Quite the cliff-hanger huh? Day 2 of the field trip continues as things begin to unfold around Y/N.... Enjoy

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"Hey, Dad..."

Everyone in the room jumped back, what you said was completely un-expected.

"His father?" Itsuki asked to no one in particular.

"But I thought he hated him..." Yotsuba said puzzled.

"That was his Step-Father not his biological father" Miku confirmed.

"Oh, right"

Ignoring the commotion that was happening beside you, you fell back onto the bed and faced the ceiling, waiting for your dad to say something back.

"Hey Son"

"What is it dad?, it's rare for you to call"

"I'm gonna be in your area in about a weeks time so I just thought I'd give you a little heads up"

"Oh sure no problem, do you need to stay at my place?"

"Nah don't worry I'm staying with a contact in town"

"So you're hooking up with a woman?"

"Why the hell should I tell you that!, you're too nosey just like your mother was"

You let out a small chuckle. "How long are you planning to stay for?"

"Maybe a couple of weeks, then I'll be off again"

"For an ex-barber, you really cant sit still can you pops..."

"Yeah well there's a reason I quit the shop, sitting in a dinky barber shop isn't how I wanna live... anyway I've got to go back to work so I'll come by your house sometime next week"

"Cool, see you then pops"

"Love you son."

"Y-Yeah, same"

"What's the matter, no love for your old man?"

"Nah it's not that, I just have company..."

"Oh. I didn't realise you had a girlfriend"

"When the hell did I mention a girlfriend! I'm on a field trip."

Your dad was laughing loudly on the other end of the line. God he was so embarrassing sometimes... It didn't help that everyone else in the room was staring at you.

"A Field Trip huh, well don't get into any fights Y/N"

"Can't promise anything" You said a bit quieter.

"Well if Fuutaro's there he'll take care of ya so I ain't gotta worry"

"Yeah he is here, anyway get back to work or you'll be fired"

"Ha, you're right, speak soon son"

Your father hangs up and you let out a deep sigh and put your phone back in your jacket pocket.

Interlocking your fingers behind your head, you close your eyes and go deep into thought, for about 7 seconds.

"Are you just gonna leave us on a cliff-hanger like that?" Fuutaro spoke up.

"Huh, it was a private conversation between son and father why should I tell?"

The looks on everyone's faces dropped in disappointment from their own built up anticipations. You couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What's so funny!?" Nino snapped.

"The look on your faces!" You wiped a tear from laughing so much.

"Anyway, yeah It was my old man he's gonna be in the area in about a week's time so I'll probably go and see him, that's all.

"Will I finally get to meet him?" Fuutaro inquired.

"Eh, maybe. I can't say for sure any of you will meet him" honestly you liked to talk about your family as little as possible so this rap-fire questioning was starting to become a bit uncomfortable, you glance around the room quickly and caught Itsuki's eye for a moment and it seems like immediately she understood the assignment.

"Hey let's stop bombarding Y/N with questions about his personal life and talk about something else, like the test of courage!"

"Why do you sound so excited? you scare stupid easily" Nino retorted.

Itsuki let out a small wail and back off.

"It's a test of courage run by Fuutaro, I'm sure the scariest thing in there will be some late homework attached to a string" you laughed.

"Or maybe some bad grades written out in blood on the floor" Nino joined in, you both cackled together for some time.

"Are you done?" Fuutaro boomed. You and Nino both sat straight back up and apologised.

"So who's going with who? There's only 5 of us who'll be taking the test so someone's gonna be left without a partner..."

Itsuki practically turned pale with the thought of going alone so one of us was going to have to go with her.

"Also, me and Ichika already decided to go through together beforehand..." Miku added.

"So, me and Nino aren't going together is what you're saying?"

"That's so unfair!" Nino contested, gripping onto your arm tightly, pressing her entire body weight into you. "Why do you guys have to decide who I'm going with!"

"It's just the way the cards have been dealt sis" Miku added trying to calm her down.

"Hmph, Y/N!, say something!" she demanded, squeezing your arm tighter.

