Chapter XL.

When I woke up, Gōjun had disappeared by my side, but the mattress was still warm where he had slept, which meant that it had not been long since he had left. 

It was quite late in the morning, and Tsubasa-sama asked me to freshen up rapidly and packs my things because we were going to leave for the mountains up north. I didn't lose a minute to do as she said, and soon, we were on a taxi, heading for our new destination.

A few hours later, we arrived at a ryokan, which was surrounded by mountains from all sides in the middle of what was plain wilderness. Shunsui explained to me that many people came to this place for hiking and that this was what we had for plan for today.

'Aren't we going to wait for Tsubasa-sama?' I asked him after I had prepared my bag and we were about to head off. 

The blonde woman had received a phone call just a while ago. Apparently, there were a few issues at the Zaibatsu, and she had to attend a video conference. 

'No,' Shunsui replied, scratching his cheek little and giving me a strange smile. 'I had a word with her only a few minutes ago. The video conference is going to last for some times, if not for several hours. She told me that she won't be able to accompany us!'

'I see...' I replied, a bit disappointed.

'But, that's alright! It's not my first time in these mountains with her!' he exclaimed, cheerily, closing his eyes and putting his forefinger up at me. 'There'll be many other occasions for us to hike together!' 

Sending his arm around my shoulders then, he started to lead me towards the door of our room; Gōjun tagging along with us. 

I couldn't help but take a glance backward, feeling a bit guilty at abandoning the blonde woman to her work.

Tsubasa-sama…

***

A few minutes later…

'My! My! It really wasn't something to make an issue about!' Tsubasa Shigeizumi said to herself, holding her forehead with her hand and shaking her head slightly. 

As she approached the room that she shared with the boys and the dark-haired girl, she accelerated her pace and jumping through the doorway, she cried, cheerily, 'Yo, boys! How about we take Hime out hiking in the mountains?!'

Eh?

She was surprised to find the room empty.

Where are they gone?

She came outside of the door again to look athwart of the corridor, hoping to see the three teenagers arriving.

'Do you need something, ma'am?' inquired an attendant of the ryokan who was passing by.

'Did you see my son and his friends anywhere? My son has reddish-brown hair. He is accompanied by a young man with bleached hair, and a dark-haired girl.'

'Oh, yes!' the man replied, pleasantly. 'They have just left the ryokan to going hiking in the mountains!'

The blonde woman fell down on all fours on the ground, wanting to cry.

They have abandoned me here to go hiking together! They didn't even ask me to accompany them!

'Ma'am! Ma'am!' the male attendant exclaimed, alarmed by her reaction. 'Are you alright?!'

'Shunsui, you're too cruel!' she cried, sobbing bitterly, sitting backward.

The man stared at her with an awkward smile.

***

Shunsui paused down to look at the dark-haired girl when he saw her jerk to a stop to look behind of herself in direction of the ryokan. Of course, they were very far away from it now; the building could not be seen from this distance.

'What is it?' he inquired.

'I thought I heard Tsubasa-sama's voice!' 

The reddish-brown haired young man's eyes widened at the girl. 

He was feeling a bit guilty at having abandoned the blonde woman at the ryokan, but he believed that it was essential for the good functioning of his plan. 

There was no way that the dark-haired girl would find reassurance in the woman's presence now when he would put his plan into action…

***

'Aren't you a little too young to start hearing voices?' Shunsui teased me, as he sent his arm around my neck to poke at my cheek with his forefinger.

'You're right!' I giggled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

As we were about to resume our way through the forest, suddenly, my eyes fell onto the fruits that were growing on a bush close-by.

Berries!

'Yatta!' I cried, with delight, and instantly, I ran up to the bush in question to pick a few ones already.

I was about to put one of the fruits in my mouth when, unexpectedly, I received a large punch on the head from behind. It was Gōjun, who was shouting at me angrily not to eat that.

The blow sent me into a sitting position on the ground. Holding my head with my hands, with tears appearing in the corners of my eyes, I whimpered, 'Wah! You almost broke my skull! Why did you hit me?!'

