The calendar loomed on the 5th of August. On that hot day, the school newsletter came to all high school students inviting them to a summer trip. The summer trip was scheduled for the next five days. This year, a massive school trip across the country was officially planned to expand traditional high school student connections. At its core, the trip to a different city was chosen at random, so it was unknown until the last moment where third graders and Ryou's class would end up going.
This intrigue lasted until the news was announced to them that the seniors of their school would be going to Kyoto as a class. Ryou was shocked by this, as he had an excuse to meet his friends from Kyoto whom he had not seen since March. Still, their communication on the Internet continued in its own way, but the effect was quite different from what he had previously experienced in person. He treasured his old friends and decided to participate in the school trip.
Ryou, whose thick hair was already over his ears, was excited about the trip to Kyoto. After texting his old friends in a general chat room, he learned that most of them would also be going on the trip on the 10th, and unfortunately, they couldn't refuse. Ryou was embarrassed to realize that he would not be able to meet some of his friends. Asking them which cities they would be sent to, the young man remembered that they all go to the same school. Ryou was sad, however, because he wanted to celebrate the reunion with the whole cast. Before he knew it, the chat room finally answered him.
[Island: "Cheer up, Ryou-kun!!!"]
This user also dropped an abundance of red hearts, thereby revealing an embarrassed smile on Ryou's face. Overcome with sympathetic bliss, the teen remained content with the fact that he would return to his hometown to his friends. The others following also began to type and console Ryou.
[Isshinho: "Don't you worry: Oda and Maiko-chan will stay in Kyoto for their own love reasons."]
Ryou chuckled at the last written words, noticing that Oda and Maiko are the two current love couples in their social circle.
[Mizuki-chan: "Stop it!!! Embarrassing and infuriating!"]
User Isshinho wrote to Ryou in personal messages, calling him out for a visceral reason. Ryou immediately opened a chat room.
[Isshinho: "You are obligated to meet them. Ode, our bully, is in his early twenties and is attending Kyoto College, and our genius, Maiko-chan, is graduating from high school. You know what I mean? By choice, Maiko is about to fly to America to study at a university there. You haven't forgotten, I hope."]
That's right, Ryou just remembered this long-ago news. Squeezing his shoulders, the grief-stricken young man contemplated Oda and Maiko's future relationship. Opening the touch keyboard, he began to quickly press the buttons.
[Ryou: "I'll meet with them."]
A new message arrived in the general chat room.
[Isshinho: "I wish I could see you, Ryou-kun. That share will go to Oda and Maiko. Still, it's worth finding the upside, too: I haven't seen your stupid face in five months."]
Toward the end, the user dropped a mocking sticker with his tongue hanging out. Ryou was both chagrined and twitchy with annoyance. This user continued to write in the chat room.
[Isshinho: "Still, chatting is nothing compared to the real thing. By the way, Island can't wait to meet you. Missing you, I guess."]
Ryou laughed again at this user's jocularity. On the other side of the screen, the user received a blow to the head from the girl. They were both sitting with their backs to each other in their dark room.
[Island: "Not true! Anyway, come back soon."]
Ryou bored with their old companionship. Still, they had not changed, and the young man's strong attachment to the Kyoto boys had not faded after five months of premature separation. Sighing with longing, the teenager decided to take part in a summer trip.
***
From the morning of August 10th, the students gathered in rows and boarded the buses. Each class entered exclusively on its own bus and left the meeting place in strict order. In fact, the school trip this year was held as a field trip for several days, and with the occasion to show and tell all the delights in this excursion, each class was presented with their own guides on the bus. These guides were obligated to walk together through the various preserves and historical sites on the trip.
The trip, however, from Tokyo to Kyoto, could last seven hours, but with long stops could go over that mark. As they drove along, students would stop at popular traditional sites in Japan, such as: landmarks, whether they were buildings or nature reserves. The history of the places encountered was told by the guides, with careful preparation. Ryou sat in the penultimate row, near the right side. Noticing Yumiko seated a few rows in front, on the left edge, he could see the girl staring serenely out the window with her head pressed against it.
While touring the town of Tsuru, which is the entrance to Yamanashi Prefecture, they reached the Monkey Bridge, which is a pedestrian wooden bridge over a precipitous gorge that has been listed as a place of scenic beauty in Japan.
An abundance of green grass and herbaceous stuff was woven around the bridge, greening the rich history of it. In a lecture from guide Sagiri, the students learned that this bridge was one of three ancient ones from the Edo period. It was understandable that the bridge didn't want to look new so it was a reference point for the tour.
