fun and excitement started on the fourth day when they rode the bus to Mt. Gassan, where they would be able to go skiing and snowboarding.
Simply speaking: snow.
"Whoa!" Koko and Kitsu practically ran off the bus once they arrived. "So white!"
"Over there is where you can rent the equipment for skiing and snowboarding." Natsume stated once all the students got off the bus. Many were too busy playing with snow to actually listen. "There will also be coaches to help those who don't know how to ski or snowboard. Please stay together and don't wander off on your own."
With that, the students followed Natsume to the shop to rent equipment. Many were already able to start right away, doing tricks and going like a pro.
Others, like Mikan, went to the coaches to get some basic lessons. Most of the other girls surrounded Natsume like fleas and begged for him to teach them.
"You should probably go over too." Sumire grinned, elbowing Mikan. "Don't want the other girls to take advantage of him."
"Advantage?" Mikan rolled her eyes. "Please, this is a school trip and he's a teacher."
"Girls are hungry wolves that prey whenever they get the chance." Sumire wagged her finger. "Plus, it's a school trip, where everyone becomes a bit bolder and casual. It's the time where the line between student and teacher gets blurred."
"That's just creepy." Mikan wrinkled her nose. "I'll go ask a coach to help me."
"Fine." Sumire sighed and rolled her eyes. "Do whatever you want."
"Mikan!" Sumire and Mikan turned their heads at the voice. Ruka came running up to them with his famous charming smile, Koko, Kitsu and, surprisingly, Hotaru came up behind him. "Do you need help skiing?"
"That's right," Sumire lightened up and gave Mikan another playful nudge. "Ruka-kun's really good at all sports."
"Not really," Ruka laughed it off. "But I can help you if you want."
"Yes!" Mikan grinned. "That would be awesome! Thank you Ruka-pyon!"
"Nogi." Hotaru came up and leaned in so that only he would hear her. Her tone dropped and became both teasing and menacing. "Take care of her for me, will you?"
Gulping a little, Ruka nodded immediately. Hotaru gave him a sly smile. "Good."
"Ruka-pyon?" Mikan tilted her head and Ruka gave her another charming smile.
"Let's start with the basics, okay?" He asked and she bounded after him.
"'Kay!" She chirped happily as he slowly taught her how to use the equipment and how to control her movements.
Natsume narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of Ruka and Mikan so close together.
"Sensei, if you don't do something she will probably get snatched away by the prince." Hotaru stated calmly as she stood next to Natsume, looking at the two.
"Whatever." Natsume looked away coolly. "I don't really care."
Hotaru smirked inwardly at she gazed at him. "If you say so, sensei."
There was a moment of silence as Hotaru continued watching Mikan and Ruka, while Natsume tried to focus on other students, but kept looking back at them.
"But I must say," Hotaru started after a while. "Nogi is a really good teacher. Mikan can already start to ski. To be able to teach an idiot so quickly, he has talent."
"Are you implying something, Imai-san?" Natsume grumbled as he followed her gaze.
"No." Hotaru answered flatly. "I'm not implying—I'm flat out telling you that Nogi is a better teacher than you will ever be."
"You really have no respect." Natsume growled. "Or manners. I'm still your elder and your teacher."
"On school trips, the line between student and teacher gets blurred." Hotaru stated. "Besides, I never once thought of being respectful to someone who hurt my best friend so much."
Natsume went silent for a heartbeat, before saying flatly, "She's my sister."
"Yes," Hotaru sighed. "But she is also just a girl." With that, she went back to join the others, leaving Natsume standing there.
"I'm exhausted." Sumire dropped face first onto her futon in their room. "And hungry."
"We should probably go take a shower first before dinner." Anna suggested.
"Oh! Good idea!" Nono chimed in happily. "It's a hot spring bath. Perfect after a day of activity in the cold!"
"That sounds amazing." Sumire grinned as she got up. "What are we waiting for?"
"Okay!" Mikan cheered. "Let's go!" The girls quickly gathered their things and made their way downstairs where the hot spring baths were. It was big and spacious, with large, glorious windows that allowed them to see both the trees and the snow of the town and mountain respectively.
"So warm~" Anna sighed dreamily once she slipped in.
The other girls nodded in agreement. Hotaru put a small towel over her eyes and was silent.
Others in the room started some conversations, but the girls didn't really say anything as they were too caught up in the relaxing water. But then a few minutes ticked by and all of a sudden everyone snapped out of their 'relaxation mode' when they heard a loud cry next door. Followed by a loud splash.
The male baths.
"What was that?" Nono asked nervously after a second.
"Sounded like…" Mikan started, putting a finger on her chin.
"Nogi." Hotaru answered, still as relaxed as ever. The girls exchanged glances with each other.
"That was kind of weird." Sumire commented as they changed back.
"Yeah, but that aside, the bath was really nice." Anna said as she finished changing. "You guys ready?"
