I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

On the way to Chiba Marine Eco Park by bus.
Unlike yesterday, when the mood had been high, the boys of Class 2-B were now watching each other closely and competing with subtle glances.
The reason was the campfire and folk dance scheduled for the evening.

Folk dance.
Something that went hand in hand with the campfire, inseparable like needle and thread.
But folk dance was done in male-female pairs, and the boys without partners inevitably had to ask one of their female classmates to dance.

I had already given up, so I was fine, but it seemed Satoru hadn’t yet let go of hope.
In fact, it seemed like all the boys without partners were in the same boat.
As I recalled seeing a similar scene during this year’s Valentine’s Day, I chewed on the butter squid I’d brought as a snack.

"Ah, I want some too."
"Sure."
As Rika, who was sitting next to me, reached out her hand, I held out the bag for her to take what she wanted.

Then Rika took one squid piece and started chewing with an “om nom nom” when she suddenly asked, as if she’d just remembered something:
"Ah, by the way, Ryu-chan, who are you going to dance with tonight?"
At that moment, Sasha, who was sitting in the seat behind us, suddenly shot upright.

"What a strange question. Obviously, Kim Yu-seong is going to dance with me."
I looked at Sasha, who was reaching for the squid, with disbelief and said,
"No, I never promised you that."

"Then can’t we just make the promise now?"
…That’s logical?
While I was involuntarily impressed by Sasha’s rhetoric, Rika, who had brought up the topic in the first place, shouted in a panic.
"No way!"

"Hm? What do you mean?"
As Sasha tilted her head in confusion and asked, Rika blushed slightly and grabbed my arm.
"Ryu-chan is going to dance with me!"

That was also the first I’d heard of it.
"This guy… said he gave up just this morning…"
Maybe remembering our earlier conversation, Satoru, sitting in the same row as me, glared at me with a sharp look.

Anyway, setting Satoru aside, since I had to mediate between the two who were now suddenly at odds, I hurriedly spoke up.
"Hold on. I don’t plan to dance with anyone. I’ve never danced in my life, and if I were to pair with someone, we’d totally look like Beauty and the Beast. Are you really okay with that?"
At my words, Sasha snorted as if it was nothing and said,

"If that’s the case, I’ll teach you how to dance. Besides, if I want to dance, there’s no need to care what others think."
"I-I can teach him to dance too!"
Suddenly, a tense air settled between the two girls.

Caught between them, I didn’t know what to do, so I just kept chewing my butter squid while staring off into the distance.
Clunk!
At that moment, the bus stopped with perfect timing, and Matsuda-sensei, who was sitting in the front seat, stood up and spoke.

"If someone next to you is asleep, wake them up. We’ve just arrived at our destination, the Marine Eco Park."
"Tch, lucky break."
"Hmph!"

Fortunately, the two girls sat back down at Matsuda-sensei’s announcement before their emotions could deepen into a real fight.
‘Phew.’
Watching them from the side, I let out a quiet sigh of relief and got off the bus along with Satoru, who was still glaring at me jealously.

***
Chiba Prefecture is geographically a rather unusual case.
Though it borders Tokyo, three of its sides are surrounded by bodies of water like Tokyo Bay and the Pacific Ocean, making it practically an island in shape.

Thanks to that, various marine life could be easily observed near the shore, and many marine eco parks had ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) been established to make use of that, drawing tourists.
"It’s 11 AM now, so free time is until 2 PM! Sightsee if you want to, rest if you want to! You’re not toddlers, so don’t be late for the meetup!"
""Yeees~""

As the students lined up in rows responded in unison, Matsuda-sensei nodded in satisfaction and headed off toward the observation deck with the other teachers who had been waiting behind.
They were probably planning to lounge around and have some tea at the café on the third floor.
"So… what does everyone want to do?"

I looked at the D-group students next to me and asked.
Then came a variety of responses.
"I want to walk along the rocky shore."

"I want to check out the marine museum."
"It’s a bit early, but should we just eat?"
"Hmm, I’ll go with Ryuji."

"I’m going to find a partner first."
Lastly, I looked at the class rep, who let out a deep sigh and said,
"Looks like everyone wants to do something different anyway. How about we just wander around freely until lunch?"