"Well actually, I already have someone I'm going with, so you can go with Itsuki" you blankly said.

"Wh-What!?" Nino was shocked and let go of your arm. The expression on her face was hard to judge for once, usually you could tell her emotions just by glancing at her but this was a face you'd never seen before, but your gut was telling you it was a bad thing.

"So it's Ichika and Miku together, Itsuki and Nino, and then me and Uesugi are handling the test of courage!" Yotsuba recapped.

"So Y/N, who's the lucky one who gets to take the test of courage with you, if it's not Nino?" Ichika prodded. It just hit you why Nino made that face... no way she was jealous... right?

"It's complicated, I'm just fulfilling a promise I made, plus we're still dancing together at the bonfire that hasn't changed"

Nino looked visibly upset but due to her nature to cover her emotions with a hard walled exterior, she simply stood up and spoke while facing away from everyone.

"I-it's about time we have to make the curry and rice, so I'm going to get a head start" she claimed as she swiftly left the room.

Shit, this wasn't good. You weren't dense, you could clearly tell she was upset by the whole situation and really wanted to go and take the test of courage with you instead but there was no helping it, you had to go with Kaito you'd already agreed to it and you couldn't back down now.

No one really knew what to do for a few minutes, everyone kind of just sat around awkwardly.

"Nino's right, we should head outside too" Ichika said standing up and stretching, pushing out her chest. "Come on everyone, follow big sis" she instructed as everyone filed out of the room one by one. The last to leave were you and Itsuki and she had a troubled look on her face.

While walking through the corridors you approached the sister who started to lag behind.

"Hey Stars, if you don't look forward you might bump into something." you said to the girl who was looking towards her feet whilst walking.

It took her a second to register that you were talking too, she looked up but averted her eyes from you. "Oh Y/N.. sorry about that"

"I can tell something's up Itsuki, tell me what's on your mind"

Before speaking she hesitated and slowed her pace even more, probably to make sure Fuutaro and the rest of her sisters couldn't hear her. She let them walk for a good minute or so before she started to speak.

"It's about the test of courage..."

"?, you're going with Nino so you shouldn't have anything to worry about she'll keep you safe"

"That's the problem, Nino"

Confused, you pressed on. "Nino? how's she the problem?"

"She seemed annoyed at having to go with me, I know she really wanted to take the test with you but because of me that couldn't happen..."

You looked over to her as she timidly walked beside you. "Hey, it's okay"

She finally looked at you. "Really?"

"Like I said, I'm already obligated to go with someone, so this would have happened regardless."

"Then who are you taking the test with?" genuine curiosity coming from her voice.

"Its... complicated like I said, don't worry about it" She was sensing your intent to avoid the question but Itsuki was a smart girl despite everything.

"It's that boy isn't it... Kaito."

You flinched on reflex.

"So it is him, but why?"

"Itsuki, just don't tell anyone that's all I can ask it's just a complicated situation but everything will be fine"

She paused briefly before speaking. "Pinky Promise"

"What?"

"Pinky Promise me that you won't end up in trouble"

A sticky situation, you knew 100% that you and Kaito were going to fight or something along those lines tonight and unless interrupted, there was no way around it. You didn't want to lie and then have to deal with Itsuki not trusting you a second time. Also, this seemed kind of out of character from her you weren't exactly sure what it was about the suggestion but it just didn't seem very Itsuki-like.

"I can't do that"

"Why not?"

"Itsuki, some things have to happen, like fate. Maybe this could have been avoided long ago but now we're in too deep"

"Y/N, what do you mean?"

With a sincere smile, you put your hand on Itsuki's head and pat her. "Itsuki, you and your sisters are good people, I don't want you to have to deal with my shit, so just let me do this yeah?" That sounded way too dramatic and heavy that you thought Itsuki would automatically have a bad reaction to it.

She scanned you for a few moments as if she was debating inside her head whether to go along with your request or slap you.

By now you were both outside and approaching the rest of the students who were making the curry and the rice. Nino was in the distance, it seemed like she was berating a group of boys about something, if you had to guess, they probably burnt the rice or something.

