Chapter 25: How to Enjoy a Grueling Mountain Hike

And so, the day of the October hike arrived.

After taking the bus out to a nearby mountain, we first-years split up into our respective groups and began our hike with great enthusiasm.

The mountains, now entering the early stages of autumn, were starting to turn from green to red, creating a unique contrast that could only be seen during this time of year. Plus, the weather had cooled just enough to make things comfortable—perfect for hiking in short-sleeved gym shirts and long pants.

In short, it was ideal hiking weather. The kind of day where you could relax, take in the scenery, and move forward at an easy pace... or so I thought.

"Wait up, you two. Maybe we should slow down a bit."

At my call, both Hikari and Gōenji came to a stop. They turned to face me with looks of dissatisfaction, and all I could do was give a wry smile.

Even though the mountain trail had some steep inclines, these two had been hiking ahead like they were trying to sprint their way to the top.

"...Don’t tell me you’re already worn out, Yōsuke?"

"No, not me."

I muttered quietly to Hikari, who was bounding back down the slope with surprising energy despite the oversized backpack hanging off her slim frame. I subtly pointed down the path with my hand.

There was Koshimizu, slowly making her way uphill one shaky step at a time.

It hadn’t even been thirty minutes since we’d started the ascent, but even from a distance, I could tell she was breathing hard, shoulders rising and falling with every step.

"Still, if we go this slow, there’s no way we’ll be first to the top."

"Hikari… just so you know, this isn’t some sort of race. And even if it were, it wouldn’t count unless we all made it to the finish line together, right?"

She tilted her head in confusion, so I explained the real purpose of the hike.

If I remembered right, the idea was that now that we were halfway through our first year and starting to settle into high school life, we should take time to reflect on ourselves through mountain climbing or something like that. It was never meant to be a competition.

Maybe that convinced her, because she muttered a small "Cheh…" and slowed down a bit. That said, her blood seemed to still be pumping—she was just speed-walking now, slowly widening the gap again.

Gōenji, meanwhile, had taken a seat on a tree stump by the edge of the trail. Looked like he planned to wait for us to catch up.

"...Sorry. It’s my fault."

As we were having that back-and-forth, Koshimizu caught up. She was breathing even more heavily than before.

Maybe she was afraid of getting left behind and had forced herself to speed up.

—Anyway.

To explain how this four-person group came to be, it started with our homeroom teacher asking Koshimizu to look after Hikari, who was still somewhat isolated at the time. Since they were both girls and Koshimizu was the dependable type—she was even called the class rep—it made sense.

Then Hikari said she wanted to be in the same group as me.

And when that happened, Gōenji joined too. That’s how the four of us ended up together.

…Not that my opinion was taken into account at all, but whatever.

In any case, it meant no one had thought about the physical compatibility of the group at all.

So really, it wasn’t Koshimizu’s fault. If anything, it was the other two’s fault for charging ahead without regard for the rest of us.

I tried to explain that and told her not to worry, but she didn’t seem convinced.

"I’m not good at physical activities like this. I really don’t get why they schedule this kind of thing this time of year…"

She muttered with a grimace.

"Well, I’m enjoying it. I guess it’s partly because I haven’t been able to do stuff like this for a while, thanks to my leg injury. But still, it’s a nice chance to talk with people you usually don’t get to interact with. Like now—I get to talk with you, right?"

"...I see. I suppose that’s one way to look at it."

It was hardly a convincing comfort, but surprisingly, she didn’t seem to mind. She let out a soft chuckle.

Encouraged by that reaction, I tried to keep the conversation going—

"...But unfortunately, I don’t really have the energy to chat right now. Could we save this for later?"

Right, I’d forgotten.

She shut me down, gasping for breath, and after that, I didn’t get another chance to talk to her for the rest of the climb.

We reached the open campsite at the summit just past eleven o'clock, according to my watch.

Incidentally, we were the last group to arrive.

That said, thanks to keeping a steady and manageable pace, my body was wrapped in a pleasant kind of fatigue rather than exhaustion. Koshimizu, too, seemed content—having made it to the top safely, she took off her glasses and wiped the sweat from her face with a satisfied look as she caught her breath.

