428 Chapter two, 2018, field trip: 2

Kyoto station was something to stare at. Where the super capital of Japan offered catacombs the former capital joined the competition with a fantastic view of an indoor skyline.

Kyoko smiled and followed the long line of second year students out of the station area to where buses stood ready to shuttle them to their hotel. Them and half of all second year students in Japan it felt like. Late January saw more than one school running their school trips even though Kyoko knew it was more common that the new third years began their school year that way.

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The buses took them through strangely straight streets compared to Tokyo's eternal maze. Then they left the orderly grid and shortly afterwards they arrived at a large but rundown hotel complex.

She barely had time to find Yukio for a short moment of hands hugging before her class was herded to elevators and up three floors.

Kyoko entered the room she shared with five other girls, four of them almost but not really friends and the fifth Hitomi, and she was most definitely a friend by now. A few minutes was more than enough to dump luggage and switching into something that didn't smell of three hours worth of travelling.

She even had time for a quick shower in between, and feeling like someone who could coerce a hug from Yukio without feeling ashamed she took a lift to the dining hall. He already waited for her there with arms inviting her to step inside his embrace. A few students giggled and grinned at their show of affection, but Kyoko didn't care. Being close to Yukio was far more important than a snide remark or two.

"You heard the new principal's joining us?"

Kyoko turned in the direction of the voice. She hadn't heard.

"He wanted to inspect his troops."

"'Troops', yeah, can you believe that. Like some old Showa era commander." The girl who had said that laughed, and Kyoko watched a couple of seniors beeline for the queue while they continued the conversation that had piqued Kyoko's interest.

Yukio tugged at her arm and shrugging off the news Kyoko followed him to join the queue. Her hand in his she joined it and mentally shrugged off the snide remarks and disapproving glares from one of their teachers. By now Kyoko had made peace with the repercussions of declaring her and Yukio's nocturnal activities in front of Noriko's class late December. If anything, being the pervert couple was a reason for envy rather than scorn.

"What's he like," she asked Yukio. Their new principal was shrouded in mystery, and most of the rumours clinging to her and Yukio had faded in favour of guess work pertaining to Kareyoshi's successor.

"Dunno." Yukio made it to the tables where food and plates waited for them. "Short they say."

'Short?' Kyoko loaded a plate and some food onto a tray. Being a shorty hardly qualified as a mystery. She smirked, filled her plate, grabbed a glass and went to fetch something to drink. Shortly afterwards she joined her boyfriend. One benefit of being one half of the perverted couple was that no one complained when they sat together despite belonging to different classes.

"Card games tonight?"

Kyoko looked up at the voice behind her. It belonged to Hitomi who quickly took the place by Yukio's other side. For outsiders it must look like Kyoko had gained some unwanted competition for Yukio's attention, but Kyoko welcomed the presence of the beautiful girl. Next to Kuri-chan and Noriko she had quickly become Kyoko's best friend.

"Saw him?" Yukio asked as soon as Hitomi sat down.

Kyoko looked up as if their new principal had suddenly popped into existence by their table.

"Saw him," Hitomi confirmed. "The rumours are true."

'OK, give a little more!' "Yes?" Kyoko said and hoped her irritation didn't show in her voice.

Hitomi just smiled. Then she blinked and opened her mouth. "Short. If he's a hundred and sixty I'd be surprised."

That was short indeed. Urufu and Kuri-chan aside, that still counted as a shorty in Japan.

"Still makes me uncomfortable," Hitomi added between two bites. Since she became one of the closer friends she had discarded just about any trappings of being a princess. "He reminds me of my dad."

'Behaving like your dad is bad?' Knowing about Hitomi's family was one thing, but experiencing her coldness towards them first hand was another.

Hitomi gulped down her tea before saying anything more. "He's not a bad person the way dad is, but he still gives me the shivers. Dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Yukio's voice cut in. "How?"

"Look, the creepy guy from down there is bad like my dad, but in difference from dad he's dangerous all by himself."

The creepy guy from down there had to be the friend of Noriko's parents. Kyoko could understand why anyone would label him as dangerous. Urufu had said he came from a very different Japan, and by different he didn't mean the upstream world. A long time ago this had been a much more violent society. Kyoko grimaced. A long time ago. That depended on whom you asked. Maybe eighty years wasn't all that much time for some.

"Why does she go for someone like him?"

Hitomi growled and Yukio joined her. Kyoko just shook her head at the comment from two tables away.

"Maybe because she has a good eye for men," a loud response came from yet another table away.

That brought a smile to Kyoko's lips. After a year and a half with Yukio she wasn't all that much concerned by competition, but anyone badmouthing Yukio still ired her. For that very reason praise filled her with warmth. Besides, if Hitomi had indeed decided to make a pass at Yukio it did indeed mean she had a good eye for men. They didn't come any better than Yukio.

Then, suddenly, Hitomi rose and turned in the direction of whoever had voiced that last comment. "I wouldn't stand a chance," she said loud enough for anyone to hear.

Kyoko stared at Hitomi and felt heat flaring up in her face as she blushed from neck to hair line.