Everyone looks tired from running. Let’s take a break.
(*pant, pant* Yuki-nii didn’t even break a sweat… That’s a pro athlete for you.)
I’m gonna…take a seat here… Phew…
I might throw up… Urggh…
*pant, pant* We… We lost the bear, right?
Wait, what? Liguang isn’t here!
Oh, you’re right.
D-Did Boss get eaten by the bear?!
There’s no way! W-What do we do? I should’ve put some bells on him…!!
*rustling*
Hyah! Did the bear find us?!
Ook?
…A monkey? Th-Then was that just…
It’s the same monkey we saw earlier.
That’s why I said this is ridiculous.
Wh… Liguang, you’re finally here! Did you walk the entire way?!
You didn’t get eaten… That’s good…
Why on earth would a monkey eat me?
Hey, Yachiyo! It wasn’t even a bear!
I-I was wrong?! I-I’m so sorryyyyyy!! I can only atone with my death… I need a bear to eat me!!
Ah, no, I didn’t mean to put all of the blame on you…! I started running too… Sorry…
Well, it’s good that it was a false alarm. Chief, you bought a bunch of snacks from the store back there, right? We should eat some of them.
Oh, yeah! I got some oyaki and kappa-yaki,1 so everyone can have some.
Here, everyone take your pick!
Local oyaki… There are a lot of different fillings… Turnip greens and eggplant… Even white radish.
Th-The kappa-yaki is so cuuuute… I know beggars can’t be choosers, but can I have that one?
Can I take one too? …Mm.
I-It’s so good…! What’s in this thing?! It tastes homemade…
(The kappa-yaki tastes great too…! Eating out in nature like this makes everything feel extra special.)
……
Kafka, do you wanna try the eggplant one?
…Huh? Oh, sure. It’s great. I’m really looking forward to dinner tonight, by the way. What were we having again?
Yachiyo-kun made a reservation for us somewhere. Since we’re in Nagano… Maybe it’s a soba place?
Heheh… You expect too little of me, Chief. Our reservation’s for a restaurant called M’Nagano, where they have not just soba, but also horse-meat sashimi and sanzoku-yaki,2 too!
They have all of that?!
Says on Grublog3 that M’Nagano has a 0.01-star rating.
Huh?!
Looking at the restaurant’s website… The owner seems to be quite eccentric.
(O-Oh, yeah… He’s wearing a towel as a headband and cutting mincemeat with a giant knife… And it’s covered in blood… It says “Only fellas who can savor m’flavor are welcome here…”)
Y-Yikes… Are we really gonna be eating here? I haven’t been to such a…wild place ever since the Nishizonos took me in, so…
It says “No same-day cancellations. If you do so, I will chase you until the ends of the earth.”
…I guess we gotta go.
H-hyahhhh, I’msorryI’msorry!! I-I think a demon must have possessed me and forced me to make this reservation! I promise I’ll get it exorcized next tiiiiime!!
Haha… I’m glad we looked them up. But that aside, should we get going now?
…Yeah! We should get outta here before any bears show up!
……
(Hm? What’s going on with Kafka…?)
……
Kafka, I’m going to take off your shoes and socks.
……
…! Kafka, you have a cut on your ankle! When did you… Wait, did you get it when you tripped?
…! Won’t it be hard for him to walk? If he does, his shoe will keep rubbing against it.
…Now’s the time to turn back if we need to. We haven’t walked that far yet.
It’s because I ran off… I’m sorry, Kafka…
Stop, it isn’t all that bad. I can still walk. Could you let go of my leg now, Yukikaze?
…No.
!
Let…go!
…Yachiyo, can you hand me a water bottle?
Eh, uh, o-okay!
……Tsk.
*water pouring*
Does it sting? Sorry, you’ll have to bear with the pain for a bit.
The cut isn’t too deep, so applying some pressure on the clean wound should stop the bleeding. A bandage will prevent it from drying out, so it’ll heal quicker. I just need to wrap it well so it doesn’t slip off…
…What’s up with these bandaids and the tape? They have some weird mascot printed all over them.
Ah, is that the limited-time merch from mascot idol Chiimon?!?! S-So cute…!
You know them? These were souvenirs I got from Chihiro when he went to Beppu. I’m glad I brought them just in case.
They look cute, but they also work well… Done. Let me know if the bandage falls off. You should be able to walk now.
……
Alright, we’re all ready to go.
(Yuki-nii… I didn’t expect that. I thought he would forbid Kafka from continuing…)
…Are you worried about Kafka, Chief?
Ah, yeah… He got hurt, after all.
He’ll be alright. He should be able to make it to Taisho Pond. If anything happens, I’ll carry him.
I never asked you to do that. I have no intention of letting you carry me.
Okay, let’s go! Chief! Let’s try and be the first ones there!
…Hah, go ahead.
…!
(Yuki-nii really believes in Kafka now… That makes me happy!)
We made it to Taisho Pond! Wooow… It’s gorgeous! This is amazing…
You can see the mountains reflected in the water… Woah…
Everything around us is huge… I’m getting kind of emotional…
Yeah, really makes you feel connected to nature.
Kamikochi… Some people call it “the land where gods descend.”4 The view suits that name.
Does that mean God’s here right now?! I need to make a wish… No more debt, no more debt… Muttermuttermutter…
(I’m glad to see that everyone’s enjoying the destination I chose.)
(Especially Chief and Kafka…)
Kafka, you did so well. All of that training paid off.
Stop, I’m not a kindergartener. You know that I always do things once I put my mind to them.
Yeah, but… It almost feels like a dream to be here with you… We only ever saw each other in the hospital for the longest time.
…I feel the same.
I’ve always wanted to walk with you and see sights like this,
Heheh, I’m glad I told you about all of those scenic spots!
…Will you come with me to see all of them too?
Of course! Let’s go to every single one!
Those two are off in their own little world. You okay with that, Yukikaze-san?
Hm? Well, yeah. This is what Kafka wanted. I’m happy for him.
Yeah, it’s really nice to set a goal and end up learning how to do things you couldn’t do before!
I don’t think you’d ever do the learning part.
Whazzat?!
(Doing things you couldn’t do before…)
It’s alright! Be brave and jump!
I know you can do it. Even if you don’t believe in yourself, I’ll always believe in you. Because you’re my…
…Dad…
Footnotes
-
Both of these are Nagano specialties. Oyaki are roasted dumplings that are filled with a variety of things from red bean past to vegetables. Kappa-yaki are just like taiyaki, but in the shape of a kappa head. They’re famous as a Kamikochi offering. ↩
-
A large piece of fried teriyaki chicken, another Nagano specialty. ↩
-
A parody of the popular Japanese resturant review site 食べログ (Tablog). ↩
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Kamikochi is usually written as 上高地, but some people nickname it 神降地. It’s read the same way, but the meaning of the kanji in the nickname literally means “place were gods descend.” ↩