'Do you want to die or something? These berries are poisonous! Don't put whatever you find in your mouth!'

'Huh?' I blenched. Po-Po-Poisonous?! I could have died! 

'What an idiot!' he muttered to himself, and thrusting his hands into his pockets, he started to walk again, while Shunsui moved up to me to help me to my feet.

'Don't mind him!' the latter told me, with an apologetic smile. 'He can be very harsh, but he only means well!'

I know… If he had not recognized the berries as being poisonous ones, who knows what would have become of me! 

But still, I couldn't help but keep myself at a certain distance away from him as we walked, while shielding my head with my hands and watching him out from the corner of my eye. I didn't know why Gōjun made me think a lot of a God of War. Maybe, it was because of his temperament, coupled with his good looks. 

Now that I think about it, there is also one other person who makes me think of a God of War…The director of the hospital where my mother is admitted!

In effect, I realized that I had made this same reflection to myself before, but about the dark-haired man!

But, why am I thinking about the latter out of the blue?

***

At that time, in Kokubunji... 

Kenren Shoran was re-arranging his files in his drawer when, he sneezed once.

'Ah, somebody's thinking of you!' a female voice giggled, and instantly, the dark-haired man looked up at the person who had said that. 

It was a young nurse who was passing by the door of his office.

'Get back to work immediately!' he stated at the young woman, sternly, and jumping a little out of fright, the latter replied 'Hai!' very quickly, and scooted out of sight, thinking to herself that the other nurses had not lied after all; the dark-haired man was very handsome, but also very scary! 

Once the young woman was gone, Kenren pondered over what she had just said, and looking up at the ceiling, he wondered who could be thinking about him. 

Gōjun?

***

A whole while later...

'Oi, princess!' Shunsui heard Gōjun call, in all of a sudden, and pausing down again, the reddish-brown-haired young man turned around to look at his friend and the dark-haired girl. 

The two were walking a few feet behind him, both having come to a stop now. 

'Y-Yes, what is it?' the girl stammered, shifting even further away from Gōjun, still shielding her head with her hands. Ever since the incident with the berries, she had had this same reaction every time the latter had addressed himself to her.

'Here!' Gōjun stated, sulkily, turning his face the other way, while extending his arm towards her with his fist turned down.

Shunsui could almost decipher a blush on his friend's cheeks.

'Eh?' the girl uttered, staring at the latter in confusion for a whole second, before she looked at his closed fist, realizing that they contained something for her. 

Timidly, she closed the distance between them and opened her palms under his fist to receive what he was giving to her.

Her eyes illuminated with surprise when she saw that they were berries.

'These ones are not poisonous!' Gōjun informed her, as he lowered his hand and half-turned to face her. 'I picked them at the spot where we had sat down earlier to take our lunch.'

A smile came to Shunsui's lips.

Oh, Gōjun…

'Gōjun...' the girl whispered, gazing at the young man, touched by the gesture. 'Thank you.'

'Ah, it's so adorable!' Shunsui cried, with a squirm, and unable to hold himself back anymore, he jumped at Gōjun in the minute to rub his face against his, fondly. 'We would have thought that we are in one of the cute moments of a romantic movie!'

'Oi, what's wrong with you? How many times should I tell you not to do that?! If somebody sees us, they're going to think that WE are a couple!' Gōjun growled at him, trying to push his face away, but Shunsui refused to let go easily. The reddish-brown-haired young man ignored him completely and continued to rub their cheeks together, while watching the dark-haired girl as she blushed and averted her eyes to smile very shyly.

Shunsui closed his eyes to smile too.

A few minutes later, after they had resumed their walk, the reddish-brown-haired young man decided that it was time to put his plan into execution.

'I'm not so sure about the way we're going anymore,' he declared. 'I think I should check on the map!'

And on these words, he came to a stop, and putting his bag down on the ground, he got down onto his knees to rummage through it, only to exclaim in fake alarm, 'I can't find the map anywhere! Oh shit! I think I forgot it at the location where we had sat down earlier to take our lunch!'

