Author's note: Thanks for your patience everyone – this arc has taken a bit longer to get going than usual, and this chapter is a bit shorter than usual in order to appropriately pace the action. As I publish this, Season 3 is coming out in a few hours; let us hope that it will be a suitable adaptation of the last three volumes of the series. Thank you as always for your kind and helpful feedback! In particular, I'm really enjoying the analysis that An Average Writer is providing in the reviews. I will definitely keep your insights in mind as I continue to shape this story. Without further ado, back to a small town near the base of Mt. Fuji…

As the hotel staff member opened the door to reveal our room at Yama no Chaya, I was so dumbfounded that my reaction was delayed by at least ten seconds. In one corner of the space lay a bed with plump covers. Along the walls were understated but elegant articles of furniture including a small dresser and media console upon which a television stood.

Through the sliding window at the far end of a room, I could just make out a private bath for two people. At that moment, I realized that I should have not slacked off on researching the details of the hotel in which we would stay. I pushed the thought of what we would do about the bath to the back of my mind.

Glancing over at Yukinoshita, I sensed that she had come to similar conclusions as I had. She gave me a bashful look before turning to the staff member with a small bow and words of thanks. It would surely take us some time to process the stage that our relationship had reached. With this level of commitment, we were surely like a motor that only needed a pull of a cord to turn over, thenceforth capable of running mostly unaided.

"Let's unpack our things and get settled in." Yukinoshita's voice snapped me back to reality.

"Yes, sure."

After using the bathroom, I set down my suitcase and began to methodically remove items of immediate relevance. Included among these was Yukinoshita's gift to me – the fancy mirrorless camera. I was eager to explore the area and sensed that she felt the same way – as such, I tried to waste as little time as I could on this mundane procedure. Although it would mean that we'd need to do some more organization later, the sun wasn't going to stay up forever. And in any case, we were overdue for a meal.

We steadily made our way out of the hotel and out into a beautiful scene of rustling trees and a babbling brook. As we walked along the way, our hands brushed against each other – a friction-derived force suggesting that we should clasp them. Such public displays of affection would once have been inconceivable to someone like me, but with Yukinoshita they felt surprisingly natural.

Our soba noodles arrived with a pleasant presentation, steaming in their small bowls. We were sitting in a small shop stood on a hillside just beyond the hotel. We eagerly dug in; I glanced over at Yukinoshita, who seemed to be handling the mild spice of the noodles with remarkable aplomb and determination. I hoped that this represented a true change in her tolerance for these kinds of noodles since our ramen outing in Kyoto [1] and not her merely tolerating the situation for my sake. Even as her cheeks turned slightly red, she seemed determined to finish her noodles.

"Are you having a good time here so far?"

Yukinoshita looked up at me and emphatically nodded in response, her mouth full. She seemed happier and more liberated than I had ever seen her before. Considering how far we were removed from her family, perhaps this wasn't a surprising outcome. I couldn't help but smile.

After lunch, we strolled around the surrounding area. Common sense dictated that this would be an appropriate time to have a deep and uncommonly insightful conversation, but in recent days we had had more than our fair share of those so we tacitly elected to enjoy each other's silent company for the time being. The early afternoon air carried with it the fresh scent of what could only be described as nature – a welcome change from Chiba's mix of stifled air and stiff sea breeze.

Before long, however, our thoughts naturally turned to what we would be doing next. I glanced behind me, hoping to catch a glimpse of what I presumed would be our eventual destination of Fuji-san. However, whatever little slivers of it that were visible were largely obscured by cloud cover. I hoped that when the time came for us to visit the mountain that we would have clearer skies.

"Fuji-san is often shrouded in cloud at this time of year." Yukinoshita sighed with a tinge of disappointment, echoing my thoughts.

"I suppose we'll just hope for the best."

"Odd of you to be so optimistic."

"Things have been going surprisingly well in my life as of late, so I suppose I can afford to be somewhat happy."

Yukinoshita blushed slightly. "I suppose."

"Let's go to Fuji-san tomorrow." My declaration, although expected, seemed to take Yukinoshita slightly by surprise. "Hopefully we'll have some better weather then. We can probably take a taxi there."

She let out a brief sigh of relief, perhaps at her realization that we would not be hiking up the mountain.

"Sounds like a plan."

