Their Memories of Fukinara High (Foundations of Friendship)
Chapter 21 – Treasure Hunt Again
The group had a fantastic time in the snow. As everyone (except Benitora and Mahiro) didn't know how to ski, it took them a long time before they tried small slopes. Shinrei was a natural. He learnt how to stop, go and even change his speed easily. Hotaru, on the other hand, looked odd and awkward.
"You're just lousy, my dear brother." Shinrei smirked.
"Well," shot back Hotaru, a little stung. "I can start a fire better than you."
Shinrei stared at him. "And when would we ever need to do that?" Hotaru scratched his head. "Argh!" Shinrei groaned, exasperated. "Why do I bother to argue with you?"
With the exception of Hotaru, everyone soon was able to ski steadily. Mahiro even commented Yuya for her ability to learn it fast.
Well, I would love to tell all of you what happened in every minute of what they did, but we simply must go on with the story. Finally, at 11:30 pm, there was a big crowd gathering at the lobby to wait for the treasure hunt to start.
The game was very simple. The participants were to be split into teams of twos (partners are of their choice). They had to figure out a series of clues (and perform tasks to be awarded points) and eventually find their way to the final task.
These were the teams: Yuya and Kyo, Kyoshiro and Hotaru, Shinrei and Bontenmaru.
"Why isn't Aki playing?" Shinrei asked angrily. Obviously he wasn't very ecstatic to play the treasure hunt game.
"I'm not feeling very well." Akira replied.
"Arghh… More like you're in the mood to slack. At least I'm not in the same group as Hotaru."
Yukimura appeared from nowhere, and announced that the treasure hunt will start soon, will every team send a representative to receive their respective clues?
"Woman, go get it." Kyo glanced at his partner. Yuya glared at him. There's no way she can make him get it instead. She trudged to the booth and took her piece of clue. She was elated that she's in the same team as Kyo, but that means she had to probably do all the work.
"Couldn't you get them yourself?" She commented crossly as she walked towards him again. "You were closer to the booth."
"Lazy. Besides, aren't you my servant or something?"
"Since when am I-"
"Okay teams!" Yukimura's voice drowned Yuya's. "You may open your clues! But don't be in such a hurry, or else you'll miss the clue of my final task."
All the teams opened their papers to see what was in store for them.
"You and I, warm and gentle, move close as one. Find us." Muttered Kyoshiro, and blushing a little. "What is that?"
"What are you thinking about?" Hotaru looked at him puzzled.
"I-"
"Find me where the prettiest girls can be found." Read Bontenmaru. "If there's such a place I would've known already!"
"When Man first set foot, he found himself in paradise, where the flowers and snow meet." Read Kyo, his face not showing any signs of emotion. "That's easy."
Yuya glanced at their piece of paper. "It is?" Was her doubtful remark.
"Have all teams read their clues?" Yukimura greeted cheerfully. "Now this is the last clue. The only way you can get the answer is to ask the staff, or finish all the clues and tasks! But of course I made sure the staff are not to reveal the answer, so I guess you just have to complete all the tasks. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time. The team who is awarded the most points wins, but the game ends when someone brings back proof of the last task. Kind of like Quidditch in Harry Potter eh?"
Everyone groaned. The remembrance of the best-selling book was a little redundant in this crucial moment.
"Anyway! Here is your final clue: 530 steps from the east, a dolphin awaits. Capture it."
Everyone murmured among themselves, trying to figure out the meaning behind.
"How can a dolphin be in a snow mountain?" Hotaru frowned. Kosuke, who was standing nearby, giggled.
"Precisely!" People from the other teams murmured in agreement.
"Now now," soothed Yukimura. "You guys are fretting so much you didn't realize that I just started the game." Everyone stared at each other for a moment before rushing out of the tiny door. "Have fun! Take your time okay? This will be a LONG game."
"Kyo! Wait up!" Yuya tried to keep up her pace with the red-haired twin. He recently dyed his hair in order to look different from Kyoshiro's original black hair. The silent twin stared at her. "You figured out the clue about the setting foot thing?"
"Of course!" Kyo smirked. "Flowers and snow… Hana Yuki? And Man first set foot in Hana Yuki through the gate. So it's the main gate."
Yuya thought of the clue. When Man first set foot, he found himself in paradise, where the flowers and snow meet. "You're… right."
"Of course I'm right!" He grinned. "I'm clever you know."
"I wonder what will our task be?"
