Chapter Ninety: Saori Amamiya’s Plan—Tonight, It Will Surely Work!

After a round of frolicking, the three of them washed up and went to bed one after another near ten o’clock.

Night fell.

Half-asleep, An He suddenly felt a small hand touch his lower abdomen, with a clear intention of wandering farther down.

Too drowsy to react, and assuming it was Saori Amamiya, he did not stop it.

Not until...

The following morning.

Waking from sleep, An He sat up, yawned, and rubbed his eyes as he looked around.

He did not see Saori Amamiya anywhere. Only Sagiri Amamiya was seated by the balcony, combing her hair.

"Where’s Saori?"

As he spoke, An He got up, walked over to Sagiri, and sat beside her, slipping an arm around her slender waist from behind.

"She went out shopping. She should be back soon."

Sagiri answered casually.

An He took the wooden comb from her hand and, while helping smooth her hair, teased, "Sagiri was amazing last night."

"Hm?"

Sagiri turned in confusion, her eyes full of blank curiosity. "Did I do something last night?"

At her words, An He first froze, then realized a certain possibility. His expression grew strange, and the words he had been about to say were swallowed back down.

...

By the time Saori returned, it was nearly ten in the morning.

The girl had bought a lot of things nearby: clothes, shoes, even a pile of useless toys. Quite a few of them were gifts for the two of them.

What made An He wary, however, was that ever since Saori came back, she had not dared to meet his eyes. Even when their gazes occasionally met, she would quickly look away.

This only made him more certain of his guess.

The thief from last night was her!

"So it is. Since you already have leverage over her, why not use it to threaten her? Saori Amamiya surely would not want anyone to know what she did. Conveniently enough, she secretly picked up that package of umbrellas you threw away last night..."

"???"

The sudden narration left An He mentally drawing three question marks, one by one.

...

After a simple breakfast, the three of them sat together in the living room to arrange the day’s plans.

"Shall we start climbing the mountain now?" Saori Amamiya was eager.

Freed from her lady-of-the-house airs, she had become much more lively and outgoing. At the very least, An He could often see a smile on her face now, and it was not a fake one.

After thinking it over, An He shook his head.

"It’s too late today. Even if we started climbing now, it would be almost noon by the time we got up there. Let’s do it tomorrow. If we rise early, we might still catch the sunrise."

"Aww..."

Saori gave a disappointed hum.

She had visited Mount Fuji many times already, and had practically seen everything around it. Only the mountain itself, because her parents had previously worried about safety, had never been allowed to climb.

Still, seeing that her older sister seemed interested, Saori said nothing more. Instead, she thumped her chest and said excitedly, "Then let’s go to Lake Yamanaka today. There are lots of sports facilities by the shore there. We can play tennis, go water skiing, fish, camp, and even row boats."

An He turned to Sagiri. When she noticed him looking, she waved a hand and smiled lightly. "I’m not familiar with this place, so I’ll follow your lead."

Unlike An He and Saori, this was Sagiri Amamiya’s first time leaving Tokyo, so her knowledge of Mount Fuji was limited to what she had read.

Hearing that, An He nodded, then fished out a map of the Mount Fuji area from his travel bag.

"All right. Today we’ll go to Lake Yamanaka first. This afternoon we’ll have a picnic by the lake, and tonight we’ll camp together. Tomorrow morning, we’ll watch the sunrise!"

"And a shrine!" Saori added, raising her hand. "There are lots of shrines around Lake Yamanaka, the kind said to bless girls."

"Sure."

An He smiled and agreed.

After that, the three discussed a few more details before returning to their respective rooms to pack.

When they came out again, they were all wearing thick down jackets.

Saori’s was black and white. Since she was only a little over five feet tall, the oversized coat reached her knees, making her look rather like a plump penguin.

Perhaps she noticed it herself, for her little face was flushed pink with embarrassment, making her look especially adorable.

Unlike Saori, Sagiri had chosen a pale yellow down jacket. Her nearly five-foot-seven height displayed her long legs to perfection.

"Beautiful!" An He praised sincerely. He looked back and forth between the sisters for a moment before finally settling without hesitation on Sagiri.

There was no helping it. Her figure was so gifted that even wrapped in a thick down jacket, it was impossible to hide the outrageous curves of her chest.

