Chapter 3
When Naoto first heard about the class trip, she was completely mortified. Detectives didn't have time for such trivial social excursions. Then she thought it through, and decided it could be a good opportunity to pump Seta's group for information. She would bring some work with her to fill in all of the "free time", and look for opportunities to gain information from the others. The first years had to stay together in one car of the train. She attempted to approach Kujikawa, until she realized she was sitting in a huge group of gossiping girls. Naoto would not have felt comfortable there, especially when many of them had been sending her pink and purple perfume scented love notes all week. She didn't want to be asked if she got the letters, because she had been throwing them directly in the trash. There is only one person I would read a letter like that from… Naoto shook her head to clear it, and set off towards a less crowded area in search of a seat. She felt her cheeks burn as she realized where the only open seat was. Naturally, it was right next to Kanji Tatsumi.
"P-Pardon me, Kanji-kun. May I sit here?" she said, feeling extremely nervous. His eyes snapped up to hers.
"S-Sure. Yeah, whatever," he said. He turned back to the boy he had been talking to. Naoki Konishi. She had a file on him as well. His sister Saki had been the second murder victim. She was surprised he had even come on this trip. He had even more reason to not want to be here than she did. She opened the files she had brought, and began to read them. After a few minutes of trying to tune out the conversation next to her, Naoto was completely absorbed in her eavesdropping.
"So which one of them are you into?" Naoki asked.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Kanji said.
"I mean, you spend time with all of these girls. It's Yukiko, right?"
"Wha - No, it is not Yukiko-senpai. That would be super weird."
"Why's that?" Naoki asked.
"We've been friends with her since kindergarten. That's weird."
Naoki laughed softly. "She's quite lovely, though. I'm guessing it's not Chie. She's as loud as you are. Can't see you going for that. So that just leaves Risette. I can't believe it. Kanji Tatsumi is in love with an idol."
"H-Hey! I am not! She's.. She's not my type."
"Really? So who is your type, then?" Naoki asked.
Kanji turned and glanced at Naoto. She had been pretending to read her case files. Why would he look at me? Because he doesn't want me to overhear? Naoto's heart was pounding. She looked up at him and noted that he looked extremely anxious. He quickly turned back to Naoki. "N-Nobody. Nobody is my type." Naoki laughed happily. It wasn't a sound you would expect from someone who had recently lost a loved one. "I'm serious, man! Knock it off!"
"Fine," he said. "You really should just tell me. You'd feel much better about it."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kanji insisted.
When the train arrived in Port Island, Naoto exited slowly. She hated how awkward situations like this were. She had no experience with interacting with others this way. She wished she had thought ahead and requested a private room at the hotel. It was going to be difficult for her to share a room with two other male classmates. She supposed she wouldn't be getting much sleep.
The visit at the school was interesting. The professor gave quite an intriguing lecture about mythology. A rather unexpected topic for a school exchange trip. Most of Naoto's classmates looked bored. The first and second years were together, and she noted that both Kanji and Rise were sitting with Seta's group. She remained focused on the lecture except for once, when her eyes drifted over to them. Kanji was looking her way. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep her mouth from turning up in a small smile. He blushed and looked away, which made her smile even more as she returned her attention to the front of the room.
That evening, the students were given free time in the city, and Naoto decided to venture into a club at the strip mall. It was not the type of place she frequented, but she had heard that they stopped serving alcohol because the club's regular customers were mostly high school students. To avoid any trouble, they simply removed alcohol from the menu. She was at the bar questioning the bartender about these rumors when Kujikawa entered, dragging the rest of the group with her. After some debate, she managed to convince Naoto to join them upstairs in the private balcony.
It was obviously a huge mistake to go with them. Naoto had been hoping to get information about the case out of the teens. Instead she got a bunch of idiots drinking soda who thought they were drunk, juvenile games, and animosity. The game had been Kujikawa's idea, of course, and involved a king making ridiculous requests of the others. Kissing and sitting in laps, and other inappropriate behavior. Part of Naoto was glad that she had chosen not to participate. And another part thought that maybe she should have. She felt a funny feeling in her stomach when that strange boy Teddie threw himself at Kanji, demanding a kiss. Am I… jealous? She kept insisting loudly that the others were not drunk, as the establishment no longer serves alcoholic beverages. And yet, her bubbly drink sure was making her feel warm and tingly. It was almost as if she was sipping on champagne instead of melon soda. She was having a hard time keeping her thoughts straight, and her eyes off of Kanji. He's just so… appealing. She shook her head when she realized that Rise was asking her a question.
In the end, the others had simply made fun of her when she asked for information. She felt angry and hurt. It wasn't until they had gathered downstairs to make a plan for hauling the drunks home, that she calmed down. "They didn't mean anything by that," Kanji murmured softly. Naoto nodded and felt herself relax. She could analyse it later. She felt too tingly to respond appropriately anyway.
"Souji and I are taking Ted back, and Chie's got Yukiko. Kanji, you take Rise… You'll, umm, help him get her back, right Naoto-kun?" said Yosuke. Why on earth was she being dragged into this? After a moment's thought, she nodded her head again. She supposed she was fine with walking back with Kanji. And Rise, who was unfortunately unconscious at the moment. Kanji looked down at Naoto.
"You'll come with us, yeah?" he said, looking a little bit worried.
"Yes," she said, grabbing onto his arm and heading for the door with him, Rise already thrown over his other shoulder. Naoto failed to notice that she had actually taken his hand as they walked out. She could hear Hanamura snickering behind them, and it made her blood boil. She vaguely remembered conversing with Kanji on the walk to the hotel. At least, she knew he'd been talking to her. Had she been answering? It was hard to remember. When they got Rise back to her room, Chie appeared and took her inside. That just left Kanji and Naoto alone in the hallway. She was only vaguely aware that he seemed to be holding her upright. Is that his arm around my waist? She was still clinging to his other arm when she stopped walking and tried to face him.
"Thanks for helping me get Rise back," he said softly. "We should probably get to bed before anyone sees us out here like this." Naoto blinked, and her heart sped up. She placed her other hand on his chest and leaned in towards him. He always smells so good.
"Th-Thank you, Kanji-kun. I-I suppose you're right." She looked up and realized that he had walked her to her own room, as well. She didn't even remember them heading this way. Weird. She finally broke away from him and headed to her door, hesitating and looking back at him. "Goodnight," she whispered.
"Yeah, 'nite. Get some rest, Naoto," he said before he turned and walked off. Naoto sighed, then quietly snuck into her room and into her bed. Luckily, they had stayed out long enough for her roommates to be asleep already. She kept thinking about what had happened that night, but it was already hard to recall most of it. Her mind kept focusing on that hand on her waist and his tantalizing scent. Maybe school trips aren't a complete waste of time, after all. It took a very long time to fall asleep.