"What?" Kyoshiro exclaimed. "To do the chicken dance in the bath spring? And you are going to put it down on video?"
Kyoshiro and Hotaru are now in the hot springs. Their clue was "You and I, warm and gentle, move close as one."
"Water. Warm and gentle, and when you enter a bath you'll always be close to water, no matter what!" Kyoshiro cried out in triumph.
"I refuse to go. I don't like water."
"Hotaru! It's just a game! Who knows we don't have to go into the water?"
Mibu Kyoshiro had never been more wrong.
Now Hotaru is standing up and walking away.
"Hotaru!" He grabbed the slender boy by his arm and cried torrents of tears. (A/N: Once again, it's like this: T.T) "It's only a game! Let's play and go into the water."
Hotaru looked at him, and the water, and back at him again. He smiled. "No."
"Hotaru!"
"Eh…" Kakei Juzo, one of Yukimura's Juyushi, stammered. "Kyoshiro-kun, you can do his share of the task. I don't mind."
"Really?" Kyoshiro beamed.
"It's only because Juzo has a shy personality," Hotaru commented, staring at a ski slope with mild interest. "If it's the other Juyushi you may not get it so lucky."
"If you were more cooperative and jumped into the water I wouldn't need this advice!" Kyoshiro yelled at Hotaru.
"Okay okay," Juzo mediated. "Kyoshiro shall now do the test and we can move on after that okay?"
"Wow!" exclaimed Miyoshi Isa. "Congratulations to Team Bontenmaru and Shinrei, for completing the food eating competition and winning against Team Spikey!"
"Team Bontenmaru and Shinrei is awarded… 50 points!" continued Miyoshi Seikai, his twin brother. "Here are your next clues, both teams. All the best!"
Miyoshi Isa and Seikai are twin brothers in Juyushi. They had to wear sunglasses because Yukimura says that their eyes are too pretty. They were also the station masters at the kitchen, where the prettiest girls can be found, as waitresses.
"Now to go on to the next clue," said Shinrei seriously, his stomach bloated. "I wonder how are the others doing?"
"People learn how to travel on ice. But I'm for the real adventurers at heart." Muttered Yuya. "Oh the task is printed here. 'Task: Look for a red flag with your team name and you can move on. The clue is in the red flag.' Travel on ice… why that's the ski slopes of course!"
"But it's the difficult slope, for experienced skiers." Kyo replied simply.
"Okay!" grinned Yuya. It should be easy, just finding a red flag. "Kyo senpai, I'll go get the red flag! Go and rest in the lobby?" Kyo stared at her, and she blushed under his intense gaze. "Erm… because you did the task for me just now," She stammered, referring to their earlier task that consists of having to carry boulders. "So I thought I should do this one this time."
Kyo looked as if he wanted to comment, but Yuya interrupted him again. "Look, the other groups are coming! Just go into the lobby!" She trotted off, leaving Kyo behind. He scratched his head, in thought. He then decided that he should start looking for her 10 minutes later.
"It should be somewhere…" Yuya murmured as she grabbed a pair of skis and searched for signs of any red flags. From the corner of her eye she saw that the other team had arrived and is looking for the flags too. "There's ours!" She exclaimed to herself when she saw a piece of scarlet peeking out of the trees. It has "Team Kyo and Yuya" written on it.
"Excuse me," a man approached her. "I think that my team's red flag is at the end of that track, but my team mate and I can't ski at all. We just came this morning and thought we'll learn skiing." He added when he saw Yuya glancing over at his team mate, a blonde girl. "But my team mate entered us into the treasure hunt. Now we can't go on because none of us can ski." He pulled a disappointed face.
"I… I guess I can help you." She shrugged. Who are you kidding? The voice in her screamed. You skied for the first time today too! But Mahiro-san said I was good. She chided that voice, and it kept quiet. "Where is it again?" The man pointed it out to her and she skied somewhat wobbly to the flag. She grabbed the flag and returned to them. "Here."
"You… can't really ski, can you?" the man gave her a quizzical look. Yuya blushed and admitted that she learnt it today too. "Well! This is perfect!"
"What?" She stared at the man.
"Thank you!" the man said. "For helping me to win!" With that, he pushed Yuya down the steep ski slope. In her fright, she screamed.
"Aki?"
Akira looked up and saw Kyoshiro and Hotaru, who happened to be passing by the lobby after their kitchen task when they saw Akira flinch.