Itsuki pulled on your shirt. You turned back to see her looking up directly at you.

"Fine, I'll trust you, I won't say anything"

Feeling relieved you responded "Thanks Itsuki, I appreciate it"

You instinctively give her a small hug and made your way to join the rest of the students, leaving her behind looking at you as you left. She held her heart and looked at you walk away while a shade of red was appearing on her face...

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Nino POV

Idiot, Idiot....Idiot....

Was all that was going through your head as you speed-walked down the hallways and outside. An emotional state like this wasn't something you were unfamiliar with but it felt like shit each and every time. You knew how to put on a brave mask but that didn't help how you felt on the inside.

It was Y/N after all, he did seem to really like you, but then why would he plan to take the test of courage with someone else? and who could it have been instead of you? If it was Uesugi you would still be pissed off but you would at least understand it, that guy made no sense sometimes.

You couldn't help but shake your head as you stepped outside to try and ward off these thoughts. Doing so garnered some weird looks from some of the other students but who cares about them, the only thing you had on your mind right now was Y/N and making the curry.

Taking charge, you ordered for the boys to handle the rice while the girls handled the curry. The thought of cooking had you excited again and cleared all the thoughts in your mind. Other girls complimented you and were shocked by how clean and efficiently you were chopping up each type of vegetable. It was really nothing to you, you did do all the housework at home after all.

A lot of the boys ended up loitering around, honestly guys were so unreliable at these things, give them one simple task and they go and stare at clouds instead.

After a few minutes, your sisters and Fuutaro had finally made their way outside, but you noticed Y/N and Itsuki were missing from the group,

"Nino, is everything okay?" Miku said bringing you back into reality.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"What should we help out with?" Ichika asked.

You scanned around the area for a moment, placing a finger to you chin.

"Ichika, you're on cleaning duty, go and clean equipment that's been used!"

"Yes Ma'am" she said sarcastically before making her way over to a group of boys who were obviously smitten by her.

"Miku, you make sure everything happens on time"

"Okay, I can do that" she muttered before walking over to a pot of curry.

Yotsuba was already chopping the hell out of the firewood, so much so that some of the boys were trying to get her to slow down. That girl was like a firework sometimes, let her start and she just explodes.

The sky was turning a warm orange, it was a pretty warm evening for November standards. Everyone was really putting the effort in for this field trip. But the fact that neither Y/N or Itsuki were anywhere to be seen had you pondering just where they could be.

"Why did you guys burn the rice!!?"

That snapped you out of your own head. It seemed like there was some commotion between a group of boys and some of your friends. Reluctantly, you dropped what you were doing and approached the group.

"Nino, what do we do?!" one of your friends turned to you, the boys were being a pain this entire time and frankly, you'd had enough.

You turned to the boys and smiled directly at them.

"We'll handle this ourselves, so could you guys go and check on the curry?"

While Y/N was immune to your intimidation, he was pretty much the only one able to do so, as even though your eyes were closed, it was obvious those boys were struggling for a response by the way they were stuttering and shuffling away. When you opened your eyes, they were gone and your friends thanked you and went back to handle the rice in the boys stead.

You looked over your shoulder at the entrance to the building one more time, and yet again Y/N and Itsuki still hadn't arrived. Your curiosity was slowly moulding into anxiety and you felt the pit in your stomach sinking deeper. Why were you even feeling like this? It was so stupid that you couldn't even wrap your head around it.

Not trying to get too lost into thought you checked at how bad the boys fumbled the rice, and it was pretty bad. Even Uesugi could probably cook better than this... you'd never seen rice as black as this before. You threw away the small lumps of rice-coal that were in front of you and started work on a new batch of rice.

"Well, if it isn't Nino" a voice rang out to you. It immediately made your skin crawl, like an insect finding it's way into your bedroom. Glancing over your shoulder you see Kaito standing behind you.

Immediately you put on your defensive face.

"What do you want? I'm busy as you can see" You aggressively said as you rolled up your sleeves to cook.

"What's with all the hostility? C'mon, where's that sweet side you always show Y/N?"

