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Rejoining my classmates, it looks like they’re still in the middle of breakfast. I’ve never had the opportunity to eat in a hotel’s reception hall, but now I see how important this kind of place is when there are so many people.

“I have returned.”
“What’s with that getup?”

I knew they would comment about it. My clothes are still the ones from last night. The other students are in their uniforms while I’m in a white one-piece dress, so I really stand out. This is my first time face to face with Kaori ever since my confession, but it feels like nothing’s changed between us.

“My possessions were taken away, so there was no other choice. Even I didn’t want to wear an outfit like this.”
“It doesn’t really fit your image, after all. It was probably Ayaka’s doing, right?”
“Precisely. I’m impressed you figured it out, Kaori.”
“Being someone who knows your situation, it’s necessary to understand them, don’t you think? Still, I didn’t expect someone else to be as intense as Kotone.”

I wonder what I look like inside Kaori’s head. I don’t think I’m as bad as Ayaka. How do you think things will go if a stopper is as intense as the people they’re supposed to stop? I’m the kind of person that’d be overshadowed in that group, you know?

“The others are quite intense as well.”
“After seeing yesterday’s concert, I can tell. Those people provoking you were weird enough, but you guys on stage weren’t that much different.”

We’re practically all sore losers, after all. Personally, I think yesterday was still on the milder side. Since there’s only a few of my old classmates. If there were more of them, there’d be some guys who’d try to go on stage. And in those cases, it becomes our job to kick them out.

“Don’t you want something to eat, Kotone?”
“I’ve already finished eating.”
“You’re really carefree these days, aren’t you? It’d be better if you showed more self-restraint.”
“Why is that? The field trip is far from over, let’s enjoy the fun.”
“You should think about the faculty’s temper soon.”
“That’s true. It’d be nice if you’d be more considerate of us.”

Looking behind me, I see Teacher Kondou with a slightly scary look. However, that won’t be enough to intimidate me. You don’t know how many times I’ve been reprimanded by teachers in the past. And the fact that it was all pointless effort is proven by the repeated chaos that ensued despite that.

“The next time something happens, you’ll be sent home immediately. I’ve given you a fair warning, alright?”
“I’ll behave.”

Against that, I have no choice but to yield. Under normal circumstances, my field trip should have been over when I was hospitalized. I was only able to continue with the abuse of authority. It’s likely the faculty’s consensus that there won’t be a second time for me. To begin with, I’ve messed around too much right after being discharged.

“To begin with, running around right after being discharged, what were you thinking?”
“There’s a profound reason for it.”
“Whatever the reason, what you’ve done has inconvenienced the other students. How do you plan on taking responsibility if the whole trip was suspended because of you?”

It’s just not possible. There’s no way I can personally compensate for everyone and it’s not like we can just do a field trip again at another date. There’s nothing I can say, so I guess I’ll obediently listen to his lecturing. Not that I have any plans of reflecting.

“Phew, that was a terrible time.”
“You’re not reflecting at all. It’s your own fault, so learn from it and have some self-restraint.”
“That word does not exist in my dictionary.”

With Teacher Kondou’s short scolding finished, I sat in an unoccupied seat. Kaori sat close by my side as if to keep watch over me. Maybe someone instructed her to do this. Besides, I wouldn’t be me if I practiced self-restraint. I’m finding what little freedom can be had in Kotone’s constricting life.

“Still, I feel a lot of eyes on me.”
“Well, that’s thanks to yesterday’s concert. You invited me personally and Harumi and our classmates were allowed thanks to you, but those from other classes only heard what happened. Obviously, they’d want to know the details.”
“There was no helping it. That area can’t fit everyone after all. They just have to accept that they have bad luck.”
“You know full well that people won’t be happy with that.”

True, it does feel unfair. Feeling not treated fairly when it’s supposed to be the same field trip for everyone might cause friction. Then how should this be resolved? By making things fair to some extent. As expected, we really can’t do another concert, so they’ll have to settle for a compromise.

“It can’t be helped. I’ll ask for the video recording later, we’ll have a replay sometime during the trip.”

That’s probably the best I can do. For the video, I’m sure Yui will gladly cooperate if I ask for it. If not, I’ll have to think of a plan to convince her. I don’t think that she’d have some stupid ideas, though.

“A video of yesterday’s concert will be shown just once. Please be happy with that.”

After borrowing a mic from the staff and making that announcement, the students in the hall let out a loud cheer. Having a shared experience like this is really important. I could also just give everyone the video data, but it’ll be bad if it ever leaks to the public. It’s easy to imagine, considering Yui’s request.

“With this, my public image is ruined.”
“It was worse last year, so I personally think it’ll be an improvement. Though for better or worse, no idea.”

I really had a hard time thinking of how to wipe clean Kotone’s reputation of being a troublemaker, but you’re telling me the idiots causing trouble have become a step towards that? Still, it’s important to keep in mind that this is a one-time-only solution.

“Still, with this, you’ll be even more of a mystery. There’ll probably be people who’ll try to investigate how you got to know those celebrities.”
“Any investigation would lead nowhere. And if someone ever does discover him, they’d be a weirdo even worse than Ruru.”
“You’re calling your friend a weirdo?”

Even she accepts it, after all. None of us know how the heck she manages to get so much information about even the smallest things. There were people that tried to mimic her, but in the end, they all lost sight of Ruru and just gave up.

“It’s a well-accepted truth that they’re a gathering of oddballs and weirdos, after all.”
“There’s no one sane?”