Hm… The whole hike took us about three hours. We’re right on schedule. The bus should be coming soon.
I’m so tired…
Kafka, hang in there! We’re having dinner soon!
Yeah, that’s the problem.
I forgot about that… If we leave anything on the plate, the owner might slit our throats.
Glooooom… If he asks for volunteers, I, Fuefuki Yachiyo, will gladly sacrifice myself…
W-Well, it’ll be alright. We’ll have plenty of free time tomorrow, so even if our dinner isn’t the greatest, we can enjoy the local cuisine then…
Oh, I wanted to talk about everyone’s itinerary in my weekly report, so can I ask where everyone’s heading?
Mm, I’m gonna be in Togakushi. I got some business to take care of.
Ten, you’re going to Togakushi…? Well, I get it, you have work to do.
I’m planning on taking a ferry at Lake Suwa for research.
Huh?! You too?!
……
Well, I guess… I don’t mind going on the ferry w-with you…!
Tell me when you’re going, so I can avoid you.
Why are you always like this?! You can handle being on a ferry with me for a few lousy minutes!
What about you, Kafka?
Chief and I are going to Matsumoto Castle! We promised each other to see it together a while ago, right?
Yeah. Where are you headed, Yuki-nii?
…Hakuba… But I wanted to spend the day with you.
That’s where they held the Winter Olympics, right?
Right. I’m going to the ski jumping stadium. I was hoping I could get some inspiration there for the tour and for my competitions…
That sounds like a great idea!
Yeah, but…
……
They light up Matsumoto Castle at night.
…?
I’m probably going straight to bed after dinner tomorrow to preserve my stamina. If the two of you still have energy by then, how about you go there with Chief?
…!
…Are you sure? You usually wouldn’t want the two of us to be alone together…
Well I’m gonna have Chief all to myself for most of the day anyway. I don’t mind giving you that little sliver of time. But only if he wants to go with you!
Kafka… My dear little brother… I’m so happy.
Again, I have no recollection of us being brothers.
(Kafka… He’s probably trying to thank Yuki-nii for helping him today since he was able to keep walking with us. He just can’t be honest about it…)
(We ran into a little bit of trouble, but I’m glad we came to Kamikochi!)
Wow, the castle’s pretty during the day, but it’s so magical at night!
It’s really cool. I’m glad I got to see it.
Kafka was having so much fun this afternoon! Getting to see castles really makes you excited.
Apparently, it’s considered a National Treasure since it’s the oldest castle still standing with five external floors and six internal stories. The contrast between the black and white parts of the wall is really eye-catching. I also heard that they covered the wood flooring with black lacquer to make it waterproof…
I see. You sure know a lot.
Ah, I went into tour guide mode… That’s kind of embarrassing, I’m sorry.
Don’t be, I like that about you.
You’re always pampering me like that… Oh, look, you can see the castle reflected on the moat! It’s so pretty!
……
……
Yuki-nii, is there something on your mind?
…You could tell?
Yeah. You’ve been thinking about something ever since we got here, right? Does it have to do with the reason why you wanted to go to Nagano?
…I can never hide anything from you…
To tell you the truth… My dad told me he wanted to quit being my coach and that he’s found a new one for me from overseas.
Huh, is that… Is that because you confronted him that one time? You talked about wanting to change how you practice.
…That might be part of it, but not the main reason. My dad seems to think that he can’t teach me expressiveness.
……
When he was still competing, he would always do programs with a lot of difficult jumps, but he could never improve his performance scores. His skating style is one that mainly focuses on jumps.
He wanted to respect my goals for my own style and found a new coach for me, but…
Are you okay with Uncle Sadayuki quitting, Yuki-nii?
I’m…not sure. I’ve been hung up over it. I don’t know what I want.
I don’t know what kind of sights I want to see, and who I want to see them with…
But when I saw how determined Kafka was to see Taisho Pond with you on this trip… I remembered something.
…What was it?
The day I landed my first axel.
Do you remember it too?