Already you were growing tired of this guy and this conversation.

"What I'm like with Y/N has nothing to do with a weirdo like you"

"You're too pretty to be this angry, you know that?" he said as he reached a hand out to try and stroke your hair.

You slapped his hand away and backed off.

"Don't touch me!"

"You've really played hard to get since the day we met huh?"

"It's not being hard to get, its not being interested in the first place, so please for all I care, leave." you scowled.

"You really like Y/N huh..." he trailed off, it was out of character for him to mumble off like that. "In that case, I'll leave you be, as per your request" he said as he walked away slowly.

After watching him leave for a moment, that swirling anxiety started to build up again and without thinking you called out to Kaito.

"Hey!"

He turned around with a shocked expression on his face. "What? I thought you wanted me to leave, had a change of heart beautiful?" he sneered.

"Shut Up, anyway, there is something I'm curious about"

"It's about me and Y/N right?"

"How did yo-"

"I'm a jock, but I'm not stupid" He was being dead serious, there wasn't that stupid grin on his face you couldn't stand, his face was completely neutral.

"So why? Why do you hate each other?" you asked sincerely.

"If he hasn't told you, then I have no reason to either, it's just how things turned out" he replied.

"Well, who knows, maybe things will change soon..." he ominously said as he walked away back into the crowd of students, disappearing between them.

Talk about Dramatic... you rolled your eyes. Kaito walked away un-confrontational. Uesugi was right, his problem only seemed to be Y/N and none of his friends, you were never going to figure that guy out.

Finally you noticed Itsuki standing out in the open on her own like she'd just met an angel. You approached her and she finally snapped out of her delusions and started to walk towards you as well.

"Itsuki! Where the hell have you been?" a tone of anger was slipping through your speech.

Itsuki bowed in response. "Sorry, I was talking with Y/N and we got left behind..." she stated.

"Y/N huh? and where is he?"

"Over there" she pointed.

In the direction her finger was facing was Y/N, crouched next to Uesugi and another boy. It seemed that Uesugi wasn't too fond of the conversation but soon after Yotsuba led him away. Presumably to begin the preparations for the Test of Courage that was happening soon. Y/N was seemingly having a more friendly conversation with the other boy than Uesugi was, but to you it seemed like Uesugi dumped his workload onto Y/N when he left judging by him visibly slouching and obviously sighing when he looked at Uesugi's rice.

You both couldn't help but chuckle a little at the sight of him. Itsuki looked a lot happier to you which vanquished some of the anxiety lingering within you.

"Itsuki, we have the test of courage soon, how are you feeling?" you ask, as you direct her over to a nearby bench that you both sit on. The beautiful orange sky was starting to darken as night approached, when it turned dark, the test of courage was set to begin so you had to make sure Itsuki wouldn't literally shake out of her skin.

"I-I-I-I'll be fine..." she stuttered. There was no way she was going to be fine.

"If you're so afraid, why are you forcing yourself to go? I'm pretty sure it's an optional event"

Itsuki forced a fist out of her hand. "I want to improve." she stated boldly.

You couldn't help but let out a small smile.

"That's good enough for me, now come on, we have some curry to make" you said as you grabbed her hand and walked with her towards the rest of the students.

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Time passed and it was finally time for the Test of Courage. Some people had already entered judging by the screams you could hear echo out throughout the forest as you entered with Itsuki.

Miku and Ichika went before the both of you, neither of them struck you as the type to really get scared at something like this, but who knows, Miku may have a fear of ghosts that no one knew about.

Y/N was absolutely no where to be seen however, you didn't see him enter and he certainly wasn't in the waiting line behind you and Itsuki before you entered. It was complete night time so you and Itsuki both braved it into the forest.

Or, just you....

Itsuki was clinging onto your arm like a scared baby, wailing at every scary face carved into a tree and at every little trap that was laid out on the course. So much for I want to improve...

"Uwaaaa I never should have participated in this in the first place!" Itsuki cried.

"That's what I suggested, and stop clinging to me so much!" you complained.

"My classmates told me this forest was haunted, and many who've come in have never been seen leaving..."