"F-finally here… cough, cough…"

Gōenji, on the other hand, was a total wreck. Probably because of that overly high energy at the start, he’d run out of steam halfway up the mountain, and by the time we reached the summit, he was basically a walking corpse.

Not that he could’ve known, but trying to keep up with someone like Hikari—who's a vampire, by the way—was a huge mistake.

It wasn’t so much that he lacked stamina in general; more like he didn’t know how to pace himself. He was never the athletic type to begin with.

As a result, he had long since drained his canteen dry.

I handed him one of the spare water bottles I’d brought along just in case, since this exact kind of thing seemed likely to happen.

"So, what now?"

Once you made it to the top, everything up until lunchtime was considered free time.

During that period, you could do whatever you wanted—run around like a little kid, mess around with whatever games you’d brought—it was all up to you.

Though to be honest, most of the students had zero energy left. They were all sprawled out on the ground, trying desperately to recover.

But apparently, Hikari was a different case.

"Hey, Yōsuke! There’s somewhere I wanna go—come with me!"

She grabbed my hand and started tugging.

"Somewhere you wanna go?"

"Yeah. I spotted a mountain stream on the way up. There’s something I want to do there!"

…I’d been keeping an eye out myself while we hiked—thanks to the thick trees all around—but I hadn’t noticed anything like that.

Still, Hikari looked awfully confident, and said it wasn’t far at all, so we wouldn’t get lost.

"Uh… is it okay if I go with her?"

I figured I should at least ask the rest of the group. Even though it was free time, we were still acting as a unit, and if we ended up missing the headcount later, it’d cause problems for everyone.

"Sure. I definitely don’t have the energy to go with you, but as long as you’re back before lunch prep starts, I don’t mind."

"Same here! Don’t worry about us—go have all the fun you want!"

…Koshimizu’s calm reply made sense, but what was up with Gōenji’s thumbs-up pose?

Anyway, they both gave me the okay, so I gratefully took them up on it.

If I let Hikari go off on her own, who knows how long it’d take before she came back.

Hikari wasn’t lying—we reached the mountain stream in less than ten minutes.

The current was a bit fast, but the sound of the water flowing over the rocks was soothing. The surface was crystal clear, and the surrounding air felt noticeably cooler and fresher.

"So, what exactly are we doing here?"

She wasn’t planning to swim, was she?

It was way too cold for that. Besides, being a vampire, she shouldn’t even be able to enter running water in the first place.

"Hehehe. Feast your eyes on this!"

…So maybe fishing?

But we didn’t really have that kind of time.

As I tried to guess, Hikari proudly opened her backpack to show off what was inside.

The same pack she’d been guarding like treasure all the way up was now bursting—completely packed to the brim—with red, red, and more red—

Apples. Dozens of them, stuffed in to the very limit.

"...Why go through all this? Sure, we’re making our own lunch, but the school’s providing the ingredients, aren’t they? I mean, maybe they won’t have dessert, but still."

"Yōsuke, you don’t know? Apples are full of fructose, and when you chill them, the sweetness goes up!"

…Okay, sure, that was surprising. But it didn’t actually answer the question.

Still, I had a pretty good idea of what brought this on.

It was probably that drama we watched the other day.

The story followed a group of boys returning to their hometown from the city. As a welcome, their grandparents had chilled fruit in a stream and offered it to them. The boys devoured it, looking absolutely delighted.

Knowing how easily Hikari gets influenced by whatever she sees on TV, I could guess the rest.

She saw that and decided she wanted to try it too.

That was likely the whole story.

"Maybe because it’s the season? They were really cheap, and I ended up buying way too many. But I figured it’d be nice to share them with the others, don’t you think?"

"Still… even if it’s cool out, you were carrying them in your bag the whole time. Aren’t you worried they’ve gone bad?"

"You don’t have to worry about that. I chilled the whole inside of the bag with ice magic, so it’s basically a fridge in there. No way they’d spoil!"

I see.

When I reached in, it really was cool and refreshing to the touch.

Magic really is something else.

If this was what she meant when she said she could live on a mountain someday, maybe it wouldn’t be so impossible after all.

…Wait, huh?

"Hold on, Hikari. If they’re already perfectly cold, why even bother chilling them in the stream…?"

"…Ah."

Apparently, that hadn’t occurred to her at all.

We stood there in awkward silence for a moment.