Everyone in D-group agreed.
After deciding to meet back at the observation deck at 1 PM, we all scattered in different directions.
Since I had picked up a pamphlet at the tourist information center after getting off the bus, I opened it.

It had brief descriptions of the marine creatures you could see around here and their main habitats.
‘The shortest walking course takes 40 minutes, and the next one is an hour.’
There was even one that took an hour and a half, but that felt too long, so I decided to skip that.

Just as I fixed my gaze on the pamphlet and was about to start walking—
"Um, hey!"
Rika suddenly called out to me from behind.

"What?"
I turned around and asked. Rika fidgeted with her fingers and said,
"Um… if you don’t mind, would you like to go to the marine museum with me?"

Ah.
I looked back and forth between the pamphlet in my hand and Rika.
I hadn’t expected this kind of invitation out of nowhere.

As I was pondering what to do, a familiar voice interjected from the side.
"Sorry, but Kim Yu-seong is going to check out the rocky shore with me."
It was Sasha, who had suddenly linked her arm with mine as she said that.

"Hey, are you cutting in again?!"
Rika, who had gone blank for a moment, raised her voice in anger. Sasha simply shrugged and said,
"Judging from the pamphlet he’s holding, he was going to walk along the coast anyway. On the other hand, if he goes to the museum with you, he’ll have to give up on the walk. Isn’t the answer already obvious?"

"Uuuugh…."
As Rika glared at her in frustration, Sasha snorted and turned her head.
Sasha, who had strong pride, often bickered with Karen and even spoke sharply to Rika, who was known for her kind nature in class.

Because she was an exchange student who seemed to be isolating herself, I had advised her to get along with the others, but Sasha hadn’t even pretended to listen.
Thankfully, she seemed to get along well with the class rep, so that was a relief.
Anyway, just as I was about to speak up to mediate between the two, who looked like they might start fighting again—

"Rika! Yu-seong!"
Karen, who had come to the same forest school but was in a different class so we hadn’t interacted much, ran over waving her hand.
It was truly the arrival of a reliable reinforcement.

***
"Sasha! Are you picking on Rika again just because you’re bored after lunch?!"
"I never picked on her. I merely stated the truth."

The two clashed immediately as their eyes met, sparks practically flying.
Honestly, looking at them now, it seemed like Karen had a worse relationship with Sasha than Rika did—but surprisingly, Sasha didn’t seem to genuinely dislike her.
It was more like dealing with a troublesome frenemy you just couldn’t hate.

Meanwhile, Karen stood protectively in front of Rika and growled back at Sasha, but with over a 10 cm height difference between them, it looked a little odd.
Still, thanks to Karen acting as a buffer between Rika and Sasha, the tense atmosphere quickly returned to normal, so I carefully made a suggestion to the two.
"Instead of arguing, why don’t we take a walk first and then go to the marine museum? Just walking around won’t take up all our time anyway."

Sasha, who had been locking eyes with Karen, smirked and turned her head.
"If that’s the case, I don’t mind. I just wanted to see the rocky coast."
"Heh, acting all calm after backing down."

"I-I don’t mind either! We can do both!"
And so, the schedule at the Marine Eco Park was set.
We would walk the 40-minute course first, then head to the marine museum near the observation deck.

I asked Karen, who was next to me,
"Karen, is there anywhere you want to go?"
Karen looked at me and then scratched the back of her head with a shy smile.

"Not really. Anywhere’s fine… as long as I’m with you."
"Really?"
Hearing such an oddly heartwarming remark, I looked at Karen again. She blushed slightly and turned her head.

Sasha, who had been watching from the side, muttered,
"How sly."
Rika followed up.

"Karen, that’s unfair."
At times like this, I really couldn’t tell if those two got along or not.
***

We walked along the park’s coastal trail that stretched out before us.
Along the way, we saw all kinds of fish, birds, amphibians, and crustaceans. Clearly, these fascinating creatures, rarely seen inland, lived naturally in this place.
Personally, seeing things like this always made me feel awe at the wonders of nature.

After passing through a vast reed field stretching over thousands of pyeong, we finally reached the rocky shore Sasha had wanted to see, and beyond that was a gray mudflat.
"Wow! A crab!"
Rika, forgetting she had just argued with Sasha, beamed with delight as she spotted a small crab crawling across the mudflat.

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but smile quietly.
It somehow felt like I was at the beach with a much younger niece or something.