Sometimes people assumed that Ryoga woke up at sunrise, and for parts of the year that was indeed true. In May, however, the sun rose quite early. Ryoga didn't care to get up before five without a very good reason, so he tended to rise when the natural sunlight woke him up and not a minute before.

There was no rain, and that was always a good thing to wake up to. He got out of his sleeping bag, then unzipped his tent flap and stepped outside. He yawned and stretched.

"Good morning, Ryoga-kun! Did you sleep well?"

He almost fell on his rear in surprise. Oh yes, that's right, Kasumi was here. "G-good morning."

"I've just put the kettle on the fire, so we should have some tea soon."

"That sounds great. Haha, I'm so used to being alone when I'm travelling that I almost forgot you were here."

"I was just about to put on a pot of rice as well. There is some fish leftover from last night, but it would be good to have something fresh. Do you know if there are any berries ripe this early in the year?"

Ryoga pondered this. "It's a bit too early for wild raspberries. There might be some wild strawberries around, but they aren't particularly sweet. Could be some mushrooms, but I don't know if I'm confident enough to recognize the edible kind."

"Well, never mind, this should be good for now. Perhaps we can forage a bit later today. It will be around twenty minutes for the rice."

"Super." Ryoga scratched his side and looked down. "I usually don't have much for breakf…" He stopped suddenly as he realized what he was wearing: he was standing in front of Kasumi wearing only a pair of boxers. He immediately flushed and dove back into the tent.

Ryoga's face was still red as he ate breakfast. He finished his bowl of rice and got ready to speak.

"More rice, Ryoga-kun?"

Thrown off his stride, he could only nod and hand his bowl to Kasumi, who quickly refilled it. "I'm glad I made as much as I did. I know a young man like you needs a lot of food." She handed it back to him.

"Thank you." He started eating again, but remembered that he wanted to say something. He set the bowl down again.

"I am a bit sorry that there are no eggs, but they don't travel well, do they?"

Once more thrown off his stride, he could only shake his head in agreement. "Ah… no, they don't."

Third time was nearly not the charm, as Kasumi started talking again. "Do you think…"

"Kasumi-san!" He interrupted her slightly louder than he had intended to. She stopped in surprise. "I'm sorry! It happened because I was inattentive, so I will make certain it won't happen again!"

Kasumi frowned slightly. "Ryoga-kun, I told you before that I'm not at all angry about getting lost and that I don't consider you to be at fault of anything. Actually, I'm having a lovely time, so there's nothing to apologize for."

"It's not about that. Earlier… I didn't mean for you to see me.." he blushed harder, "while not properly dressed."

"I don't think I understand. I don't think I saw you…" she trailed off. "Wait, is this about just now? When you just got out of your tent?"

Unable to meet her eyes, Ryoga nodded.

"In that case, again, I don't need an apology. Quite often in the summertime, my father wears shorts instead of pajamas. It's not offensive to me at all-it's quite natural. I didn't give it a second thought."

Ryoga was still avoiding her eyes.

Kasumi almost gasped. "You were embarrassed about it. Then…" She bowed her head. "I'm the one who should apologize to you. I made you feel self-conscious. I'm sorry."

Ryoga looked up and waved his hands in denial. "No, no, it wasn't your fault! I shouldn't have been so shameless!"

"I was treating you like you were Ranma, but I should have realized you were different, even if he is your best friend. And Ranma isn't particularly modest at all. If anything, he's a bit too informal."

"What do you mean?" He remembered something else she said. "Ranma's my what?!"

"I'm not bothered by how Ranma dresses most of the time, but I wish he'd wear a shirt more often at home. Otherwise, he's just a splash of cold water away from revealing far too much. But setting that aside, I'm sorry for causing you embarrassment. If it happens again during our travels, I'll look away immediately. Is that alright with you?"

"Guess so." His blush had diminished to a medium pink. He made a mental note to have stern words with Ranma on this subject of his exhibitionism.

Fetching water from the stream took an hour or two longer than he expected it would, but given that he ran that errand unsupervised, it was not surprising.

Kasumi was sitting on a log Ryoga had rolled next to the campfire, reading and taking notes in a book. Given that she greeted him with a smile on his return to camp, he assumed she must not have been surprised or irritated. She knew him well enough to make allowances for his meanderings.