He tried his best not to smile at the expression of shock and alarm on the dark-haired girl's face. Gōjun didn't remain indifferent either. What these two didn't know was that the reddish-brown-haired young man has intentionally disposed the map off in nature.

'But I think that it should be alright. I've come hiking in these mountains so many times that I should be able to find the way back to the ryokan,' he told them.

'Are you sure?' Gōjun inquired. 

'Yes,' he asserted, confidently. 

He knew exactly where they were and how to get back to the ryokan, but he wasn't going to lead them back to it immediately. He was going to make them believe that they were completely lost, looking forward for many more scenes as the one from before, and it is only after he'd be fully satisfied that he'd take them back to the ryokan.

He started to lead them further away from building; however, what he didn't expect was for it to start raining. They managed to find refuge from the rain under a large tree. Very quickly, the weather had changed into a thunderstorm. The sky roared with thunder and seemed to crack open with every flash of lightening.

Shunsui started to grow preoccupied. The rain didn't seem to want to stop. It was very likely for the storm to last till it was dark. 

He decided that it was perhaps better to abort his plan and get back to the ryokan. These mountains could get really dangerous when it rained, especially during such deluges. And he was anxious when he thought about his mother. She must be getting worried at the thought that they out there in the mountains in this storm.

'A hot, meat bun!' Gōjun declared, out of the blue, and both Shunsui and the dark-haired girl turned their face to the side to look at him. They were sitting on either side of the young man.

'Eh?' the girl uttered, giving Gōjun an intrigued look.

'It is what I want to eat!' he stated, bluntly, before he looked at Shunsui to tell him, 'Do you remember? We would always eat meat buns whenever it rained when we were kids!'

A smile came to the reddish-brown-haired young man's face. 'Yes! And we would sit at the window of my bedroom to admire the rain while we would eat. Ah! It makes me so nostalgic and hungry!'

Gōjun smiled.

'When we get back to the ryokan, I'll prepare meat buns for you!' the dark-haired girl declared, at that moment, and they both looked at her in surprise. 

She closed her eyes to give them a sweet smile.

The two young men gazed at her for a minute, before Shunsui murmured, 'Hime… You're so touching!'

Her face reddened, and she panicked. 

'Oh, b-but, it's nothing!' she stammered, clasping her hands in front of her chest, and squirming a little, with her eyes set on the ground.

They both gazed at her for another minute, before they lifted their heads to gaze up at the sky, Shunsui becoming preoccupied again.

They remained there for a whole hour, but when the weather still didn't seem to want to calm down even for a bit, they decided that they had no choice but to get moving, in spite of the rain; they couldn't remain there indefinitely. 

Shunsui started to lead them back to the ryokan. And for that, they had to traverse a rocky mountain. 

The wind and the rain were getting worser and worser with every passing minute, and water was rushing freely down the slopes, making the floor slippery and unstable.

They were making their way through this rocky mountain when, the reddish-brown-haired young man heard a tumult, abruptly. His head snapped up instantly, and he felt his heart jump to his throat when he saw several large gravels rolling their way down the slope in direction of the track they were using.

Everything happened very quickly after that. 

He only had the time to fling around to cry out at the dark-haired girl to watch out for the falling gravels. The latter was walking at a certain distance behind him and she was right in their way! 

Fortunately, Gōjun was standing closer to the dark-haired girl and he managed to intervene just in time. He jumped at her to pull her out of the way of the tumbling gravel. They both fell to the ground, with Gōjun on top of the girl, while the gravels continued their chute off the mountain, ending their course only at the foot of it.

'Are you alright?!' Shunsui shouted as he ran up to where they were and getting down onto one of his knees on the floor by their side, he stared at them frantically.

'Yes,' Gōjun replied, sitting up. 

The dark-haired girl and he were a bit shaken, but none of the two were bruised. 

'I almost had a heart attack!' Shunsui exclaimed, and helping them to their feet, he told them, 'It's getting too dangerous out here. There is the risk of a landslide. I think we should get back down again and try to find another way back to the ryokan.'

'Yes, you're right!' Gōjun and the girl agreed, and on this, the three of them descended the mountain again with the intention to go around it to find their way back to the ryokan. 

