The day of the class trip arrived. Our destination was Kyoto, but we would stay for two days and one night in Ōtsu, the capital of Shiga prefecture. The two cities are a half-hour drive apart, but with the bus, it would take us longer. We would have the chance to observe ancient temples and historic monuments from the time when the city was the country's capital. Luckily, as we were staying in a hotel in Ōtsu, we also had the opportunity to see Lake Biwa, the largest freshwater lake in Japan and one of the oldest in the world. Additionally, every year around this time, in mid-October, the recurring festival of Ōtsu is celebrated. We would get to enjoy an exclusive event of the area. In a nutshell, we were killing two birds with one stone.
The possibility of this trip had been discussed even before the summer holidays, but I was skeptical about participating. The only reason I would have joined was because Yuto-kun would be there, but his unexpected hospitalization and not knowing when he could leave the hospital had tilted my decision towards a possible no. Fortunately, things "settled" before then, so we could enjoy this experience and also fulfill a point on his list.
On the morning of the trip, we all gathered at dawn in front of the school to take the bus that would take us to our destination. Everything would have been simpler if we had avoided playing late the night before, therefore failing to wake up at the time we had both agreed upon, consequently exceeding our timings. Of course, our suitcases had been prepared beforehand, but we still had to waste time dressing up, which was no small matter considering we also had to waste time just standing up due to lack of sleep. We ran like crazy to school, thankful for having it close to home.
There, in addition to our class bus, there were three others. Apparently, three other classes from the institute would also participate in the trip. I was unaware of this and frankly, it didn't concern me. If I'm being honest, I didn't care about my own class either, I just wanted to take a vacation with my friend. He wasn't the only one who wanted to do as many things as possible with friends.
Once we boarded our bus, Yuto-kun and I sat next to each other in seats located about halfway down.
"Alright guys, we're ready."
The teacher called our attention with that sentence. She began to quickly take attendance to confirm the actual presence of the students, and then she announced out loud how she would be assigning us to the hotel rooms. Yuto-kun ended up in a double room with a boy. The chosen one was a rather quiet guy. I wasn't aware that he and that boy had ever established any kind of relationship, but given Yuto-kun's fairly sociable nature, I doubted they would have had any problems getting along, even if just for one night. I, on the other hand, ended up in the only single room that had been assigned to us, but I wasn't upset about it, on the contrary, that's exactly what I wanted. I had expressly asked the teacher before leaving if it was possible to assign me that room. As much as I'm making progress in dealing with the outside world, I didn't feel ready for an intimate interaction with someone like sharing a room. Then there was also the risk that the person might not have agreed with the pairing decision and would have complained, forcing the teacher to pair me in a room with another girl. But surely the other girl would have had the same reaction as the previous one, thus creating a chain. Obviously, the teacher is the final authority on the matter, but I didn't want to risk feeling the tension of unwanted cohabitation throughout the trip, even if it was just for one night. I didn't want to sleep with "one eye open" due to my distrust of the other person. This was the optimal choice for everyone. Once the room assignments were finished, we were all set. Our journey had begun. Given the great deal of fatigue we had accumulated from the night before due to our late-night gaming session, it didn't take long for us to fall asleep.
"Hey Ayame. Wake up!"
The voice of my seatmate called out to me as he shook me awake from my slumber. He had to call my name multiple times before I managed to fully open my eyes and become conscious, removing my head from the bus window. I was completely confused:
"What...what's going on?"
"Look there."
With his index finger, he pointed out the window and I turned in the direction he indicated...
"Wow!!!"
We had just entered the Shiga Prefecture because what I could see from the moving bus, according to Yuto-kun, was Lake Biwa. I saw this vast expanse of fresh water in front of me with the day's sunlight shining brilliantly across the entire surface. It was as if the sky and the earth had become one. With the blue sky and the crystal-clear water shimmering almost like a mirror reflecting the color of the sky, I found it difficult to focus on the horizon line that separated the two.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Taken aback, I simply responded:
"Breathtaking." "We should be arriving soon, right?" "I can't wait to see the lake up close."
"Yeah. I'm mainly familiar with the temples, but I don't remember ever being at the lake."
That sentence reminded me that Yuto-kun lived in Kyoto before he moved. The schedule said we would have free time during the trip, so we could explore on our own. Who better than someone who lived there to act as a guide in addition to the appointed guide?
"I expect you to show me all the most beautiful things in Kyoto then."
"Of course."
Shortly after, it didn't take long for us to finally arrive in Kyoto. We would see part of the sights that day and the rest the following day.
Upon finally arriving in Kyoto, we immediately began our visit at Arashiyama. The classes didn't have the same visiting order, so the order in which we would visit the various areas was different from the other classes. In fact, we were the only class to be at Arashiyama. We immediately began a tour of Tenryu-ji temple.
