Days passed by quickly and 2 days before the trip, the groupings for the hotel stay  were sent through our university portal accounts. The groupings consist of 3-4 people. There’s one person I know here. It’s Haruto, the other two I think are in the same class as me but I haven’t had the chance to talk to them during classes. 

The other two are Arata and Kaito. I’ve seen them together often so I’m guessing they are friends. I’m a bit anxious but I hope they’ll be cool and all since we’ll be sleeping together for 2 nights. I might as well make some new friends. 

So a day before the trip there will be a general meeting and a group meeting. The general meeting only consists of what we will be doing such as finding ways for the countryside to improve their technological aspects that can help them in fields such as agriculture and business. It is well aligned to our major since we are IT students. 

We then moved on to the group meeting. The four of us sat beside each other to get to know each other as well as plan the things we needed to do. Despite this being a trip, it is still a requirement for one of our major subjects. As I expected, Haruto became the bridge for the four of us to communicate with each other. 

“Yo, my name’s Haruto. You probably know me already as the guy pestering you to join my club. NIce meeting you guys!” 

All of us introduced ourselves one by one. And to my surprise, both Arata and Kaito are cool individuals. I  was able to  get along with both of them but it was mostly because of Haruto’s socializing skills that made everything go smoothly. 

After the meeting, Haruto suggested that we eat at a local diner to  further develop our friendship and chemistry so that we get comfortable with each other. 

We made our way to the restaurant and ordered some food. 

I can kind of tell their personalities after hours of talking with each other. Arata, just like Haruto, is an extrovert while Kaito on the other hand is just like me. 

“Why did you guys choose our major anyway?” Asked Arata

“Well, it may not seem like it but I aspire to become a web developer in the near future. It’s just something I enjoy a lot. They say that if you’re willing to do something for free, then it’s your calling. It’s  either a web developer or a writer. If not one of those two, I’d rather go unemployed!” Said Haruto

Something I can do for free huh? Is there such a thing? In reality, even though we like to do something, the realistic side of things is that we won’t be doing that for free if we want to treat it as a job. But I guess it’s different for passionate people. In my case, I used to play soccer to become a pro and earn lots of money to sustain myself and my family. What would be something that I would do for free? 

Kaito, just like Haruto, chose it out of passion. 

“How about you Aoi?” Asked Kaito

“Well, this might seem a little funny but I heard that becoming an IT is also equivalent to having a high salary. But I enjoy it a bit from time to time” 

“That’s just like you Aoi.” Said Haruto.

The four of us laughed.

After finishing our food, Arata and Kaito went on their way and me and Haruto happened to be going in the same direction so I offered to drop him off at his house. 

“Woah! That’s a nice ride Aoi”

“Trust me, it isn’t at nice as it looks when you start to realize how much this bike will cost you in the future” 

On our way as he sat in the backseat, Haruto finally talked to me about the writing club.

“You know what Aoi, I decided to  give up on forming the club. I’ll be joining a publishing company as a writer. It’s like a part time job so the salary won’t be as big but at least I get to do my hobby right?” 

“I’m sorry”

“Oh c’mon it’s not your fault” 

“It’s  just that I already quit writing for the better.”

“I don’t know what made you quit writing, but you won’t know if it’s  for the better until you finally let go of it and feel relief and happiness. My gut tells me that you still think about writing. But I won’t pry much further if it’s something personal. If you do have a change of heart, you can contact me and I can recommend you to the company.”

“Thanks for understanding Haruto. You’re not as weird as I thought you were.” 

“Weird?”

“Forget I said that so our friendship won’t  be tainted in its early stages.” We both laughed.

I dropped Haruto home which is surprisingly close to my apartment so I was able to arrive home a few minutes after dropping him off. 

As I was about to sleep. I stared at the ceiling for a few minutes thinking about how my university days are becoming a bit more eventful unlike my first year. I met a few people that helped make my usually boring days a bit more enjoyable.How long has it been since I hung out with a group since high school?  I thought that this wasn't so bad. 

So tomorrow’s the trip huh? Might as well enjoy the last field trip of my school days.