They walked for a whole hour until they arrived close to a river. It was very small, but water was gushing down it with such tremendous force that it made it look dangerous to approach. It seemed about to over-flood.

'I don't think it's a good idea to walk the length of the river. It can overflow at any moment. We should stay as far away from it as possible!' Shunsui asserted, anxiously.

He was not so much familiar with their surroundings anymore.

The dark-haired girl and Gōjun nodded in agreement. Just at that moment, out of the blue, they heard a loud, terrifying noise, which resonated through the whole forest. They looked over their shoulder on the spot, petrified with shock.

It was the sound of a landslide!

They realized that they had escaped it by far!

'Let's continue to walk!' Shunsui told them, after a minute, his voice strained, and on this, they continued their way through the forest. 

Another couple of hours went by, and the reddish-brown-haired young man grew increasingly anxious. He couldn't recognize their surroundings at all now. He had never been to this part of the mountains before. Not to forget that they were completely soaked.

'Now, it's clear! We're lost!' he, finally, declared.

'Eh?!' the dark-haired girl gasped, staggering to a stop. 'We're lost?!'

'Yes. Nothing seems familiar to me around here.' 

She held her throat with her hand, her expression panicked. 

Gōjun managed to keep his calm though, even if his eyes revealed anxiety.

'What do we do?' he asked Shunsui.

'I don't think that we have any other choice but to keep walking. There's no network on our phones; we're too deep in the forest. Hopefully, we'll end up finding the ryokan at some point.'

The dark-haired girl plumped down on the ground now, her expression dead scared.

'It's alright!' Gōjun told her, in reassurance. 'Give me your hand! I'm going to hold it while we walk.' 

The girl stared at the latter's face for a whole minute, before she stretched her hand out to put it into his, giving him a small, grateful smile.

Despite the terrible situation in which they were, Shunsui couldn't help but smile to himself as he watched the two of them. It was in expectation of such moments like this one that he had initially made the "lost in the forest" plan.

They continued to walk for several more hours after this until at one point until the dark-haired girl told them that she could not walk anymore; she was too tired to place one foot in front of herself. She had released Gōjun's hand to pause down and take support on her knees, while trying to catch a good breath, 

Night had fallen by now, and still, they had not been able to find their way back to the ryokan. Fortuitously, the rain had stopped and the sky was now perfectly clear; the thunderstorm having vanished as suddenly as it had arrived. Their clothes had had the time to dry on themselves by this time.

'We need to continue. We need to find ourselves a shelter, in case, we have to spend the night in these forests,' Shunsui told her, softly, while Gōjun's face scrunched up at the girl to mutter, 'What a small nature!'

Her cheeks reddened. 

Unexpectedly, though, he reached out for her hand to take it and turning around to get down onto one of his knees on the ground, he pulled her onto his back, picking her up.

'Gōjun… What are you doing?' the girl breathed, blushing harder.

'You just told us that you can't walk anymore, didn't you?!' he stated, grumpily. 'Now, shut up! And let me carry you piggy-back!'

Another smile came to Shunsui's lips as he watched the two of them. 

They resumed their walk. As they continued their way through the trees, the reddish-brown-haired young man couldn't help but think anew over the situation in which they were, becoming dead anxious again. 

He had no doubt that there must be people searching for them right now in the mountains. Upon seeing that they were not returning to the ryokan, everyone must have realized that they're lost in the forest! And everyone must also already be aware that there had been a landslide! 

His stomach twisted as he thought of his mother. She must be completely panicked by now!

They had walked for another thirty minutes when, they arrived at a spot where the trees ended onto a glade. They all went still to admire the beauty of the place, which resembled no less than a garden in the middle of this wilderness.

The glade was very large and round, its entire surface covered with Higanbana, flowers which are also known as Manjushage, Lycoris radiata, or even, Red Spider Lily. Fireflies were playing amongst the flowers, and just in the middle of the field, was a large round mound, with the full moon shining with all its power directly over it. 