Later that evening, we sat in the hotel room, eyeing the balcony with trepidation. The bath for two people awaited use, but neither of us had the confidence to use it together at this stage in our relationship. Glancing at each other, we silently resolved that I would go first. Yukinoshita busied herself with some more unpacking while I readied myself for the bath.

After some time, I emerged from the bathroom, having changed into my robes. Yukinoshita was staring intently at her phone, which wasn't typical of her. After considering the situation for a moment, I decided to speak up.

"What's up?"

"Ah…it's nothing much. Yuigahama-san texted me."

"But that's pretty normal, right?"

"Yeah. You know how she's been lately, though…"

I nodded and thought back to our group outing at the café, tears welling up in her eyes as she tried to come to terms with my relationship with Yukinoshita.

"How is she doing now? Did you tell her about our trip?"

"Yeah…as her friend I thought she should know. She's taking it better than I thought she would, actually."

"Let's hope so…I don't want to create any bad blood."

Yukinoshita smiled in agreement with my statement. I could only hope that the situation was as she had described, and not any worse.

Before long, I was ready for the bath. Making my way over to the pool with the gently babbling spout, I eyed Yukinoshita nervously. She was looking in my general direction; I wondered what she was going to do during my bath.

I settled into the warm waters, letting the steam rise around me. Slowly, my eyes began to close as I soaked in the pleasant environment. A wall of greenery rose sharply beyond until it was nearly indistinguishable from the mountainside.

As I entered a calm and tranquil state, I almost didn't notice the disturbance in the water that accompanied the arrival of someone else in the bath. I gently raised my head until I could make out my companion, who had tied her distinctive black hair back into a ponytail – much as she had done during the preparations for our prom.

In surprise, I leaned back until I made contact with the rock wall of the spring.

As I regained my composure, I started. "I thought you weren't comfortable with this…"

Yukinoshita glanced about nervously. "Well, I was nervous about the idea since this is something that I haven't done before, but I decided to take a chance since…it was beginning to feel a bit lonely inside."

I nodded slightly, wondering how red my cheeks were in that moment. Yukinoshita wrung her shoulders as if to cast a weight off them, perhaps taking advantage of the hot vapour in the air that was softening her muscles.

Surely, in that moment, we were silently asking ourselves what there was to be said or done by a young couple sharing a private onsen. Being us, we overall maintained that silence, looking across the water at each other with smiles on our faces.

We returned to the room feeling contented and refreshed. I noticed that Yukinoshita's phone was lighting up on a regular basis; every now and then, she would walk over and check it with an increasingly concerned look on her face. Perhaps her parents – or Haruno-san – were pestering her and there would be dire consequences if she ignored these messages. In any case, there wasn't much cause for concern.

Nevertheless, I indirectly queried her about it out of curiosity. "Is Yuigahama really doing ok amidst all this?"

"Yeah, I'd say so…" Yukinoshita spoke with an uncharacteristic hint of uncertainty.

"I hope she's not becoming more frustrated with the situation."

"Well…"

"What's up?" I furrowed my eyebrows ever so slightly.

"She keeps texting me about how she hopes that you and I are having fun, along with some other random stuff."

"What kinds of random stuff?"

"Like…whether we were going to see a fireworks show while we were there."

I briefly gasped at this. Of course, it would make sense for Yuigahama to be concerned about our seeing fireworks. Our seeing them would mean that fireworks would no longer be the exclusive domain of Yuigahama's and my shared memories, those onto which she held so dearly.

My thoughts were interrupted by a question from Yukinoshita. "Say…why does she speak so fondly of fireworks?"

I supposed that it was time to tell her.

"She and I went to a festival last summer – in Chiba Port Park. Something about that festival really seems to have stayed with her."

"Considering that she still has feelings for you, I'm not surprised."

I sighed. "Yeah…I sort of suspected that for a while, but it's a little bit strange that she's still holding on."

Yukinoshita nodded in response. "For the sake of our friendship, I hope that she'll make an effort to try and accept our relationship."

An effort was all that she could realistically offer – indeed, it's all that any of us could muster. So what was it that continued to hold her back as we moved forward? Was it a lack of effort? A lack of willingness to try and accept that we couldn't be more than friends? A mix of both, with a hint of desperation thrown in?

