TWENTY-TWO

Scarlet Sapphira sat on her heels on the balcony, inhaling the cool and fresh Spring breeze as the vapour evaporated from the macha tea in her hand.

She took a sip of it when she felt a warm breath on her neck, as lips were gently placed on it.

She gasped and looked back at Amane, who gently held her from behind and said,"I'm sorry, I couldn't control myself..."Then smirked.

She looked away as a cherry blossom fell into her tea, sending ripples through it.

He put his cup into her hand and said,"It's too delicious for you now..."

She thanked him then looked down the greening landscape...then realized what he just said and chased after him all around the room as he parkoured over the furniture to get away from her with an annoyingly perfect laugh.

After Scarlet Sapphira had pinned him down and snatched her own beverage, she sat down in the middle of the room to savour the cooling drink, till he snatched it one more time, then ran to the window.

She chased after again, and saw the rare and stunning Spring Red Fuji phenomenon take place, Amane kissed her hair as a reference, then walked back in and out of his room with denims and a tank top neatly folded between his arms.

Scarlet Sapphira asked the reason and he said,"We're going out, you might need to pack some extra clothes as well."

She hugged him for joy, then slowly pulled back after they had both tensed, then looked away, flustered.

By the lake Kawaguchi, white swans slowly floated downstream, communicating in their own unheard of language.

Scarlet Sapphira slowly walked across the sands of the beach, till Amane grabbed her from behind and pulled her to the ground.

The two laughed as they fell, then faced each other, her cerulean blue eyes into his hazel, then he booped her nose and ran off...

Walking below a grove of wisterias in bloom, as cherry petals slowly rained through the open canopy, Amane took one flower and put it into Scarlet Sapphira's hair as she brushed some from her face, then he took her hand and led the way...

Running through endless fields of lavender, Fuji thistles and moss phlox, they reached the shores of lake Yamanakako, from where, the cloudless views of the mountain were breathtaking.

After windsurfing for a while, he took her to a traditional site where tourists were being allowed to fish for their own ' wakasaji '.

Holding the fishing line from behind her, he continually kissed her neck and she told him to stop though it was obvious she wanted him to continue, till he did stop and she frowned at him, got distracted by punching him and dropped the line.

He was going to get another one when he heard a loud splash.

He yelled her name and ran to the hole in the ice, but could see nothing in the pitch black of waters below.

Hyperventilating, he was about to go and get help till she resurfaced, honestly confused as to what he was doing till she brought out the line and dozens of fish she had caught, then asked,"Who's hungry?!"

All the people who hadn't caught a thing in more than thirty minutes began to cheer as Amane let out a sigh of honest relief.

She also realized that he didn't take something alcoholic when they were eating their meal and when asked, he said,"If you can't, I won't."

She wanted to persuade him but decided not to, she wasn't manipulating anyone again, especially not him, perfect smile told her everything would be fine, but the look she gave back showed that she felt she was holding him back...

He then took her to the village ' Oshino Hakkai ', from where she saw the crystal clear ponds, made of glacial meltwater naturally filtered by the porous volcanic rock over decades, from the clearest views of the ' Kagami- Ike ' to the largest borders of the ' Daguchi- Ike '.

He kissed her neck from behind on the walkway to the only artificial pond, as the miniature man-made cascade bubbled silently and passersby had to take a peek or two.

She bent down and ran her fingers through the cool waters of the ' Naka- Ike ' as Amane looked at her and fetched some in the hollow on his palm, then drank it.

She looked at him and asked,"Are you sure that's allowed?"

"If drinking some of the potable water isn't allowed, then placing your hands from who knows where into the meticulously filtered pond definitely isn't..."

All the people around suddenly disappeared as he placed an arm over her shoulder and said,"It's perfectly allowed..."

Then shoved her in from the back.

She struggled to swim as he asked if she liked it in there and she begged him for help, but he knew she was pretending, even when she sank, she was pretending...right?

He squatted and called her then an arm arose from the depths and dragged him in as well then she also forced his head down for fifteen seconds before letting him surface and asking,"Did you like it in there?"

He spat out some water with a frown, then smirked...

After they had been fined and kicked out, the went to the ' Hannoki Bayashi Shiryokan ' museum, where Scarlet Sapphira was fascinated by all the ancient culture of commoners and Samurai alike.

He realized this and bought a legit katana for her from a black smith.

She ran her fingers over the blunt edge of the sword and looked at the inscriptions that shimmered at the bottom of the blade, before she could ask, he asked,"I thought you could speak Japanese."

"Only the little that I learned in telenovelas and action movies."

He smiled and slowly pushed it down, looking into her eyes, he said,"Courage, strength and most of all, honesty..."

She looked away, flustered, till he burst out laughing and said,"Just kidding, it shows the date, time and place it was made, and the blacksmith's name."

She punched his shoulder then put the sword back in the sheath and walked with him as they went out, greeted by the noon sun.

He looked around, then at the mountain which stood afar and said,"I have one more place for us to go, but we will take detours."

She smiled as he had just fluently spoke her language...

***

Walking through an orchard of grapes, kiwis and persimmons, Scarlet Sapphira saw an array of cherry trees, overlooking the upside down Fuji over the Northern shores of Yamanakako.

Amane went to one of the farmers, placed a huge bunch of money in his hand and whispered something into his ear, pointing towards Scarlet Sapphira.

The man nodded then bowed to him, which he returned as a sign of respect...