He used the last of the hot water in the kettle to fill his vacuum flask, then refilled the kettle with water from the stream before turning to Kasumi. "Sorry for taking so long. If you want to leave right away, we can probably get back in the afternoon. If you are willing to arrive in the evening, we have a few hours leeway. Either way, it's probably a good idea to start getting ready. Would you like me to take down your tent now?"

"No. I think I'd like to leave it up for awhile."

"What for?"

"To sleep in."

"Oh. You want to take a nap before we leave?"

"No, to spend the night. I'm not going home today."

Ryoga's mouth hung open slightly.

"I made up my mind while you were getting the water. I'm sorry if that interrupts your plans, but I'm still a bit sore from the long hike yesterday, and I really am having a lovely time, so I won't be going back quite yet. It's selfish of me, but I won't be talked out of it."

"Is that okay? Won't everyone be missing you?"

Kasumi smiled. "They'll be fine without me. Two grown men and three high schoolers should be able to run a household on their own. They'll need to eventually, so this can be good practice for them."

Ryoga grasped for an alternate solution. "If it's too painful for you to walk, then I could carry you?"

"Goodness, no. That would feel embarrassing. No, when I leave this camp, I will do it on my own two feet." She paused. "But just because I'm staying doesn't mean that you have to. If there's somewhere you want to be, it's fine if you'd like to leave. I should be just fine on my own."

Ryoga shook his head. "No, I refuse to leave you behind. I mean to be by your side until I return you back home."

Kasumi's smile grew. "Oh good, I was hoping you wouldn't leave. I look forward to seeing a lot with you in the days ahead."

Ryoga was so flustered that he didn't even notice her use of the plural.

Soun and Genma crouched in the shrubbery.

"I've done a lot of things that I'm ashamed of over the years," Soun grumbled, "but this feels like a low point. Hiding from Akane?"

"Don't think of it as hiding from her. Think of it as hiding from a three-day bellyache."

Soun gave his old friend a sharp look. "Keep in mind that is my daughter we're talking about," he said in an icy tone.

"Keep in mind that hiding was your idea. Anyway, this isn't something we can do indefinitely. Sooner or later you'll need to face the music."

"Surely, you mean 'we', Saotome."

"Alas, Tendo, I was just about to depart on a training trip into the wilderness."

"I think you should consider the difficulty of doing so with two broken legs, Saotome."

Despite the amount of time he spent outdoors, mushroom hunting was not a talent of Ryoga's. Kasumi seemed to be very enthusiastic about it, and with the help of a reference book, they soon found a number of aikawatake and a couple of amigasatake.

"Do you like mushrooms?"

"Yes, I'm very partial to them. It's exciting to find these in the wild. At a grocer's these would be quite pricey. We'll be having a gourmet meal tonight!"

"The mushroom book-is that what you were reading earlier?"

"No-that was a different one. I actually have some questions about the other book that you might be able to help me with. Maybe after dinner."

Ranma answered the phone. "Tendo dojo."

"Pardon me? Who am I speaking with?"

"Ranma here."

"Ranma? My son Ranma?"

In a panic, Ranma poured the beverage he was holding over his head to trigger the curse. "Sorry, I had something in my throat. Like I was saying, this is Ranko. Is that you, Auntie Saotome?"

"Goodness, your voice was different earlier. I hope you're not coming down with a cold, Ranko."

"Haha, no, I'm healthy. What can I do for you, Auntie?"

"Akane had mentioned to me earlier that Kasumi was away from home for awhile. Has she returned yet?"

"No, not yet. We haven't heard anything at all from her since yesterday morning."

"Oh dear, that must be distressing. I think I might look in tomorrow and help around the house a bit."

"Oh, good!" 'Oh, no.'

While he loved his mother, keeping up the masquerade in her presence could be exhausting.

Ryoga decided that he needed to learn more about mushroom hunting if they could taste like that. And probably more about cooking as well.

"Did you like that?"

"Yes, it was delicious. Maybe the best dinner I've ever had when I was camping."

"It wasn't anything special. Just home-style cooking with fresh ingredients."

"I thought it was fantastic."

"Thank you." Kasumi bowed slightly and smiled. "So, I wanted to talk to you about plans for tomorrow."

"Yes, me too. Do you want to return home early in the morning?"

