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Chapter 17: A Trip to Kyoto - Part IIIAs we head down in the elevator to eat dinner, Soujirou turns to me. "Aya, I was planning on eating dinner tonight with Narumi, will Mishima be eating when we do?"
"Yeah, she will, I was planning on finding her."
"Sounds good, Aya. We can meet back at the room later."
"Sure, Soujirou."
The elevator stops and we walk together to the conference room where our groups eat. After saying good bye, we separate and I start to look for Mishima. As I turn around to scan the room once more, I suddenly realize that Mishima is there next to me.
"Good evening, Kamina-kun!" she says with a smile.
"Good evening, Mishima." I say, returning the smile.
"Kamina-kun, Arimi, Yukino, and I are eating over there, you can join us, that is, if you'd like."
"Of course, Mishima." As expected, Narita and Tsuchiya will be there, too. Well, at least I'll be with Mishima some more.
We walk over to a long rectangular table, I see that Narita and Tsuchiya are sitting across from each other, and that the seats next to them are empty, so that Mishima and I will be sitting across from each other.
"Hello, Kamina-kun," Narita says. Tsuchiya says nothing but nods her head in acknowledgement.
"Good evening, Narita-san, Tsuchiya-san."
Soon after Mishima and I sit down, the waiter comes and asks us for our order.
After we finish, Narita says, "Haruka, Yukino, are we going to go sightseeing tomorrow or stay at the hotel?"
I am surprised to hear this, I knew that we were leaving in the afternoon, but I had figured everyone was supposed to go sightseeing more.
"Narita-san, you mean we have an option?"
"Yep, your chaperone didn't tell you, Kamina-kun?"
"Hmm, maybe I didn't hear it…"
"Arimi, I'd rather stay here, I want to sleep all morning."
Narita frowns as she looks at Tsuchiya.
"Sleeping? How boring! I say we go swimming, don't you think, Haruka?"
Mishima, who had been in the process of drinking her water, quickly gulps it down and responds, "That sounds fun to me, Arimi, what do you think, Kamina-kun?"
Now I'm the one caught off guard. Swimming? I'd wanted to do that, but I hadn't expected Mishima to be there. After all, I have that mark on my stomach that I've always had, what if she finds it weird?
"Kamina-kun?"
I notice that Mishima is waiting for me to answer, and that Narita is looking at me strangely.
"Uh, yeah, I think that would be fun."
"Well, that settles it then, we're going swimming tomorrow, even you, Yukino, I'm going to make sure you get up." Tsuchiya shrugs in response.
"Sounds good to me, Arimi."
"Sure, just let me know when I should meet you there."
"Hmm, let's say, 10 am, is that all right with you, Kamina-kun?"
"That's fine."
After the issue is settled, our food arrives, and I notice that the conversation centers mostly on the orchestra. Although I'd rather play a more active part, since I only participate in the arts part of the club, I don't have much to contribute. But, I'm happy just spending time with Mishima.
I wake up the next morning, noticing that I'm the only one in the room. Then I remember I'm the only one who decided to stay here rather than going sightseeing. I realize I hadn't solved the problem I'd thought of yesterday about the mark on my stomach. I look through my suitcase and notice I've brought a thin, zipped sweatshirt, and decide to wear that to cover it up. I'll just have to wing it when I actually go in the water. I look at the clock and see that it's already 9:55. I guess that there are towels down there, so I grab my key and run out the door to the elevator.
When I enter the pool room, I scan the room looking for Mishima and see her on a lounge chair talking with Narita and Tsuchiya. I walk over, noticing that she's wearing a 1-piece that's bright yellow with lighter yellow sunflowers on it, it looks very cute on her.
"Good morning, Mishima, Narita-san, Tsuchiya-san."
Mishima looks up at me and says, "Good morning, Kamina-kun."
"Ah good, now that Kamina-kun is here, let's go in!" Narita shouts as she raises a fisted hand.
Already? Oh, well, guess it's now or never.
"Ok." I say as I slowly take off the sweatshirt. Fortunately, they got up and were ahead of me before I fully took it off. I quickly get into the shallow end of the pool behind them, and none of them seem to notice.
"Ah, feels good, doesn't it, Haruka?" Narita asks as she looks over at Mishima.
"Yeah, it does."
"Kamina-kun?" Tsuchiya asks.
"Yes, Tsuchiya-san?" I say, as I notice she has a quizzical look on her face.
"Is that a tattoo?" Oh no, I guess I'll have to explain this.
"Kamina-kun, you have a tattoo!? I have to see this!" Narita exclaims as she moves in towards me. I look over at Mishima, who I could tell had been looking, too. Ah, just great.
"No, no, it's not a tattoo, I've always had it."
"Really? Wow, I guess it's some sort of birth mark."
"Well, I don't think so, but…"
"It's not important anyway, right, Kamina-kun?" Mishima says as she looks at me with a smile.
"Yep," I say, happy that Mishima doesn't seem disturbed by it.
I notice that Mishima's smile has suddenly disappeared, and realize that it's because Narita has splashed her with water.
"Arimi!"
"Ha, ha, I got you!"
"Why, you!"
And so they continue to splash each other for a little while, and then I notice Narita's face has one of her devious smiles, which is not a good sign. I quickly move away from her, but obviously Tsuchiya misses the hint and soon finds herself completely immersed in water, thanks to Narita. Tsuchiya quickly surfaces and glares at Narita, and then Mishima, who was laughing at the sight. Scowling and shivering, Tsuchiya quickly jumps out of the pool and walks to her lounge chair, where she wraps herself in her towel.
And before I know it, both Mishima and Narita are coming towards me.
"TEAM ATTACK!"
They then proceed to splash as much water at me as quickly as they can for at least a minute until I'm completely drenched.
"Ah, two on one, no fair!" I say, laughing.
"Too bad!" Narita shouts as she and Mishima continue to splash me and each other.
"Haruka, Arimi, Kamina-kun, you should be getting out soon," Tsuchiya yells over to us.
"Ah, too bad, it's been fun, huh, Haruka?"
"Yep. Well, shall we go?"
"Ok, Haruka."
"Sure, Mishima."
We return to our respective rooms to get ready. Mishima sits with Narita and Tsuchiya on the train, but that's fine with me, after all, I was able to see Mishima a lot on the trip, and I'm pretty tired, so I decide to sleep.
When we arrive back in Tokyo, I see my mother waiting for me in the waiting area, but want to say good bye to Mishima before I go. I wait for her to get off her car, and jog over when I see her.
"Mishima!" She hears
me and waves as I come closer.
"Mishima, I just wanted to say good bye before I go."
"Thanks, Kamina-kun. It was great seeing you again on the
trip!"
"It was fun. I'll see you when school
starts?"
"You bet, Kamina-kun!"
I wave as I walk away. She smiles and returns the wave.
I walk back to where my mother is waiting, I notice that she looks unhappy.
"How was your trip, Ayato?"
"It was fine."
And so we walk away in silence, although I'm thinking about the trip, and am looking forward to seeing Mishima again when summer break ends.
Next ChapterThe Christmas Season