As the saying went, there is no harm without comparison. By contrast, the already meager Saori looked even more pitiful, even though she had deliberately stuffed a little extra into her clothes to make her chest seem barely like an A-cup.

Perhaps sensing his gaze, Saori looked away a little guiltily.

This morning before leaving, she had even bought two buns—but not for eating...

An He did not expose her. Instead, he clapped his hands. When the two sisters looked over, he took two scarves from the travel bag and handed them out.

"Put them on. It’s cold by the lake."

"Thank you."

Saori reached out to take hers, but the corner of her eye caught her sister not moving. Her hand, which had just lifted, suddenly pulled back as if by some unseen force.

"What’s wrong?" An He asked in confusion.

Seeing Sagiri blink at him, he seemed to understand something and immediately showed a look of realization.

With a soft laugh, he stepped forward and wrapped the red scarf around Sagiri’s neck. She lowered her head very cooperatively.

After tying it, An He turned to Saori beside him.

Having witnessed everything, Saori’s eyes were full of expectation. When An He looked her way, she lowered her head, her pretty face flushed scarlet.

But after waiting a long while, she felt no soft touch around her neck.

Looking up in confusion, she found the room already empty. Faint laughter could still be heard from the hallway outside.

Standing there in a daze for a moment, Saori finally reacted, her little face flushing with anger.

She stomped hard and hurried after them. Turning her head, she saw the two familiar figures crouched by the entrance, changing their shoes.

"You bastard!"

Still speaking, Saori hurried toward them. When she got close, she lifted her bare foot and kicked at An He.

What she never expected was that An He seemed to have eyes on his back. Without even looking, he sidestepped just in time to avoid the blow.

Because of her momentum, Saori could not stop in time. Her foot kicked forward instead, and with a thud she landed flat on the floor in a split.

"Yikes..."

An He sucked in a breath at the sight.

If he had taken that hit, his little brother would probably have declared bankruptcy on the spot. Yet Saori seemed as though nothing had happened. She clapped her hands and stood right back up.

Noticing his stunned gaze, Saori, who had been about to keep complaining, lifted her chin in smug pride and said, "Hmph. I’ve actually studied dance before."

"Impressive!"

An He gave her a thumbs-up, then turned to look at Sagiri beside her.

When she noticed him looking, perhaps recalling something, her pretty face went faintly red, and she shook her head furiously like a rattle drum.

Seeing that, before An He could say anything, the narration in his mind spoke first.

"What a pity. If Sagiri Amamiya could make such a pose too, life from now on would surely become a lot more interesting. But since Saori Amamiya can..."

As the narration ended, An He seemed to see a series of images in his mind, all showing Saori Amamiya making one difficult pose after another.

Saori shivered for no reason at all, feeling as if she had been watched by something unclean.

She looked around suspiciously, but saw nothing strange.

If there was anything at all, it was that the root of her thigh hurt a little.

Seeing that An He and the others were not paying attention to her, Saori quickly crouched down, turned away, and while gritting her teeth, put on her shoes.

She had learned dance, but that was back in elementary school.

After so many years, doing those movements again was somewhat difficult. The reason she had not shown it was only to preserve the last shred of dignity she had left in front of An He and her sister.

After all, failing to ambush someone and then falling flat on her face was, in any case, rather humiliating...

Once everyone was dressed, the three of them left the hotel together.

The damp, fresh air, carrying the winter wind, struck their faces, and Saori could not help shivering.

Seeing this, An He wrapped the remaining scarf around her.

"I knew you wouldn’t forget me, heh."

Saori fiddled with the pink scarf around her neck like a child with a new toy.

He had bought it on the way here. As for his own, it was white; paired with his all-black down jacket, it actually looked rather well matched.

"All right."

An He pulled Saori’s hood up and, ignoring her protests, adjusted it a little before turning to Sagiri and suggesting, "Lake Yamanaka is about half an hour away by train. Why don’t we take the tram? We can circle around Mount Fuji and enjoy the scenery along the way."

"Whatever you want."

Sagiri answered with a smile, and Saori raised a hand in agreement.

"I’m fine with anything!"

Seeing that, An He nodded, took another look at the map, confirmed the direction, and held out a hand to Sagiri.

"Then let’s go. There’s a tram station nearby."

