Stop and Enjoy the View

With such a great breakfast on this wonderful morning. Erina felt like nothing could go wrong today. Arata, on the other hand, could barely enjoy this breakfast. For some reason, he just couldn't calm himself down.

"Yum." She said. "Thank you for the food." She told this to everyone. Mainly Asazuku because she was the one paying for all this.

"Oh, it's my pleasure." This was nothing for her, it's not like she had much to spend money on these days.

"Okay then." Hine got the group to focus yet again. "Arata, what's first on our agenda?" She had told him what they had planned to do. Being responsible, he had already written everything down.

"Looks like we've got some sights to check out." A bit of an odd thing to do, he thought. After all, if this was an annual trip. They should've already seen all there was to see. Perhaps these were some really nice vistas or something.

"Awesome, good thing I brought my camera with me." said Erina.

"Yeah, it'll be nice to share with the others."

Wait a second… When did she get her camera? She couldn't have gotten it from her room because they went straight to the elders when he asked her. That means she had it when he woke her up…

"Hold on. Why do you have your camera?" He questioned her.

"Well I just so happen to carry it with me everywhere I go." She pulled it out of her bag. "You never know when a photo opportunity comes up."

"You were going to take pictures of Yogi last night, weren't you." He spoke directly.

"Fine you caught me." She admitted it. "Oh, it just would've been so cute to see him sleeping." It had been so long since she found a good opportunity to capture an image of him. Him sleeping in a new bed with another boy would have been an interesting add to her collection.

"You're right, she really is crazy." Gouzaburou quietly whispered to Hine.

"Okay, whatever." He tried to disregard the idea of someone taking pictures of some boy near him while he was sleeping. The only good thing that he could take from that was that it wasn't of him. "We should get going before it's too late."

They departed from the shop, walking to their next destination. The first part of this little trip was fairly short. According to his notes, they had to go here first before they could see any of the sights that were planned.

This first stop was of a station, with a row of taxis that are pulled by people for transport lined up. Arata had only ever seen them fiction, but now he was about to ride one in real life. Or at least, that's what he thought.

"No way, we get to ride one of these?" He asked Hine in excitement.

"Of course." She answered. "This is one of those tour rides, oh you just have to see the views you can get here." The others were looking forward to this as well. There was just one little problem.

"Oh I'm so sorry." The attendant at the booth told them. Our cabbie has just called in sick, so we don't have anyone that can give you a tour." That was disappointing to say the least. Arata was feeling bad that this wasn't going as planned.

"Say." Asazuku came up with something. "I remember you allowed tourists to take their own rides. Is that not still available?"

"Oh, we absolutely still do that. It's just that I didn't expect that a group of elderly and their grandchildren to want that." She answered.

"No, that's perfect." Gouzaburou wrapped his arm over Arata. "This young man can carry all through this tour."

"I can?"

"Of course, a strong growing boy like you. Plus you had a pretty big breakfast."

"I-I don't know if that's how it works." He wasn't looking forward to lugging around one of these with all of them on it. Especially since this tour was to get to the top of this hill, which was starting to look more like a mountain.

His protests fell on deaf ears. Their taxi was now paid for and set up for their tour.

"Well, I guess you can help, Erina." There was no way he was going to do this on his own. He brought her along for a reason, it was time use her.

"For shame." Asazuku scolded him.

"What's wrong?"

"For shame that you'd expect a lady to do this heavy labor that you could easily do yourself."

"I'm just asking her for help? It's not like she's doing all the work."

"Ah, I'm sure you got this on your own." Said Gousaburou. "After all, we made sure you had a nice meal beforehand." It was almost like they had planned this, even if they shouldn't have had any way of knowing.

"Okay fine, everyone just get on." He relented. After all, he was in charge…

Picking up the handle, he started them off on their journey. Pulling five people was easier than it sounded at first. He figured that he had overestimated how heavy they all were combined. Unfortunately, this slope was giving him more trouble.

"Wow…" Erina was really enjoying the view. Snapping pictures with her camera. She never thought to see such gorgeous views in her life.

"You sound like you're having fun." Arata commented. He, on the other hand, was having to do more physical labor than one would do during a vacation.

"Yep. I can't wait to show Yogi this."

"Say." Monju was curious. "What's up with this stuff with that Yogi boy anyway?"

"I just love him so much..." Erina was going to on another one of her tangents. After all this time, Arata was used to this by now. Nowadays he just tuned it out.