The scenery looked magical. It didn't seem like this place could belong to this world. It was, as if, they had somehow walked in onto a domain of the Suras in the sky.

They held their breath, spell-bound by the view. 

After Gōjun had put the dark-haired girl down, all three of them entered the field, moving slowly and turning around several times onto themselves to admire the scenery, voicelessly, as if, hypnotized. 

The fireflies moved about without any fear, even allowing the dark-haired girl to capture a few ones of them in her two hands to admire them with all her heart, before she would let them off. 

The three young people would then climb onto the mound to sit there in the middle of this picturesque scene, to gaze at the full moon together, letting themselves bath in the purity of its light. 

For some reason, the moon looked bigger and much more resplendent than any other night. Maybe, it was because they were in the mountains. Maybe, it was because of the quietness. Maybe, it was because of the beauty of the field. But it could also be that it was the moon that enhanced the beauty of this place. But, perhaps, the truth was that the moon and the field worked together to enhance each other's beauty. Yes, it must be that.

They sat there quietly for an indefinite length of time, until Gōjun stood up to get down from the mound. Shunsui and the dark-haired girl looked at him, the latter inquiring, out of curiosity, 'Where are you going?'

She came down from the mound too when she saw him bend down to pick a few Higanbana up.

What she, nor Shunsui, surely didn't expect was for him to turn around to face her and offer the flowers to her. 

They were both puzzled.

***

I stared at Gōjun's face, puzzled.

'Here!' he said, placing the Higanbana he had picked in my hands. 

I looked down at the flowers for a second or two, before I looked at him again, blushing madly. 

What's up with him?

He had turned back around now and was striding towards the line of trees.

'Eh?! He has offered you a bouquet?! Isn't that romantic?!' Shunsui exclaimed, cheerily, in my ears. He had got down from the mound too and was standing behind me. 

My face flushed even deeper, if that was even possible.

'However, the problem is that,' he declared, 'normally, we do not offer these flowers to people because of their association with death!'

'EH?!' I uttered, jumping backward to stare at him, with my mouth hanging open, my face going pale.

I- I didn't know about that!

'Many Buddhists plant them on graves to show tribute to the dead! And because they often grow near cemeteries, they are described in Japanese translations of the Lotus Sutra as ominous flowers that grow in hell, which had them for another name, Hell Flowers. Not to forget that some legends tell us that when we see someone that we may never see again, these flowers would bloom along the way!'

All color drained out of my face now and I thought I would faint.

'Gōjun, you're too cruel to play such a practical joke on me!' I whimpered.

'Oh, but I don't think he intended to play a practical joke on you. He does not have enough humor for that, don't you think?' I looked at Shunsui's face again, and he gave me a smile, asserting, 'His action was spontaneous.'

Huh? I blushed again. Does this mean that he really wanted to offer flowers to me? Regardless of their significance?!

'Oi, Gōjun, where are you going?' the reddish-brown-haired young man called at him after that.

'Nature's call!' the latter called back over his shoulder, bluntly, and I flushed up again.

***

Despite the situation in which they were, despite the significance attached to Higanbana bouquets, Shunsui believed that this moment, this place with their presence in it, this night deserved to be immortalized.

He watched the retreating figure of Gōjun for a minute with a smile, before he turned around and took his mobile phone out, lifting it up in the air in order to take a selfie of himself, together with the other young man and the dark-haired girl. He called for their attention, and the moment Gōjun paused down to turn around to look at him and the dark-haired girl was looking in this same direction too- both intrigued- Shunsui pressed the camera icon on his screen, capturing the images of the three of them in the frame, forever capturing this moment.

'Oi, why did you take a picture of us?!' Gōjun groaned, his expression a little perplexed. 

The dark-haired girl was equally bewildered. 

Shunsui only turned around to give them a large, cheery smile, without answering.

'Whatever!' Gōjun muttered, and turning back around again, he went to attend his nature's call. 

When he had returned, in all of sudden, all three of them could hear the sound of a helicopter approaching. And soon, the flying vehicle appeared above their heads. They waved at it to signal it. At last, they were saved!

