For the people who constantly say "don't worry, your life will get better!" are the ones who really don't understand the way life works. It's either that you're going to suffer from the ways of life, or you're going to win at the game of life. The friends you meet and the achievements that you accomplished doesn't matter when you're going to die eventually. What's the point of these memories if there are possibilities that they could be forgotten? To be honest, I think-

"Haru-kun, like I said before, I don't think you should be… this deep about life. Life isn't all about depression and-" I already knew where this conversation was going; don't view life as this as life is all about this and that along with some other nonsense.

"'Cherishing the people that you meet and the hardships that you face is what creates the person as they are now…'" I've already heard of this from so many people that it starts to get annoying when you hear the first words being spoken.

"...Right. But still, I'm happy that you completed the assignment, but you need to learn that life won't all just be about depression and a lonely life, Haru-kun. Make some friends, play some games with them, don't do your work with them-"

"Aiko-sensei, are you speaking from your own experiences?" The sudden question had left her speechless for a second… before she opened her mouth to speak again.

"...Yes, but this isn't about me, it's about you, Haru-kun," Before she spoke again, she raised her left leg and crossed it over her right one. Great, I'm about to get lectured again, aren't I? Why am I even in here if I completed the assignment? "We teachers are here to teach you, and the students are here to be potential friends. You can't just let your highschool years be wasted doing nothing but just work all the time." She spoke as strictly as she breathed.

"..." I had nothing to say to that as she would always have something to counter my argument. Should I just walk out like I did before? There's no harm in doing that right?

"Don't even think about it, Haru-kun," Before my brain could even process the need of moving my leg, I felt a shiver in my spine. "You aren't trying to leave while I'm still looking at you, right?" Okay.

"...Maybe." I diverted my eyes away from her stern glare. Walking to the nearest chair, I sat down my hands on my lap, ready to not listen to a single word she says. And as she opened her mouth, she breathed out a sigh.

"I don't even know why it's hard for you to understand this, Haru-kun. You have good grades and you're a healthy boy, so why are you still distant from the other students? Maybe you should be friends with Shinzo-kun. He's-" Here we go again with the 'friend the handsome-and-friendly guy'.

"With all due respect, Aiko-senpai, I don't want to be friends with a guy that's attracting so many girls as much as he breathes. My presence will only make his reputation worse." I raised my hand to interrupt her.

"-An overall friendly person, Haru-kun. It matters not of reputation if someone cares more for their friends than reputation."

"...Nope." That's all I could say. Why did I even say anything if I knew that she'd counter my argument? Again, she sighed before looking down at her desk and held the face of sudden realization. I don't like that face. Picking up a pen, she began to write something down on the paper in front of her.

"Here, for you." Taking the piece of paper from out of her hands, I lead my eyes to read the top of the paper to see-

"I absolutely refuse." I placed the paper down on her desk in retaliation.

"You can't refuse because I just signed it."

"I have the freedom of refusing the things that I don't want."

"...I signed the paper."

"I know."

"And the signature is basically saying that it's said and done. You don't have a word in this decision."

"Did you just say that I have no control over my life?"

"When you're in Highschool, it does work like that."

"...I still refuse."

"And I still signed the paper." Before continuing, we both held a glare to one another. With my hands shaking as if I'm in the freezing cold, I got up from the chair that I sat in and walked to the door.

"I still-"

"Alright everyone! It's the day of the field trip~!" Aiko-senpai is definitely a different person when it comes to speaking to the entire class.

"Wooo~!" With the entire class unable to contain their excitement, they raised their fist out in enthusiasm.

"Woo…" Could my day even get worse from this?

"Alright, the bus is going to be here in a few minutes, so everyone get everything that you need in preparation~!" As she finished, the entire class began to speak with one another. Well, if we're going to be leaving in a few, I might as well get my book from the art room.

"If you excuse me…" I spoke silently and sat up from my seat. With Aiko-senpai's eyes on me, I knew that I wouldn't be able to leave the school in hopes of forgetting about this trip. I know she has other security measures to make sure that I don't leave the school premises anyway…

Walking out of the classroom was easy enough as I was able to-

"How ya doin', Haru-kun!" A hand was wrapped around my shoulder suddenly. Judging by the energetic and hyper voice, I could only guess one person.

"...Why are you touching me, Shinzo-senpai?" As he began to scratch his cheek in embarrassment, he maintained a smile.

"Well, Aiko-senpai asked me to watch over you in case you ever decided on leaving the trip for some reason. I know we haven't talked to one another, but I know that I'm capable of the task!" Great, so she managed to get him to watch over me, huh? That's just great.

"...Fine. And by the way, I'm not going to leave the trip, I'm just getting my book from the Art club." And suddenly, he froze up. And then he began to walk again.

"Art club? You mean… the club that everyone thinks is haunted? W-why would you even need to go in there?" I could tell by the fearful expression in his eyes that he's afraid of the room. The stories that people have been saying about some strange and deep voices being heard from within the room are nothing but just rumors to scare students.

"To get my book for drawing. What, don't tell me that you're afraid of going in there?" With the sweat dripping away from his face, he quickly grasped onto the expression of determination… at least trying to.

"W-why would you even think that? If you were in there before, then I have nothing to be afraid about!" As we stopped at the door of the club, I twisted the knob and walked inside without a hint of fear.

"Woah…! What's with all these art portraits here? Don't tell me that you've been-"

"Of course not, I can barely draw anything myself. They belong to someone else who's been in here before. Strangely enough, they don't leave any names or anything that can give me a clue as to who they belong to…" Staring at one of the portraits, I could see the image of a moonlight sky peering through the window of the room, with trees blowing gently with the wind outside.

"Whoever did them were really talented…" Shinzo-senpai spoke in his amazement. Moving away from the art, I located my book that was on one of the tables and opened it.

"Good luck on your trip!"

I don't know who wrote in it, but I can guess that it was Aiko-senpai. Seriously, does she need to go to such length to even go to the place where I get to be calm and touch my stuff? She's very persistent.

"Say, how long have you been here, Haru-kun?" He asked as he went through the many portraits on the canvas stand.

"...I don't remember the first time I've been here, actually," Turning to me, he looked as if he was confused as to what I just said. "I've been coming here for a long time, so I don't really remember."

"A-ah… I guess I could understand that. Sometimes I remember being at places that aren't familiar to me… but they felt familiar for some reason. I sound kind of stupid…" What could he mean by that?

"Anyway, let's get going. I got what I wanted so let's go," Walking to the door, I could hear the sounds of running behind me as I believed that Shinzo-senpai was trying to hurry behind me. "Shinzo-senpai, you don't have to run behind me, you know."

"Hm? I'm not running." Looking behind me, I could see Shinzo-senpai still staring at the portrait with interest. Wait… was I hearing things? I could've sworn that I heard running.

"N-nevermind, let's just go already." With my hand on the knob, I opened the door and waited for him to come with me, but he decided to keep looking through the portraits while mumbling something.

"H-huh? Oh, just go without me, okay? I'll catch up soon." Is he that into the artworks? Huh, never knew he has that kind interest in art. Without saying anything else, I left the room to hurry back to class.

I knew that this was going to be a terrible day for me.