As lunch came to an end, Yasushi's group rose from their spot on the beach. The sun hung lazily in the sky, casting elongated shadows that wavered with the breeze. They paused, taking in the view one last time, absorbing the scene. It was a fleeting moment, the kind that couldn't be recaptured no matter how many times they returned during their short holiday. The first-time magic had already woven its spell and would not repeat.
Yasushi glanced at his companions. "So, we're walking there, right?"
Both women nodded.
"You mentioned it'd take forty-five minutes to an hour," Jingliu said, her voice measured. She savored her ice cream, the cold sweetness a contrast to the warm afternoon. Yasushi and Yinhaie had already finished theirs, leaving only Jingliu to enjoy the treat.
"We're all in good shape," she continued. "At a steady pace, we might get there quicker than expected."
"Let's get going then," Yinhaie said, her voice carrying a note of determination as she picked up the pace. Jingliu jogged after her, her footsteps light and quick. Yasushi, however, maintained his usual, measured stride, his eyes following the two women as they moved ahead. They stopped after a few meters, their pace settling into a more relaxed walk, and began talking to each other. From where Yasushi trailed behind, they appeared more like sisters than master and maid. He found the thought amusing but kept it to himself.
"Hey!" Jingliu called out, her hand waving energetically. Her voice carried a playful tone that made Yasushi chuckle. He picked up his pace, closing the gap between them.
As they walked, their conversation flowed easily, interspersed with observations about the unfamiliar surroundings. The streets were lined with an assortment of shops, each one brimming with its unique character. Vendors called out their wares, their voices a lively part of the city's symphony.
Locals mingled with tourists, everyone wrapped up in their own rhythm of life. The vibrant scene felt far removed from the more subdued, orderly life Yasushi was accustomed to in Japan. Here, the air buzzed with an energy that seemed almost tangible, a living pulse that contrasted sharply with the quieter, more restrained atmosphere of his homeland.
They passed a small café, its outdoor tables filled with people sipping coffee and chatting animatedly. A bookstore next door displayed an eclectic mix of titles in its window, a promise of stories waiting to be discovered. Yasushi's gaze lingered on the spines of the books, imagining the tales within.
Yinhaie and Jingliu continued their animated exchange, their laughter rising above the hum of the city. Yasushi listened with half an ear, content to let their voices wash over him. He felt a sense of detachment, as if he were both a part of the scene and an observer, capturing these moments in his memory.
As they continued their walk, they came across a street musician playing a haunting melody on a violin. The notes hung in the air, intertwining with the sounds of the city. Yasushi stopped for a moment, entranced by the music. Yinhaie and Jingliu turned back, noticing his pause.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Yinhaie said softly, her eyes reflecting the same enchantment.
Yasushi nodded, feeling the music resonate deep within him. "Yeah, it really is."
They stood there for a while, allowing the melody to envelop them, each lost in their own thoughts. Then, with a shared look, they continued their journey, the music lingering in their minds.
+-+
"Finally here, and it took us thirty minutes. But I guess all the sights we saw on the way were worth it," Yasushi remarked, stretching his arms wide, letting the sun bathe him in warmth. He could feel the tension easing out of his muscles, a slow relaxation spreading through his body.
Jingliu and Yinhaie echoed his sentiments with their own sighs of relief. Both women drank deeply from water bottles they'd picked up along the way. The cool liquid seemed to reinvigorate them, and they both indulged in ice cream to stave off the hunger that had crept in during the last leg of their walk.
"Another few minutes hike up, right?" Jingliu asked, capping her water bottle with a deliberate twist.
"I believe so, or maybe fifteen to twenty minutes if we take our time and enjoy the scenery," Yinhaie replied, wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Her gaze drifted up the path ahead, calculating the distance with a practiced eye.
"Let's get to it then," Yasushi said, leading the way up the stone steps, his pace steady and sure. Jingliu and Yinhaie followed close behind, their footsteps echoing softly in the tranquil air.
As they climbed higher, the landscape around them began to unfold in a sweeping panorama. The path wound through patches of open grass, sporadically interrupted by solitary trees casting dappled shadows. The city sprawled out below them, a mosaic of buildings and streets, the endless blue of the sea stretching to meet the horizon. The sky seemed to melt into the ocean, creating a seamless expanse of azure that took their breath away.
Each step brought them closer to the summit, and with each step, the view grew more magnificent. The vastness of it all was overwhelming, the kind of beauty that struck you silent. Yasushi paused, taking it all in, his chest swelling with a quiet awe. The others stood beside him, equally entranced, their earlier fatigue forgotten.
"It's amazing," Jingliu murmured, her voice barely audible, as if speaking too loudly might shatter the moment.
Yinhaie nodded, her eyes wide and reflective, capturing the scene as if committing it to memory. They stood there, suspended in time, the world at their feet, the horizon stretching infinitely before them. It was a simple, yet profound moment, a reminder of the vastness of the world and the beauty it held.
There were others scattered around, snapping pictures and selfies, caught up in capturing the scene rather than living it. The digital age had turned moments like these into frames to be stored rather than experiences to be felt.
Jingliu, however, soon followed suit, pulling out her camera to document the view. She took several shots, each click of the shutter a testament to her attempt to hold onto this fleeting beauty. Then, she switched to her phone, suggesting a group photo and a selfie with Yasushi.