The helicopter landed close-by, in another glade which was located just a few meters away from this one, but surely, what none of them had expected, especially not Shunsui, was to see Tsubasa Shigeizumi emerge out of the trees, from the flying vehicle, to run for them.

***

I stared at Tsubasa-sama, breathlessly, my heart stirring in my chest.

The helicopter was that of the Zaibatsu. Not only has she mobilized all the resources available to her in order to find us, but she has also accompanied the rescue crew in their search. 

Her hair was disheveled; her clothes all crumbled and covered with mud. She had most obviously spent hours in the rain and her clothes had dried on her.

Tears were gushing down her cheeks, her expression distraught.

'Shunsui!' she cried, running towards him.

The latter, just like Gōjun and I, was astounded to see her and the state in which she had put herself. I could read several different emotions on the reddish-brown-haired young man's face- happiness to see the blonde woman, and guilt for having worried her.

She tripped at one point and lost one of her sandals, but she didn't pause down to pick it up. She continued to run towards Shunsui with her single sandal, to throw herself at his neck.

'Oh my god! Oh my god! I was so scared! So scared!' she wept, frantically, her body shaking with emotions. 

Oh, Tsubasa-sama... 

Shunsui was about to hug her back when, abruptly, I saw his arms freeze in hesitation, the same expression as I had seen on his face on our first day of vacation, that is, during the episode about Tsubasa-sama's favorite dishes, coming to his face- an expression of shame, combined with melancholy. However, it lasted for only a second or two, before he closed his arms around the blonde woman and hugged her deep in his chest, closing his eyes, and telling her how much he's sorry. 

They stayed put like this for a whole minute, before the woman cried out Gōjun's name, together with my own and she jumped at us to take us in her arms equally.

I was so intrigued by Shunsui's behavior- that brief instance of hesitation that he had demonstrated- that I didn't respond immediately to her embrace and simply continued to stare at the reddish-brown-haired young man for a few more seconds.

'Are you alright? Are you not hurt?' Tsubasa-sama asked us, sobbingly, and looking at her head, then, I smiled and told her that we're fine, with a few tears escaping the corner of my eyes, before I sent one of my arms around her to hug her back, just like Gōjun was doing.

Her hug was the hug of a mother. The most beautiful, the most reassuring, the most loving hug of all!

Tsubasa-sama… You're such a touching person!

The woman continued to sob even after we had returned to the ryokan and she continued to sob after we had all taken a bath and a meal and we had explained to her our journey in the mountains. And when we went to sleep, she still had tears in her eyes. 

That night, we all laid our futons very closely to one another, but I was unable to find sleep.

I couldn't stop thinking about that instant of hesitation Shunsui had had in the Higanbana field. The expression of shame and melancholy that had taken over his face for a second.

Ever since our first day on vacation, more specifically, after the episode about Tsubasa-sama's favorite dishes, I had been observing the blonde woman and Shunsui very closely. And I realized that there was a sort of edginess between them. 

It didn't come from Tsubasa-sama. 

No. 

It came from Shunsui. 

I asked myself why I had never noticed it before this and guessed that it was because I had always seen them together when Shunsui was unnerved by the woman's original expressions of love. 

There was something not right between the two of them, an edginess, but I didn't know where it comes from. 

I desperately wanted to ask Shunsui about it.

***

Just like the dark-haired girl, the reddish-brown-haired young man was unable to find sleep that night. He kept thinking about the expression of distraught he had read on his mother's face back there, in the Higanbana field; her distress.

His heart was heavy. He had a lump in his throat.

He wondered how the woman would react when…

He managed to stop himself just in time before he would go down the full line of his thought. It was a subject too painful. Too frightening when he thinks of the blonde woman.

Taking an irregular breath, Shunsui looked down at her. The woman has shifted half-way onto his futon in her sleep now and was clutching at his arm with both her hands, her forehead pressed against his shoulder. 

His heart seemed to weigh a ton.

Slowly, he reached for her head with his other hand to pet it affectionately for a minute, before he rested his cheek over the top of her head and closed his eyes.

Thank you for reading!