"I must be crazy. I thought I heard Yuya-san scream."
Kyoshiro looked serious. "Are you sure?"
"I don't know." Akira frowned.
"Someone will save her even if she's in trouble." Hotaru said.
Akira stared at him. "Are you trying to say-"
Hotaru looked at him. "What did I say?"
While Akira resisted the urge to punch him, Kyoshiro thought that maybe it would be safer if they were able to check on her to see if she's safe. Their fears came true when they saw Kyo walking into the lobby alone. The floor was slippery with melted snow that he brought in, solid proof that the redhead twin had been spending a lot of time looking for his partner.
"Where's Yuya?" Akira demanded.
Kyo stared at the undergraduate with his crimson eyes. "I don't know."
Akira pushed the taller twin against the wall. "What do you mean, you don't know?" Kyo looked away, more because he didn't feel like replying, rather than guilt.
"If it's the blondie you're looking for," a man's voice appeared. "I know where she is."
"Where?" asked Kyoshiro anxiously. Akira released his hold on Kyo and turned to the man with a blonde girl as his team mate. She was clutching onto a red flag.
"Well," the man said slowly. "I'm sure the redhead (A/N: He means Kyo by the way) over there can tell you the task. But anyway I was lazy to ski to my flag, so I got that blondie to help me." He laughed. "Call it bad luck on her part. I intended to just use her to help me get the flag. But she looked like she needed help skiing too. So I did."
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Akira yelled at the man, but he was unafraid.
"Well, nothing much, helped her not to be able to continue the hunt. It's okay. It's safe in Hana Yuki! Just occasional… bears?" He sauntered off, laughing.
"Why that-" said Aki, but the man's team mate interrupted him.
"Brad pushed her down the ski slope. It's relatively easy for an experienced skier to climb up again. Unless she is in trouble…"
"Brad is your boyfriend?" Kyo asked, speaking for the first time since Brad came. The girl blushed and nodded. "That's one heck of a jerk you're dating." She flushed and wanted to argue but the man called for her.
"Rhonda!"
Rhonda apologised and said that she had to go. She walked briskly away from them, leaving the trio (excluding Kyo as usual) dumbfounded.
"Yuya-san…" Akira looked at Kyo. "I guess you are wet because you were looking for her in the slopes right?" Kyo didn't reply. Kyoshiro stared at Kyo, but didn't speak.
Hotaru finally understood what was happening. "Let's go find Yukimura now," he suggested, nodding at Unno Rokuro, one of the Juyushi, who happened to be walking by. "He has his Jyuyushi to look out for her and will tell us for her possible whereabouts."
Kyoshiro scratched his head, agreeing. It's been a while since Hotaru is serious. He thought.
Hotaru turned around, and fell down.
Maybe not. Kyoshiro changed his mind as he helped him up.
More of the Sanada Juyushi!
Kakei Juzo – In the manga he rarely appeared. He looks kiddy to me. He wore spectacles. I hope that helps.
Miyoshi Isa – the younger of the twin brothers. The one with the sparkly pretty eyes.
Miyoshi Seikai – the older of the twin brothers. The one with the really thick eyebrows.
Unno Rokuro – Actually I cannot remember much about him. I know he has this messy hair and a fox mask thingy.
By the way, if you REALLY insist on knowing what is the task at the main gate of the ski lodge (Kyo and Yuya's first clue task), it's like this.
There are 4 circles drawn out in the snow, some are big, medium and small respectively. And there are 5 stones, big to small, piled in no particular order on the circles. So the task is to carry (one boulder at a time) to a designated spot such that the one circle will end up having all the stones piled up from big boulders at the bottom to the small boulders on top. And the catch is that only smaller boulders can be placed on top of the bigger ones, no vice versa.
I doubt that there's a proper answer to this, cause I didn't try to figure it out, since I wasn't planning to put this inside the story. But there you go. I hope I put in enough effort to make the story is impenetrable (no loopholes in story) and mainly, allow the readers to feel like they can be part of the story.
I think my story is so long it forms a manga by itself =P
I've waited soo long for reviews, thank you Kookie-Chan for faithfully reviewing. But I waited until I realised I'm going to Taiwan for Chinese New Year. And therefore I'll upload 2 chapters (that I managed to complete) and TRY to upload the last chapter of their Hokkaido trip. Just a slight nudge, this series will end very very very soon! So fasten your seat belts and prepare for the all-time favourite (and extended) 'KISS Me!' series!