After capturing the moments, she quickly set the new image as her phone's background. A small, satisfied smile crossed her lips. "Let's keep going. I want to see the summit," she said, her voice carrying a note of excitement. Yasushi and Yinhaie nodded in agreement, and they resumed their hike, maintaining a brisk pace but still absorbing the sights around them.
Reaching the summit, they found it crowded with people, all vying for the perfect vantage point. The crowd buzzed with energy, a mix of languages and laughter, the universal hum of human presence. Despite the allure of the summit, they opted to stay where they were. The view from their current spot was still remarkable, offering a sweeping panorama of the city below and the endless blue of the sea merging with the sky.
They stood there, letting the moment sink in, appreciating the relative tranquility compared to the bustling summit.
"Why do I smell shit?" Yasushi's remark cut through the ambient noise, catching the attention of Jingliu, Yinhaie, and several other bystanders. The casual comment triggered a wave of sniffing, followed by grimaces and expressions of disgust as the stench reached their noses.
People started looking around, eyes darting in all directions, trying to pinpoint the source. A collective murmur of confusion and repulsion spread through the crowd until someone finally located it. A man pointed and said, "Over there…"
All heads turned to see a tourist squatting in the middle of the open green field, shamelessly defecating in broad daylight. The group was stunned into silence, their brains struggling to process the sheer absurdity of what they were witnessing. The woman, fully aware of her audience, seemed utterly indifferent. She continued her business with an eerie nonchalance, not even bothering to wipe when she was done.
She stood up, adjusted her clothes, and walked away as if nothing had happened. The once bustling area, filled with chatter and laughter, fell into a heavy, stunned silence. The absurdity of the scene left everyone rooted in place, unable to react. The world around them felt momentarily skewed, reality twisted by the sheer audacity of the act they had all just witnessed.
Jingliu glanced at Yasushi, her eyes wide with a mix of disbelief and morbid fascination. Yinhaie covered her mouth, eyes still locked on the departing figure. The shared shock united them in a moment of silent bewilderment, the day's earlier beauty overshadowed by this sudden, surreal episode.
Yasushi shook his head, then turned to Jingliu, his voice deadpan. "What a shitty thing to do."
Jingliu's eyes widened, her shock mirrored by the silence that followed. For a heartbeat, the air seemed frozen, heavy with the weight of the absurdity they'd just witnessed. Then, like a dam breaking, a couple of people began to laugh.
The sound spread contagiously, more and more joining in until the crowd was caught up in a collective outburst of hilarity. The absurdity of a woman defecating in an open field, paired with Yasushi's ridiculous pun, had them all losing their composure, laughter rippling through the air.
Jingliu sighed, shaking her head at Yasushi, unsure whether to be exasperated or amused. Yinhaie, unable to contain her own giggles, put a hand in front of her mouth, her eyes sparkling with mirth. She stepped over to Yasushi, lightly patting his head in a gesture of approval.
As the laughter subsided, the surreal nature of the moment hung in the air. The world, which had seemed so vast and beautiful just moments before, now felt strangely smaller, united in shared absurdity.
Yasushi, Jingliu, and Yinhaie stood together, a trio momentarily adrift in a sea of bewildered amusement. The day's earlier beauty lingered at the edges of their consciousness, but for now, it was the absurdity that held them all in its grip.
+-+
"Shit, man, get me a souvenir or something! I've never been to Hawaii!" Furuya's voice crackled through the group call, his enthusiasm palpable even across the distance.
Yasushi sat at the table, his laptop open, the screen casting a soft glow in the dim light. Jingliu sat beside him, picking at her dinner. The sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink. They'd spent the day exploring, and now they were back at their temporary home, considering the nightlife but unsure if they had the energy for it.
"Sure, I don't mind," Yasushi replied, taking another bite of his food.
"Me too, Jingliu! I want something like... those leaf skirts!" Xinyi's voice burst with excitement, almost drowning out the ambient sounds of the evening.
Jingliu raised an eyebrow. "I don't think we can bring that back with us. Don't we have souvenir shops in Ginsukimura that sell things from other countries?"
"It's not the same!" Xinyi whined, her voice carrying a note of desperate insistence.
Yasushi chuckled, shaking his head. "I'll bring some sweets and snacks too. I saw a few that looked good. There's a supermarket we can hit up before heading back. I'll try to get some for your brothers, Reina."
Jingliu glanced at him, a small smile playing on her lips. The mundane nature of their conversation, the casual requests for souvenirs, and the background chatter of their friends brought a sense of normalcy, a tether to their everyday lives even as they sat thousands of miles away.
"Hey, Jingliu, how's the food there?" Reina's voice chimed in, curiosity laced in her tone.
"It's great," Jingliu replied, looking up from her plate. "We had some incredible poke bowls today. Fresh fish, lots of flavors."
"Man, you guys are making me jealous," Furuya groaned. "I'm stuck here with convenience store sushi."
Yasushi laughed. "What are you talking about? Just go out and eat real sushi, we're Japanese you goofball."
As the conversation flowed, the sky outside deepened into twilight. The earlier fatigue seemed to melt away, replaced by a comfortable camaraderie. The idea of going out later hung in the air, a possibility rather than a plan. For now, they were content, surrounded by the familiar voices of friends, the promise of more adventures tomorrow, and the simple pleasure of a shared meal.