"That's obviously a stupid rumour, why would they allow us to go in here if that was the case?"

Itsuki went quiet again at your response as you both shuffled through the darkness. You were just wishing you were with Y/N right now, where could he even be... He didn't approach you at all after he finally came outside with Itsuki and she looked flushed when you say her standing there, just what did they even talk about...

Speaking of, she wasn't clinging onto you anymore but was instead tightly holding onto your hand, sweating and shaking constantly.

"Hey, Itsuki... about Y/N-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH" Itsuki shrieked at the blonde clown that was currently hanging upside down in front of you both. It came out of absolutely no where so it did make you jump a bit, but Itsuki was on a whole other level of freaked out.

"I can't take this anymoreeeee!" she cried as she sprinted off alone into the forest in her panic.

"Itsuki wait!" you tried to call out but it was in vain. She was already putting a huge amount of distance between you

Having no other choice, you tried to follow her as best as you could into the depths of the forest, but because of the darkness and the amount of shrubs and bushes and other things, you lost her almost immediately.

--------------

"Itsuki... where are you..." you mumbled to yourself. It had felt like ages had gone by. You considered heading back but as you changed direction, the torch emanating from your phone died.

"It's dead..." you said to no one in particular. "C'mon, you're kidding, why now?" you asked as you furiously tapped your phone and fiddled with the buttons, but it was to no avail the battery was completely drained.

"I've had it with this field trip already... First I had to sleep in the same room as that creep, then none of the boys would listen to me, then Y/N has gone completely off the radar and avoided me since we left our room and now I'm stuck in this forest by myself. What is my luck..." you sighed to yourself, tired and defeated.

You looked up at the treeline, the moon was barely shining through the gaps of some leaves, it was a hopeless situation all together. The feeling had finally sunk in that you were alone, suddenly though you heard a bang. It didn't sound like a firework type bang, but what it would sound like if someone chopped wood or punched something extremely hard.

It went once, twice, three times... You started to actually get scared and bolted. It was impossible to tell if the sound was getting louder or quieter as the noises were so booming.

Not being the athlete of the family, it wasn't long until you were done with running, but you could see a cliff up ahead that looked exposed to the moonlight. Bracing yourself first, you waded your way through the bushes, flicking away all types of bugs and branches which gave you the biggest goose bumps of your life.

Finally, you arrived at the clearing, the noise from before was extremely loud now. The moon above you was shining brightly but your vision was still adjusting from the darkness.

Moving your hand away from your eyes, you look out towards the cliff and are shocked by the sight that was in front of you.

There were two people clearly fighting up ahead, in clear view. They were dodging and swerving between the punches and kicks thrown by each other, one was huge and burly, while the other figure was shorter but seemed more nimble. Grunts and the noises of their fists colliding with the others bodies echoed throughout the surrounding area.

It took a moment for the moonlight to reveal the two figures before you. And when it did, your heart dropped.

It was none other than Y/N and Kaito, throwing punch after punch at each other under the moonlight, and they were both grinning from ear to ear...

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THANKS FOR 20K READS, I love u guys fr.

Sorry if there's any mistakes in this chapter I'm so goddamn tired. I'll properly proof read it when I wake up, but, it's another chapter under the belt, and still I find writing the arcs much harder than writing completely original chapters. Maybe it's because I have to follow a pre-existing story? who knows and who cares anyway the Field Trip continues next time.

Also, has anyone read the manga Shikimori's not just a cutie? Holy shit, I read it all in a day and I loved it so much that it made me feel like writing again. It's in my top 3 romance now that shit is so good.

Maybe my writing motivation would be improved if I got my Quint manga box set, WHICH IS STILL BEING DELAYED, I just wanna have my box set man...

Anyway, you guys know the drill. See you guys in about 2 weeks for the next chapter, I'm gonna give myself a bit longer than usual until the next one I got some IRL shit I gotta get through so bear with me if there's a bit of a gap until next chapter.

Stay Healthy, Stay Happy, Stay Loving Nino.

See You guys in Chapter 19!