Preparations

The next day came by and to my surprise, I woke up alone on the balcony, everyone probably woke up before me

I guess I have to go too, it's almost time for school to start

…

It didn't take me long to arrive at the school area, as expected everyone was already there

"Oh, the sleepy head woke up!" Takito said as he approached me, he then placed his arm around my head

"What was that dude?" Takito whispered to me

"What was what?"

"You know on the balcony! Yua and you were sleeping next to each other, does this mean..."

"Shut up! It's not like that! I was tired and her warmth made me fall asleep!"

"So nothing is going on between you two?"

I nodded, for some reason Takito looked disappointed

After our questionable talk, Takito and I joined the girls

"Su about yesterday... I'm sorry I fell asleep, I was tired... I apologize for making you sleep on the balcony with me!" Yua told me in an apologetic tone

That's weird for even her, I mean I could wake her up, why isn't she pointing out that?

"It's okay, I fell asleep right after you too so I'm also at fault here!"

Ichika's ear moved like a bunny's when she heard that

"Oh, what's that? Did you sleep together? Aren't you together a little too often? What's your deal?"

Ichika said with a smirk on her face

"Ichika stop that please!" Yua said as she took her away

Weird fellas

Suddenly my eyes meet Trita's eyes

"Are things going better for you?" I asked Trita, she smiled so I assume the answer is yes

But it wouldn't hurt to talk

…

After that most of the days weren't something special, we learned many things from the activities and also studied quite a lot for summer, the books Takito brought with him helped me a lot, especially in Japanese

Our free time was also very noneventful, we obviously did a lot of things but it wasn't something notable, but Trita got closer and closer to Takito every time we hung together and that was good

As I said everything was peaceful until one random day our teacher told us something important

"As you all know time passed relatively fast and not even a week is remaining from this summer camp, I know most of you are tired of attending lessons in the middle of summer, trust us we feel your tiredness, so the remaining days we will prepare for the summer dance, the amount of your activities will be reduced and this time will be spent for the preparations, and remember, you should try hard so you enjoy this camp as much as possible, you only have so much time, so spend it smart!"

Terresa told us and she then began the class that it felt like it lasted hours

And after patiently waiting the bell rang and we all gathered near mine's and Yua's desk

"So? Any plans for the dance?" Ichika asked us all with a smile

"What kind of plan?" I asked her confused

"I mean this dance is going to be special, we should make charms to burn them there"

Trita recognized that I was confused so she explained it to me

"We can write a wish of ours on the charm and then throw it in the fire hopping the wish becomes real, it's a common thing we usually do in occasions like that"

"We will see what we can do about it! For now, let's see what the preparations are about" I told them

The topic of the conversation then changed to a more casual topic, such as homework

…

It didn't take long for the school to be over but before we could all leave Terresa stopped us

"You are not going anywhere! Remember? You have duties now! The other classes are already at the location where the dance will take place, today we are decorating so it will be quite relaxing, how about you take a small detour there?"

Terresa asked us, but it was not like we had an option

Terresa then took the lead and showed us the way to the location, it was big and very open, and it also had a small shrine-like building at the corner of this open area, the shrine was red and well-built, students were decorating the area and the shrine with many things, candles, lanterns, and some rocks

"Now get to work, your job is to gather flowers for the shrine, I picked the easy job since you are dummies"

Terresa said as she relaxed on a rock under a tree's shade

Our whole class was frozen

"Are you statues or something? Get going! Gather flowers of all kinds! Don't be basic!"

After Terresa told us to leave twice, we went inside the forest to search for the flowers, our class was a big group but after some time of not finding anything I left everyone behind in search of the LEGENDARY FLOWER or something, I don't know which flower is good or bad, I will just take with me the most beautiful ones

So my search for the legendary flower began, I searched left and right but I didn't have the greatest luck

I didn't have any luck to be more specific, the only flowers I found were some small white ones that seemed too small for decoration

I went deeper and deeper into the forest to collect flowers that would look nice but it seemed like the harder I tried the less I found and I was on the verge of giving up on looking for flowers

Yeah, I guess I have no luck, I should probably see if the others have any better luck...

Uhm...

Where am I again? It doesn't look like I'm close to the camp but it doesn't look so different either

Don't tell me I got lost...

I tried climbing a tree and tried to see if I could spot a building or anything but it was futile, I couldn't see anything even after climbing relatively high

"I'm screwed aren't I?"