I knew – and, likely, Yukinoshita knew as well – that Yuigahama was someone whom we wanted to keep in our lives. She lightened the mood and, in spite of her own interests, wanted to bring us all together when we were on the verge of falling out with each other. She was, overall, what one would regard as a "good friend". But at the same time, we had to be wary of the ways in which she could – even unintentionally – pull us all further apart.

Such thoughts weighed on our minds as the sun drew lower in the sky and we began to think about dinner. This time, we decided to venture out further towards the town of Yumoto which, from where we were, was a pleasant downhill walk through the forested valley in which our hotel lay. Yukinoshita had changed into a long, flowing skirt paired with a tasteful blue cardigan.

We strolled down the lane in a relatively blissful state, occasionally looking about at the scenery. The pavement wound its way to and fro across the stream; after crossing one relatively large bridge, we found ourselves surrounded by the buildings of Yumoto town.

"Say, Hikigaya-kun – did you look up the restaurants here ahead of time?"

"Ah…can't say I did." I replied sheepishly, scratching my head and looking away.

"Thankfully, I prepared for that eventuality." Yukinoshita flashed a smirk before leading us down an alley inlaid with pink and grey paving stones. As we passed an ever-increasing number of tiny shops with clever names and fancy sign boards, my trepidation continued to grow.

Eventually, we came upon an especially rustic-looking establishment with Chinese lettering on the door. It had been a while since I'd eaten Chinese food, and so I breathed out a sigh of relief at Yukinoshita's promising choice.

Although the restaurant offered a wide selection of noodles, we elected to try their dim sum instead for a bit of variety from our lunch.

"So, how are we going to get to Fuji-san?"

Yukinoshita had a thoughtful look in her eyes. "It's a bit late to book a tour and, in any case, a tour would probably not offer the most authentic experience of the mountain."

"What would an authentic experience look like?"

"I suppose the 'truest' way to travel up the mountain would be to walk, but that's not realistic given who we are…" Yukinoshita glanced downwards as I silently acknowledged our lack of physical preparation for such an undertaking.

I responded. "I suppose the next best thing would be to take a taxi up the slopes, and then spend some time at the lodge that they have partway up the mountain. It will be easier on us while still promising to offer a good experience."

"Sounds like a plan." Yukinoshita gave a brimming smile. Our dim sum arrived and we ate quietly. The scene was punctuated by the soundtrack of traditional Chinese music, the gentle din of conversation from across the restaurant, and an occasional vibration emanating from the area of our table. I had my suspicions as to its origin but, since we had discussed the topic earlier, I did my best to not let the intermittent sound dig into my ears.

In spite of its clear intent to intrude on our situation and remind us of something back home, I wasn't about to let it get in the way of our time together.

Another pleasant meal passed us by, and we spent the evening walking about the town amidst ever-lengthening shadows under a remarkable sky dotted with puffy clouds that, every now and then, lazily grazed the mountain peaks.

"I wonder what the mountains think of us." Yukinoshita spoke up, her eyes carrying a surprisingly dreamy look.

"What a thought. They would probably be a little frustrated with our walking all over them."

"But they wouldn't really have to care much about us. It's not like there's much they can do in response to our actions. They surely just watch us and ponder our concerns."

"What kinds of concerns?" I had a sense that Yukinoshita was trying to draw a broad metaphor for a specific thought. Once upon a time, it felt as though she had only been able to communicate her thoughts in such metaphors – our visit to the aquarium a few months ago came to mind. But now that we had cleared up so many things between us, I couldn't be too sure whether these metaphors signalled a profound thought or mere observation on her part.

"What our futures hold, where we'll go for university, how our friend groups might reshape and reform over time…"

Just then, Yukinoshita's phone vibrated again.

"If you don't mind, I should probably check that. I don't usually get this many texts."

I nodded in agreement as she unlocked her phone. Yukinoshita's face suddenly took on an expression of surprise.

"What's up?"

"She wants to know which hotel we're staying at."

"That's an innocent question, why are you surpr…"

Suddenly, I caught on to her concerns.

"You don't think she's going to…"

"Surely not. I know her, she wouldn't do something like this."

Yukinoshita sighed as she typed out the name of our hotel. Within seconds, she got a response.

Thank you soo much, Yukinon :)

References:

[1] On the school trip to Kyoto (Volume 7; Season 2 Episodes 1-2), Yukino, Hachiman, and Shizuka went for ramen. Yukino, finding the ramen a bit too spicy for her liking, promptly faceplanted on the table.