"Try and behave and restrain yourself no matter how much you want to resist. In order for us to be successful, you must become one of them and then take them down from the inside. Do you understand?"

~*~*~
 

"I've organised a team building exercise on the mountain for us all!" Tian Xin announced one day that week, excitedly waving her hands about in a bubbly mess.
However, groans rose within the class.
"Team building exercise? You must be kidding me!" Sha Jie exclaimed with a roll of her eyes.
"What's the occasion?" Da Dong asked from his hammock.
"I just wanted to help ease the tension in Zhong Ji Yi Ban and do something fun so we're going on a weekend trip together on the mountains!" Tian Xin continued with a big smile. "I thought you could all use this as a way to relax and strengthen your class friendships!"

"But no one wants to go to the mountains!" Jin Bao San moaned, "We all want to sleep on the weekends!"
"You kids never do anything productive in your free time, don't waste your youth!" The teacher retorted, "And it'll be fun! Who doesn't enjoy a night out in the great outdoors?"
"All of us!" Xia La pointed out.
"Yeah this is a stupid idea!" another classmate added.
"I'd rather go shopping."
"I need to look after my pet fly."
"My dog's aunty's grandfather's owner's brother's landlord is in hospital so I have to visit them or my parents will get angry."

Tian Xin whined frustrated at her class' lack of enthusiasm, "Da Dong~!" she complained, "You'll get everyone on this trip right?"
Da Dong sat up and scratched his head, sheepishly, "Uh... Ban Dao, maybe we could have a picnic instead or something? I don't think anyone wants to go on this trip..."
"But it'll be fun!" She replied, "Da Dong please!" she pleaded, rubbing her hands together.
Da Dong stuttered, not knowing whether he should just give in to his beloved teacher's wishes or not. She meant well so he sighed in defeat, he agreed with her too, there was too much tension in the class anyway. "Everyone, you all have to come on this trip or you'll get internal injuries!" he announced loudly, standing up.
"Egomaniac, really?" Ya Se groaned, "Fine, if you go, I'll go."
"I'm in too." Xiao Yu added and Tian Xin burst out into a rainbow.

"Oh thank you so much! I knew I could count on the three of you!" she chimed in delight.
Sha Jie huffed, "I'll go one condition-" she turned to Yu Yan and stuck her finger out at her, "-she can't come. Her presence will annoy me to death!"
Yu Yan smiled mockingly, "Did I even say I wanted to go?"
"I'm the female leader of Zhong Ji Yi Ban, and what I say goes! So don't even think about coming along."
"You mean you're the self proclaimed leader; no one put you there other than yourself. You certainly don't have any qualities worthy of a leader though, so I wonder what type of so-called leader are you?"
"You little-"
"Okay, calm down!" Da Dong exclaimed, fed up, "Sha Mei Mei, do you always have to pick a fight with Yu Yan? Things like this are the reason we're going on this trip!"

"Da Dong why are you putting the blame on me?!" Sha Jie exclaimed, "I don't like the fact that you like this reject!"
"Surely you're the reject if your crush pulled the sister card on you, aren't you?" Yu Yan questioned as she leaned back in her chair.
"Yu Yan! You need to stop provoking her!" Da Dong added. As a result, Yu Yan rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, knowing that she had to restrain and control herself.

"Well are you coming?" Xiao Yu asked quietly, leaning over his desk to speak to her.
Yu Yan chuckled as though her answer was obvious, "How can I miss such a perfect opportunity to annoy the ultimate class flower?"
Xiao Yu smiled. This trip was going to be an interesting one.

"Okay okay, time to pick pairs!" Tian Xin announced, "You'll be put into a pair and you will have to work together on any challenges I set for you on the day! It's a great way to build bonds with each other!"
"Narcissist, you're going to be my buddy!" Da Dong quickly spoke up.
"Sorry Da Dong, that's not how it's going to work this time!" The form tutor replied as she brought out a bunch of ropes. "If I let you choose your partner, how will you learn to get on with other members of your class?"
"I hate this already," Yu Yan muttered under her breath with a kiss of her teeth.

"There are several ropes in this pile and each of you will pick an end so that all of you will be holding onto an end of a rope. Your partner will be the person who is holding onto the other end, understand?" Tian Xin explained.
"So it’s random?" Ya Se asked and his teacher nodded.
"Why don't you all come to the front and pick an end?" Tian Xin then said as her class reluctantly dragged themselves to the front of the classroom.
"Okay everyone, pick an end!" she continued and when Xiao Yu picked up his end of a rope, Tian Xin picked up another end and handed it to Yu Yan, "Here, why don't you hold this one?"

Yu Yan accepted it, "Whatever, I can't see who's picking which end anyway so it doesn't matter whether I pick the rope myself or not."
Tian Xin's lips curved into a smile, "Okay, now find out who is on the other end of your rope, everyone!"

"Da Dong! Yes, Da Dong I'm your partner!" Sha Jie exclaimed excitedly as she ran over to him, "We must be tied by fate!"
Da Dong turned his head to the side, inwardly groaning before he turned to Ya Se.
"Hey, Narcissist, who's your partner?"
Ya Se looked at his rope and then followed it with his eyes to see Sha Yu on the other end. "Sha Yu."

"Wu Xiong mei mei~ it looks like we're destined to be together!" Jin Bao San cooed, creepily as he put an arm around her only to be smacked in the face with Yun Han's truth-telling whip. "Jin Bao San," she glared coldly at him, "You touch my mei and I will kill you slowly and painfully!"
Ya Se smiled, relieved to hear Yun Han's threat, "And I will hang you out of my private jet as well, after I beat you up of course."
Jin Bao San gulped, "Sorry~."