"Almost." Mikan answered as she brushed her hair, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Yep." Nono answered along with Hotaru. They made their way outside to the hotel hallway when another person walked out from next door.
Ruka.
He looked a bit flustered, embarrassed, and annoyed. Koko and Kitsu came behind him with obnoxious laughter, which they failed to stifle. "Come on man, you're no fun."
"I'm so going to kill you guys." Ruka mumbled under his breath. The two boys just gave him a pat on his back, laughed a bit more, before they left for their rooms.
"Hey Ruka-pyon." Mikan skipped over. "Was that you just now? That cry."
"Oh god." Ruka covered his red face with his hands. "You guys heard? I'm so sorry."
"No biggie." Nono offered but Hotaru came up to him with an evil glint in her eyes.
"What happened?" She asked as she pulled out a small mic and camera from her pocket.
"I was pushed into the water by surprise, okay!?" Ruka snapped in embarrassment. "Just forget it!"
"But it was pretty…loud." Anna started slowly with Sumire nodding her head.
"Sorry Ruka-kun," Sumire batted her eyelashes flirtatiously. "But we weren't the only ones in there…and not the only ones who heard."
Ruka became even redder, if possible.
"I-I'm gonna go." He stammered. "Uh, see you guys…" He robotically turned around and made his way back.
"Poor guy." Mikan shook her head, and the others did the same, but they couldn't stop themselves from giggling.
"He's cute though." Sumire commented dreamily. "Really cute."
Natsume waited around the corner for them to leave before he went over.
The trip went on without a hitch. Teachers and students alike were enjoying their fun vacation together as a large group (teachers were especially happy that the students didn't give them any trouble so far). Soon it was already their last day on the trip, and nighttime was rapidly approaching.
"Girls, you can ski down the mountain one last time, but after that we need to go back. It's dangerous when it's dark." Natsume called to the girls as others began to bring their equipment back to the store and began boarding the bus back to the hotel.
"Okay!" They called back before skiing down the course. Mikan was able to learn how to ski surprisingly fast with Ruka teaching, and could already keep up with her friends. They were already reaching the bottom, but as they neared it, Mikan tried to go over a bump in the snow but lost control over her skis and tumbled down, rolling sideways into the forest.
"Hey guys!" Sumire called once they came to a stop at the bottom. They were ahead of Mikan, and didn't realize what had happened. "Where did Mikan go?"
They looked around, but all they could see were snow and trees.
"Maybe she's still catching up?" Nono suggested. They started calling her name, walking around and trying to find her. After a few minutes of only hearing their voices with no form of response, they began to get scared.
"Where did she go?" Anna began shaking.
"It's probably a prank." Sumire forced out a laugh. "Alright! You win, Mikan. You can come out now."
Still no response.
It was beginning to snow.
"Shit." Sumire curse. "I'm scared."
"No!" Nono cried. "We have to find her quick!"
"Looking for her like this will only get us in danger too." Hotaru said coldly. "Right now we have to get back up and tell the teachers."
"Y-Yeah." Anna agreed. "We have to hurry."
"Those girls are late." Natsume mumbled to himself as he tapped his foot impatiently, glancing at his watch. All of the other students were already boarded on the bus, and they were all waiting for the five girls. "I shouldn't have let them go."
"Sensei!" He heard a cry in the distance. Squinting his eyes in the snow outside, he made out the figures of four people. "Sensei!"
Natsume's eyes widened when he saw the four girls, and quickly let the girls onto the bus as they caught their breath. Realizing something was wrong, Natsume asked quickly, "Where's Mikan?"
"S-She—" Nono stuttered while Anna and Sumire looked like they were about to cry. All of them seemed strangely pale.
"What happened?" Natsume asked, alarmed.
"She disappeared!" Sumire cried as tears rolled down her cheeks now. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
"Disappeared?" Natsume repeated, dread filling his veins. "Where? How did it happen?"
"We were skiing." Hotaru explained while the others were crying. Her voice shook the slightest bit, but she composed herself well. "We were ahead of her, and once we got to the bottom and looked around, she was gone. I believe that she may have lost balance and rolled somewhere, but since it was snowing and there were forests surrounding the mountain, we couldn't find her."
"Mikan is missing?" Ruka intervened as he came over to them, worried. "We have to go find her! Sensei, I'll gladly go—"
"No." Natsume cut him off sternly. "I'll go. If I don't return in fifteen minutes, tell the driver to take you guys back first."
"But—" Ruka wanted to argue, but the look on Natsume's face made him stop. Instead, he sighed and nodded his head.
With that, Natsume ran out into the snow and made his way down the ski course, calling her name all the while.
So how what do you think? Liked it? Something to improve/change? What will happen next? Please send me all of your thoughts! I absolutely love hearing them, and so many people have amazing guesses on what's gonna happen!
Please R&R! :D