Kasumi was silent for a long time before speaking "No. I don't want to do that. Before I go home, there are some things I'd like to do first."

"What things?"

Kasumi picked up a book at her side and held the cover towards Ryoga. He read the title aloud. "Cultural Properties of Japan," He frowned. "What's that about?"

"This," she opened the book, "is a guide to the historic sites, natural wonders, and beauty spots of Japan. I'm wondering if you've been to some of them."

"Maybe. I've been to a lot of places."

"For instance, have you been to Itsukushima?"

"I don't know? I don't always know the names of the places I go."

Kasumi opened up the book, found a page she was looking for, and showed it to Ryoga. "Have you been to a place that looked like this?"

Pictured on the page was a famous view: that of a torii on the water, in front of an island shrine. "Oh, that place. Yeah, I've been there a few times. But I'm pretty sure it's in Germany, not Japan."

"Germany? Why?"

"There were a lot of people speaking a different language there-at least I think it was German."

Kasumi sighed. "I think what you saw, Ryoga-kun, was a group of European tourists."

Ryoga nodded. "Now that you mention it, that does make a lot of sense."

"Anyway, that's Itsukushima in Hiroshima prefecture. How about this one?" She turned a page and showed another picture.

"Yeah, I've been there, too. It's…" he paused. "I think you're about to tell me that it isn't Hawaii."

"That's correct. It is not." Kasumi smiled. "That is Amanohashidate, in Kyoto prefecture. And this one?" She turned the page again.

"Yes, I was just there about a week ago. And it probably isn't in Canada?"

"Yes. That is Matsushima in Miyagi prefecture. Those three places are considered the three great views of Japan."

Ryoga nodded. "I can believe it. They're all really beautiful. And it's quite exciting to find out that they're all Japanese as well. Funny, though… I would have thought they'd have included that one mountain on the list."

"Mount Fuji?"

"No, this one is a lot steeper, and the top is sort of tilted… wait a second, I think I've got a picture of it." Ryoga stuck his head into his tent for a minute until bringing out a postcard. "This is the mountain I meant. Beautiful."

Kasumi examined the card, then handed it back to him. "Ryoga-kun? This is a picture of the Matterhorn. That's in Switzerland."

"Isn't Switzerland in the Tohoku region?"

"No."

"I could have sworn…"

"In any case," Kasumi pressed on, as Ryoga's geography lessons were making her feel slightly dizzy, "the reason I asked you about those places is that I've never been to them. I've been to hardly any of the places in this book. And now I have a chance, and I don't want to let it pass me by. So I don't want to go home. Not yet. Ryoga-kun, it's a selfish request, but would you take me to some of the places in this book?"

Ryoga looked into the fire. "You've been so nice to me ever since I met you. I don't think I can say no to anything you ask. The problem is… it's hard for me to talk about, but you know that I am not the best at finding places quickly. I don't know if I can find these particular views. It's hard for me to find any place on request."

"That's fine. It doesn't need to be exactly these three. There are dozens of sites all over Japan. When we come across them, I'll figure out what they are. Even just going to two or three of them would be a dream come true."

"The other thing is, I don't want your family to be worried about you. I don't want them to hate me for getting you lost."

"I'll give them a call the next time we see a phone. I'll explain to them what we're doing. I'll tell them it's all my idea, which is true. I'll explain to them that getting lost is what I want. I promise."

"If that's what you want…" He turned to face her again and smiled. "Then let's go! We'll head out tomorrow morning and find… what was that third one again?"

"Matsushima?"

"We'll go to Matsushima."

Kasumi didn't say anything for a moment. Ryoga thought she might have been having second thoughts. Then she bowed to him several times and grasped his hand. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I put myself in your care." He saw tears in the corner of her eyes.

"I'll… I'll do my best." Ryoga put his hand behind his head and chuckled awkwardly.

Author's Notes:

Generally I try to avoid gratuitous use of Japanese, but this chapter does have two examples, in the names of the mushrooms. "Aikawatake" is the Japanese name for the fungus called "chicken of the woods" in English, and "amigasatake" is the Japanese name for morel mushrooms. My only excuse is that "chicken of the woods" is such a weird name that it might throw the reader out of the story. And if I was going to use one Japanese name, I might as well use two.