"Hey, Xiao Yu, want to swap partners?" Jin Bao San asked nervously, turning to Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu followed his rope to see who his partner was-
"JIANG YU YAN?!" Jin Bao San cried out, before chuckling awkwardly, "Haha, pretend I never asked!"

Yu Yan leaned back in her chair, "You made the right decision there, old grass." She let go of the rope she was holding so that it fell onto the floor before she slumped over her desk to nap. Little Fish again? she rolled her eyes, annoyed, Why does he always appear everywhere? Why can't I avoid him? Gosh, this is so annoying. She groaned loudly before shutting her eyelids closed.
 

~*~*~

As Tian Xin dismissed her class at the end of the day, she spoke up, "Xiao Yu, please stay behind. I need to have a word with you."
Da Dong and Ya Se turned to him in confusion as they stood up to leave. "Should we wait for you?" Da Dong asked.
"It's okay, you two go on ahead." Xiao Yu replied as he watched his classmates leave.

Once everyone had left, Xiao Yu walked over to his teacher, "Ban Dao, what do you need me for?"
"Ah, well you see... how do I say this?" she started, "You see... I purposely had Yu Yan pick the end of your rope."
Surprised, Xiao Yu raised his eyebrow, "Why?"
"I was worried that she wouldn't come on this trip if she was paired with someone she didn't like which is essentially the whole class." she explained, "But I've noticed that she seems to tolerate you more than anyone else so decided it would be better for her to be paired with you than anyone else. I know I should have asked you first if I could do this, but I hope you don't mind. I just want Yu Yan to settle in well in our class and thought you would be the best person to help."

Xiao Yu smiled, "Ban Dao, I understand." he said, "And I agree with your reasoning so i don't mind."
"Really? That's great!" The teacher beamed, "And I hope you'll make sure to look out for her since we'll be on the mountains and she is blind."
"You don't have to worry about that." he replied, "You can leave it to me."
"Thank you so much Xiao Yu, I'm really glad Yu Yan has you looking out for her in Zhong Ji Yi Ban. I thought it would be hard for her to fit in and make friends, but I see that you two are getting along." Tian Xin responded, earning a light blush from Xiao Yu.
"I-I wouldn't say we get along, but we're getting there... I think." he stuttered before he turned to leave.
Tian Xin smiled at her student, watching him leave.
 

~*~*~

Saturday came quickly and Zhong Ji Yi Ban arrived at the beginning of a forest by coach. As they filed out of the vehicle, they groaned as they carried their large rucksacks with their sleeping bags and tents.

"Why am I here?" Sha Jie groaned, "How am I being expected to carry all this stuff when I have a butler to do it for me at home?"
"Me too! It's such a struggle carrying all this stuff." Whined another classmate.
"Silence!" Wang Da Dong yelled as he hopped off the coach, "This is not only a team bonding exercise; we're also here to strengthen and harden our abilities!"

Yu Yan stepped off the coach, why did she even agree to this again? She hadn't been in this type of terrain in such a long time that she knew it would be difficult to get around alone - she would have rely on someone to help her. But she didn't want to be seen as weak so would have to act like she wasn't struggling.

After a few minutes of talking, Tian Xin handed each pair two white bands with a red light on it. "What's this?" someone asked as each student put it on.
"These bands are known as the 'Stay Close Under My Nose' bands and when worn by two people they will not be allowed to be more than 2 metres away from each other or this red light will flash and beep really loudly." Tian Xin explained as everyone's eyes widened.
"What?!" Jin Bao San exclaimed before smiling like a ert and budging closer to Wu Xiong, "Hehe Wu Xiong mei mei~ looks like I'm stuck to you all day~" he laughed before Wu Xiong threw her fist straight into his face. "Idiot." she muttered.

"What is the point of these?" Xia Ba asked, examining the technology around her wrist.
"This is the first challenge. Each band has been matched to its opposite so you will not be able to leave your partner." Tian Xin began, walking to the front of the class, "Each pair will have to make their way through this forest to the foot of the mountain where Duan Chang Ren will be waiting. On the way there, you will have to find three ribbons with your names on it: a yellow, red and green one, or Duan Chang Ren will not give you the map to our mountain campsite."

"But there's so many of us, how will we find the specific ribbons with our names on them?" Ya Se asked.
"Each ribbon will have the names of a pair and the three ribbons will be roughly in the same area so shouldn't be too hard to find," Tian Xin replied, "But you will have to work together to find your way to Duan Chang Ren who will be the checkpoint. It is up to you where and when you want to take a rest and I don't mind if you want to team up with other pairs but you will have to find your own ribbons. The first three pairs to the campsite win."

"What if something happens to us? This forest is huge and I've heard that lots of people have gotten lost on the mountain." Zhu Pi pointed out.
"That is why I have prepared these!" She held up a black bag full of smoke guns, "These are smoke guns and each pair will be given one with smoke of a different colour. If you are in need of serious help all you have to do is shoot it into the sky and wait for either Ya Se's father or one of his men to come to your aid."
"What?! My father is here?" Ya Se asked.
Tian Xin grinned, "Your father volunteered to help out with this activity."

"What's the prize?" Yu Yan suddenly asked as she fiddled with her band.
"Do you all want to know?" Tian Xin inquired as her class nodded. "Well... it's a secret." she whispered with a wink.
"This is a waste of my time," Yu Yan groaned, "I want to go home."
"Then go, no one wants you here anyway!" Sha Jie immediately spat.
"Scared that you'll lose to me?" Yu Yan taunted.
"Why would I be scared of losing to a blind sheep like you?" Sha Jie hissed, "My team is the strongest so it's natural that we will be the indisputable winners of this game."

A dark aura filled with competition and challenge radiated off both Sha Jie and Yu Yan as they glared at each other, killing each other in their minds.

"Little Fish," Yu Yan snarled, "Get ready to win."