A massive and colossal Buddhist temple surrounded by lush vegetation as if shielding the building and the immense garden it overlooked. We didn't enter the building because it wasn't scheduled, but the guide started telling us about its history and its creator.
Honestly, I didn't listen very closely even though it was interesting, but I was fascinated by seeing such a structure in person. To think that in the past, humans were able to create something so majestic without technological aids, but only with their manual labor was admirable.
What intrigued me most was wondering how it must feel to wake up in the morning, face the new day, and look out at the vast garden. There was a circular path surrounding the Sōgen pond. The water was so clear that I could see my reflection. I could see the joy of the small red fish and turtles swimming in such crystal-clear water.
Once we left there and headed a little north from the temple entrance, we found the entrance to the next stop on our tour - the bamboo forest. Its proximity to a sacred site was no coincidence.
Usually, shrines and temples are often located near bamboo forests due to the symbolic nature of this type of grass. It is considered a symbol of strength and is capable of warding off evil spirits. In the dense forest, there was a long path for us to pass through, stretching I don't know how many meters.
The guide didn't talk much about the history of that forest, because the purpose of it all was to take a walk that would allow one to relax and detach from the chaotic pace each of us had.
Indeed, for Yuto-kun and me, that's exactly what happened. During the walk, we didn't talk at all, but we were side by side strolling down the avenue, enjoying the magical silence that surrounded us.
If I had to express the feeling of that moment, I would use the word: otherworldly. You could slightly hear the rustling sound of the bamboo caused by the wind. I even tried to take some pictures with my phone to capture a bit of the essence of that place in a shot.
However, none of them fully conveyed the dreamy idea I wanted to capture. At a rough estimate, the bamboo must have been five hundred meters tall, even though they seemed to touch the sky with their tips. So much so, the sun's rays had difficulty penetrating the pathway. In the end, the walk lasted approximately thirty minutes. Returning to our bus, after the long walk, we were literally exhausted and finally heading to the hotel to rest, so we didn't waste time getting back in the same seats we had on the way there. A quick roll call and we were off.
"Well, that was a splendid walk," I said while stretching in my seat.
"Yes, I had never been to the bamboo forest despite living close by back then."
"It was truly a unique experience walking down that avenue. It felt like your soul and nature had become one."
"Yeah. Did you also hear the sound they made thanks to the wind? It almost sounded like music."
"True. It's a shame we couldn't go into the temple, but the garden was breathtaking."
"I could have spent a whole hour just walking around the lake. Even at the cost of making my head spin. It was so relaxing."
"So you would have lost your balance and fallen into the water."
I said with a slight laugh, and he responded with a smirk:
"You're always so funny."
"Not to mention the fact that you said you would be my guide, but you didn't seem that knowledgeable."
"I'm more informed about the city of Kyoto."
It took us about an hour to get to Ōtsu.
"Ah. We've finally arrived," he said, turning to me.
"I can't wait to get to my room and rest."
Having been on the move all day, all I wanted to do at that moment was go to my room to relax and take a bath. We each took our suitcases and went to the reception to check in. The other classes were there too, or rather, they had already arrived and I think they were already settled in their rooms given the presence of other parked buses. The receptionist who kindly took care of all of us reminded us that the Ōtsu festival would start that evening and that we could rent a yukata if we wanted to participate in the event. The teachers had agreed, but we would have a curfew.
My room was 3-D, while Yuto-kun's was 5-E. It was a five-story hotel. Each letter represented a floor starting from A, which was the first floor, up to the fifth, E. So, Yuto-kun was on the fifth while I was on the fourth. The teachers preferred to separate the sleeping areas as much as possible between the boys and girls...
"Ayame-san, wait." The boy's voice called out to me, while the others began to head upstairs.
"Yes?"
"I was thinking that... it would be nice... if we went to see the festival together. What do you think?"
As if he had read my mind, he asked the question that, in all likelihood, I would have also asked soon. "Sure. How about we meet here in a couple of hours and go?"
"Perfect." As we went up in the elevator, I was the first to get out since my floor was first. After exiting, as the elevator doors were closing from Yuto-kun's command, I brought my right hand up to my mouth:
"By the way, I said a couple of hours because I think I'll put on the yukata."
I wanted to get ready at a leisurely pace, that's why I said a couple of hours. In the end, that simple informative communication led to an embarrassing repercussion. Through the closing elevator doors, I could scrutinize the surprised and embarrassed reaction of my friend as his cheeks slightly turned red. Caught off guard, it may have seemed that my desire to put on the yukata was because I wanted him to see me in that garment. As if, in a certain sense, I wanted to dress up. Embarrassment began to assail me too.