Eventually, the class reached Yamanashi Prefecture, and as they stepped out into the sunshine, some of the students were surprised by the warm temperatures. Be that as it may, the temperature was indeed noticeably different from Tokyo's, and a sleepy warmth reeked outside. The prefecture was surrounded on all sides by mountains and the main attraction was Mount Fujiyama, which protruded nobly behind the other low mountains in comparison. Ryou's class, as well as the others who arrived, stopped in town.
Sagiri, the tour guide, was a woman in her thirties and gradually lectured about the prefecture. Her lectures did not seem to be interesting, but she herself interested people with her openness and gentle sociability, which ended up endearing her to many students. After taking a break, the students went to the local inexpensive restaurants, cafes, and stores. Surprisingly for Ryou, he didn't meet any of his friends at school.
Yumiko, on the other hand, had disappeared somewhere, and Ryou went to look for stores. Noticing how many students were ordering Hoto in the dining establishments, Ryou became interested in trying it out. Hoto was the main food in Yamanashi, so most people bought it. Hoto was an udon of wheat noodles with plenty of miso broth.
After reaching Fujiyoshida Prefecture, the guide anxiously announced three places to rest – Fuji-Kyu Highland, Ropeway, and Lake Kawaguchi. Upon reaching the first point, they saw an entire amusement park equipped with roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and all the rides that bring pleasure to young lives. However, the guide and teachers did not throw themselves into the rides, only allowing the students to walk around the park, which made most of them sad. Indeed, to come to an amusement park and not get on one of the rides was comparable to a sin.
Afterwards, the next point was the short Ropeway, which the students took the bus up to, located on top of Mount Kachi-kachi. After boarding the square stall that serves as an elevated cable ride, the students saw a spectacular view of the prefecture, Mount Kachi-kachi itself, and soon, Lake Kawaguchi. The panoramic bird's-eye view presented both the verdant surroundings of the prefecture to the teenagers, and from the corner finally looked out a distant mountain with a snow-capped peak that struck them with its size.
It was far away, but the students had plenty of time to see it from the windows, memorizing its every shape. It was Mount Fujiyama itself. Ryou was especially surprised by the view of the prefecture's summer nature, for it was the best time for flowers, trees, and plants to bloom.
And finally, the last point was Lake Kawaguchi, according to tourists from all over the world, which was a noble place to rest, because across the river there was a view directly of Mount Fujiyama. One of the Five Fuji Lakes, it is the largest. Ryou and his group, except for Yumiko, were near its quiet shore. After hearing stories from the guide, people asked if they could stop here for a while and take pictures, to which the guide agreed. She proudly declared for people to take pictures here before it is too late, for this place is particularly delightful, and added that photos with friends would be just right to keep for the future.
Ryou stood behind the assembled crowd and heard their conversation. He never found any members of the club other than Yumiko, and she didn't talk to him on the excursions either, and it suddenly seemed like something new to him, to finally feel the quiet life and enjoy the beauty of nature. Just as he had wanted from the early days of silence around him, he got this most untouchable feeling. Ryou stood under a green tree, shut out from the daylight. There was also a slight breeze blowing around the river, which made the students' dark school uniforms and the girls' sleek hair ripple back and forth, flying away with that flow into the unknown.
Surprised that his phone had been dead since the start of the ride because of low battery power, Ryou turned the phone on and plugged in his dripping headphones and found himself searching for music. That's when it hit him – the young man noticed how the messenger instantly filled up with messages and his phone began to vibrate loudly for several uninterrupted seconds. Upon entering the general chat room, Ryou learned that the rest of the club had been periodically chatting and looking for each other throughout.
"So that's why I haven't seen Yumiko... they were setting up meetings," Ryou said, sinking into thought, and as he flipped messages down his phone completely discharged. He managed to notice Akiko looking for him at the past two meeting points, but all to no avail. Ryou sighed and put his phone back in his pocket.
Sitting on a bench under a blooming sakura tree, Ryou looked out at the quiet lake. Seeing the lake's sparkling surface, where the blue sky and the top of a high mountain reflected, his eyes lifted to that mountain, the view of which was clearly visible.
"This view sinks into sleep," he whispered, wincing, and with a rush of boredom he lowered his head. "I want to get to Kyoto quickly," Ryou closed his eyes, lulled by the natural harmony that caught his ears.
A few seconds later, as he heard quiet, approaching footsteps, a familiar female voice benignly called the young man by name. As he looked up, before him stood a thin girl with modest shoulders, the outlines of brown at the tips of her long hair, and wide, brown eyes. Her perpetually apathetic and cold appearance would not have been confused by Ryou with any other, for to him this girl differed from the mass of other people, obviously by her carefree nature.
"Yumiko-chan?" muttered the young man, reacting confusedly.