Stress was starting to slowly take over me as I searched for a way back

It didn't take long for me to start to scream but nothing screamed back at me, not even an animal

I guess I should relax, I feel very tired and very sleepy, maybe that's why I can't find my way back

So I climbed a tree and sat there for a moment and relaxed my mind, I spaced out for a long time, the sunlight hitting my eyes made me snap back to reality

I got off the tree and searched again, this time I found a big field full of flowers and a house in the center

I walked to the house hoping to find some help

"Oh my, what is a young gentleman doing here all alone?"

An old woman asked me, she was wearing a kimono with roses on it

"I was searching for flowers so we could decorate a shrine and got lost..." I told her

"Well if you are searching for flowers then you came to the right place, my husband and I made sure this field, is full of colorful flowers for people to see and take, come with me, I will introduce you to him"

The woman said as she walked into the field of flowers, her body hardly disturbed the flowers, unlike me, I'm lucky I didn't damage any flowers

"It seems like a visitor came here, hello boy! What's your name?"

The old man asked me, he had a dark blue kimono on, it was beautiful

"Iriasu sir!"

"Iri stands for need, and Asu means tomorrow, meaning you need the future, it's a beautiful name for you, you seem like a person pushing hard for a better tomorrow but the reason you do that is that you are unsatisfied with your present not because you want to be better, why is that, why are you unsatisfied?"

The old man asked me with a smile

"I'm not unsatisfied what are you talking about? I have friends, family, and people that love me around me and I also do good in school so I don't have a reason to be unsatisfied about the present!"

The old man laughed as if he knew I was lying or telling him a joke

"I can see it in your eyes kid, you NEED to be better in the future, you NEED that because you feel like you are falling behind, you are feeling like you don't have the answers to the questions you ask about, you also feel like something is missing, you can't do something about it today so you try to improve and push yourself hard through tomorrow so you can make things right and satisfy this need you have in the present, but this way you are only neglecting the present by trying to create this perfect future that may never come, that's quite complex don't you think?"

The old man said as he smelled a white rose with a golden color in the middle

"You are lost, but the only thing you need to do is follow the sun, the sun that will bring a bright future you desperately need..."

The woman said as she placed her hand on my shoulder

…

At this moment I woke up, it was all a dream...

I guess I should head back now, the sun is setting and I'm hungry

Follow the sun for a brighter future she said, so that's what I'm going to do, I don't care anymore, I might as well die here...

Surprisingly following the sun wasn't such a bad choice after all, I started to find civilization and also found a beautiful white rose, it was similar to that flower the old man was smelling, but it was just a bit smaller

I know one flower isn't going to do much but I don't want to return emptyhanded

…

After finally returning to the location of the shrine Terresa quickly ran toward me

"Where were you, kid? I was very worried but I couldn't afford to tell the others you got lost"

Terresa told me with a worried look in her eyes

"I'm sorry about that, I was searching for flowers but I couldn't find anything and got lost... But on my way back I found this flower, I thought it looked cool but I know it's nothing..."

I said as I lowered my head, it was very silent for a long time so when I looked up I was surprised to see a shocked face on my teacher's face

"Do you know what this flower is Iriasu-san? This is a super rare Juliet rose, this flower is worth too much if you sell it in perfect condition! The price it can go it's at least 10 million dollars, that's how much someone would pay to get this flower"

Damn! I'm holding a gold mine

"So... Do we sell it in secret and we share the money 50/50?"

Terresa looked at me with a look of disgust

"Are you serious? We are offering it to the shrine, the flower that is worth more than every single plant placed on the shire together, this is going to be the flower we will have fully on display, even if you sold it the condition it is in is bad and it's probably too small too!But wait, before giving it to me take a photo of it with your phone!"

"I don't have it, you take one and sent me the photo, you have me on LINE"

Terresa did exactly that, and she then placed the plant on the front counter of the shrine, she then announced my find on the group chat the class had, and everyone was beyond surprise

That was Yua's response to the image of the flower

"I guess they don't know you got lost so that's good... Anyway, it's late and you haven't eaten yet so go back to the camp, I will make you something to eat, you are lucky you found your way back here before the sun completely fell, you know wolfs wander this forest!"

Terresa said with a scary face, it send a chill down my spine

"I was joking, this area is safe since it's owned by the school, so don't make this funny face!" She said as she laughed

I kind of hate her...