"Mm."

Sagiri took his arm, and Saori followed suit, though she did not dare loop hers around An He’s. Instead, she linked arms with Sagiri’s other arm.

The three of them walked side by side, and in less than a few minutes they reached the station An He had mentioned.

Compared with the stations in Tokyo, this one was clearly much older. There were no overworked office drones in uniforms here, only travelers like the three of them, or local residents.

After waiting a short while, the tram arrived. The three boarded in order and found seats.

As the tram moved, Mount Fuji, which had earlier been obscured by the angle, gradually came into full view beyond the window.

Like a giant horn turned upside down against the heavens, Mount Fuji now revealed its true face.

Awe-inspiring. Magnificent.

Snow like fine silk, mist like a handle; a white fan hangs inverted by the eastern sea.

The line of poetry came unbidden to An He’s mind, and he could not help but smile.

He had already been here twice before, so upon seeing the scene again, he felt only that it was beautiful, nothing more.

By contrast, Sagiri, seeing it with her own eyes for the first time, was already utterly captivated by the view outside the window.

Even Saori, who had earlier boasted about having come to Mount Fuji many times, no longer said a word. She clung to the window, staring dumbly outside.

After about half an hour, the tram arrived in Yamanashi Prefecture.

The moment they got off, Saori eagerly grabbed An He and said with shining eyes, "Can we go climb Mount Fuji right now?"

"No chance."

An He rubbed her head hard.

This girl was obviously only excited because she had seen it from the train and had made the suggestion on a whim.

Although An He was also looking forward to climbing Mount Fuji, he did not plan to do it now, considering that Sagiri was still on her period these days.

At the very least, he would wait until that was over. In any case, it would only be a few more days.

"If we can’t, then we can’t. Why do you have to mess up my hair too!"

Saori puffed up in mild frustration, glaring at An He with obvious dissatisfaction.

"Enough."

Sagiri came to smooth things over. She first tidied Saori’s messy hair, then looked at An He and asked, "What do we do next?"

"Let’s go to Lake Yamanaka first. There are lots of places around there that rent camping gear. We can set up the tent before anything else."

As he spoke, An He led the way out of the station.

The three of them first wandered around nearby, bought some local snacks and ingredients needed for the afternoon picnic, then took a taxi to Lake Yamanaka.

As the largest and highest of the lakes beneath Mount Fuji, Lake Yamanaka was also known as the Lake of Swans. Even in winter, there were still quite a few visitors along the shore.

Standing by the lakeside and gazing at the tranquil water, Saori could not help putting her hands on her hips with a proud air.

"Well? Pretty good here, right?"

As the one among them who had been to Lake Yamanaka the most, she had taken on the role of guide. The spot they were currently in was a shallow bank on the eastern side of the lake.

Behind them was a dense forest, and around them there was no sign of habitation. It was an ideal place for camping.

"Nice."

An He gave a satisfied thumbs-up, and Sagiri nodded along. "It really is quite good."

Seeing that both of them said so, Saori’s eyes lit up with excitement.

"In that case, let’s camp here!"

"Then this is the place."

As he spoke, An He set down the travel bag on his back and stretched.

"Yay!"

Saori cheered.

This would be her first camping experience in her entire life, and it was with her sister and An He!

Thinking of that, Saori could not help glancing toward the figure not far away, rummaging through the travel bag.

The words her sister had said to her before the hot spring bath yesterday still seemed to echo in her ears.

Subconsciously, she touched her pocket.

Inside was a package of umbrellas—the very one Sagiri had "accidentally dropped" last night, which An He had picked up and then thrown away.

Noticing her gaze, An He, who was tidying up their things, looked up. Seeing Saori staring at him and grinning foolishly, he raised an eyebrow, then scooped up a snowball and threw it at her.

"Ouch!"

Struck suddenly on the head, Saori snapped out of it and cried out in reflex, clutching her head and about to protest, when she saw An He wave her over.

"Stop grinning like an idiot over there. Come help me pitch the tent."

Hearing that, the "baka" already on Saori’s lips was instantly swallowed back down. Her face broke into a bright smile, and she said excitedly, "Coming!"

Running toward An He, Saori silently cheered herself on.

"Come on, Saori Amamiya. Tonight has to work out! You can do it!"

First update

End of chapter