Now she was showing off her pictures to them of him. This girl had no shame whatsoever. The more stunning fact was that the elders were enjoying this.

"I have to say, you take some rather beautiful photos." Hine complimented her. One in particular caught her eye. It was one of Arata and Yogi in class together. The smile he had on him, it wasn't very often that she'd see that.

As this was going on, Arata was staying focused on the road ahead. There was still a fair amount left to go until they reached the top. He was dreading what was going to meet them once they got to their destination.

"Hey, Arata." Hine called out to get his attention.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to you all, did I miss something important?"

"Important? You're pretty much missing out on everything!" She could tell by the way he was walking, that he wasn't looking at anything other than their path. That was no way to enjoy this trip.

"Well I don't want to get off this path." He was concerned that if he had gotten lost, that things would really be troubling for all of them.

"Then you're free to stop if you want." Said Asazuku. We've really got all day. That may be how they felt, but he was still thinking about the others. He had plans with them as well. Could he really just take a break right here?

"Yeah, I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if we were a little late." Erina told him. That was unexpected, since she didn't even want to go with him here in the first place. If she was going to say that, then he was going to do it then.

"All right then, I guess I can stop for a moment." He gently put down the handle, making sure not to jostle it too much for them. Arata gave himself a good stretching for his muscle.

"So are you enjoying the view?" Hine asked.

"The view?" He turned his attention to what they could see from their location. He was absolutely stunned to see the entire town from up here. With the way the sun lit the place, it was almost magical. "I don't believe it." He was rendered speechless.

"I'll take that as a yes." She smiled at him. "You know, we've actually seen this for a while now." She told him, knowing that his attention was put elsewhere.

"Typical teens, never knowing what they've got right in front of them." Monju ranted.

"What she means to say is that you should probably take a look at whats' around you. You never really know what you have in life, until you take the time to see it." Hine explained.

"Really…" He replied, soaking in more of this view. While she might be talking about this view for now. He knew what she was getting at. The way he lived his life, that was what she was taking aim at.

"I know, the two of you should take a photo, so we can show this to the others."

"Okay-"

"I'll take it, just go and stand by Arata, would you." Hine told her. Erina listened, walking over to him. "Come you two, really smile for me."

He struggled to do it at first. Standing next to his blackmailer, it felt odd having some type of moment. Erina was feeling the same way, she just wasn't sure where he stood with her, given their situation.

"Like I said, give me your best smiles." He was trying to think of a moment that made him really happen. Probably because he was standing next to her, he remembered something. That day when they learned how to dance, doing it blindfolded. There was something about the way they connect then that made him really glow.

In Erina's head, she tried to think of Yogi. That boy never failed to make her smile. Yet, something else came to her. That night, when they were walking home from the hospital. The way Arata made her feel, it was something that she never felt before.

"Perfect." Hine snapped the picture. Immortalizing this moment. "the two of you… You really have such beautiful smiles."

"Oh, gee thanks." Erina said, getting her camera back to see how it turned out. She knew that once she got home, this was the first to be printed out.

"Well everyone, let's get back on and finish this little tour." He didn't know why, but he felt a sudden jolt of energy inside him. It felt like he could pull a taxi with a hundred people in it.

With his newfound strength, he had them up to the top in no time. However he failed to properly pace himself, as once he got there. Arata plopped right onto the ground.

He could hardly pick himself back up. That burst of energy was probably just the excitement of his moment earlier. Gousaburou picked him up, for at the top of this hill was their next destination. One that Arata was going to enjoy a lot.

"A spa?" He spoke from what he could barely see from over Gousaburou's shoulder.

"Yep, not that many people go here. It's pretty exclusive for people that take that ride up here." He explained to him. Placing Arata back down to the ground.

"Really?! That's gonna make everything I've done to get here all worth it." Now this was what he was looking for. A nice little relaxing spa, the nice steam on his skin. Getting that nice clean feeling from a deep wash.

He was so excited for this, he ran in, leaving the others behind. Erina herself was also looking forward to this, seeing as she hadn't taken a shower since they got here. This was going to be a good chance to get herself proper for Yogi.

"I see you left some details out about this place." Asazuku was talking with Gousaburou as she paid for their spa package.

"Come on, don't you see how happy they were. I didn't want to ruin their excitement." He told her, nonchalantly.

"They should be acting like adults at this point. I don't see what the big deal is." Said Monju.

"Oh I think this will be fun to watch." Hine finished, as they all laughed about it.