Chapter XVII: A Gathering of Friends! To the Hot Springs!
"Thanks for helping me with my errand, Kanata." Haruka said; carrying a bag of groceries upon coming out of the grocery store.
"It's no big deal." Kanata replied; also carrying a bag of groceries. "It's a good thing I ran into you or you'll make the raisin mistake again."
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"Okay, we're going to bake some chocolate chip cookies today. Do we have the ingredients?" Kanata asked; wearing her blue apron.
"Let me see…" Haruka checked the groceries inside the bag one by one. "Flour, a dozen eggs, butter, chocolate chips—"
"Haruka, those aren't chocolate chips! Those are raisins!" Kanata snapped; pointing hard at the box of "chocolate chips" that turned out to be raisins.
"EH? But the label says…raisins…" The brunette girl misread the label back at the supermarket. "I screwed up, kamo."
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Along the girls' way, their path was barred by a relatively huge crowd. It seemed that they were gathering around a booth along the street. They decided to check it out and pushed their way through the dense crowd and out in the very front. It was a small-scale lottery where participants try their luck by getting the golden pachinko ball which held the grand prize: an all-expense paid one-day stay for two at the famous Imperial Daimyo Hot Springs located at Fuen Town (Lavaridge Town).
"Haruka, that lottery may be your chance to get close to Satoshi!" Kanata said; taking out a lottery ticket in her pocket. "Here, you can use mine to get the grand prize."
"EH? Hot springs with Satoshi…?" Haruka replied; shocked. "B-But—"
"No buts, Haruka. Get in there and show some backbone!" Kanata pushed her towards the booth.
The brunette girl had no choice but to surrender the ticket to the man managing the lottery and spin the wheel of fortune. She kept on cranking the lever that spun the wheel until a pachinko ball comes out. Her prize would depend on the color of the lucky ball that would come out of the small hole in the wheel after cranking so many times.
Several cranks later, her luck changed towards the brighter side of things. A shiny, golden pachinko ball fell out of the wheel. The man managing the lottery rang his bell as hard as he could.
"Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner!" He exclaimed to the public. "Congratulations miss; you just won a one-day stay for two to the famous Imperial Daimyo at Fuen Town! You're very lucky, miss. Are you in love?"
"Huh? Eh, well I…uh…I mean…" The brunette girl suddenly became disoriented.
"Yup, she's in love all right!" Kanata filled in for her.
"Kanata!"
"The truth shall set you free, Haruka." Kanata gave her friend the cutesy wink.
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As much as she wanted to take her friends as well for a dip in the hot springs, the prize was only good for two. Haruka needed to decide on the only person she would be taking with her. But with so many good friends to choose from, picking one out of a handful was no walk in the park. She began thinking if she should take Satoshi to a lovely hot spring. After all, she has been wanting for this kind of chance to happen since she first fell madly in love with him.
"Maybe I'll ask the others." She said to herself.
But the next day, her luck suddenly took the wrong detour when she began asking her friends in different places.
"I'm sorry, Haruka-san. But I promised my family to help out in the family business." Konomi said; bowing down in disappointment. "I'm terribly sorry."
"This Sunday…? Ooh sorry, no can do." Hikari said. "My mom's coming to visit me here and I don't want to leave her alone."
"As much as I love to, I can't." Takeshi said. "I'm babysitting for somebody's Mizugurou (Mudkip). Taking it on a long journey would tire the little fellow out."
"Sorry but I have a basketball game on Sunday with Kanazumi High School." Shuu said. "The ace of the team has to be there."
Even her best friend rejected her invitation.
"Huh? Can it be another day? The theater club wants me to oversee another play for the upcoming cultural festival next semester."
"But I thought you gave that job to another person." Haruka replied.
"Apparently, he had a last-minute change of mind. Because of him, we're behind schedule. So I really need the next Sunday to make up for the lost time. I hope you understand."
"I think everybody hates me, kamo."
There was only one person she hadn't asked out. She had second doubts about asking this person but the trip to the hot spring would be a total waste if she didn't try. She managed to catch that person at the rooftop floor all alone with his buddy Pikachu on his shoulder.
"Satoshi…" Haruka started.
"Oh hey, Haruka…" Satoshi replied while his buddy Pikachu jumped to Haruka's shoulder and cuddled her face. "It seems Pikachu has taken a liking to you."
"Aw, you're so cute kamo. Anyway, I was wondering…"
"Yeah…?"
"If you…if you...could, uh, come to the hot springs with me?"
"Hot springs…?"
"Well, I won a couple of tickets to a well-known hot spring resort in Fuen Town. I was wondering if you could—"
"Sure, I'll go with you."
Haruka stopped all of a sudden. She wasn't expecting a speedy reply from her beloved.
"Oh…that was fast. I was thinking that you might at least be unsure." Haruka said.
"It's a waste if you don't use those tickets. I'll go with you, don't worry." Satoshi replied.
The brunette girl giggled lightly. "Thanks, Satoshi."
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Fuen Town is relatively small compared to the other towns in the region. But one thing the town can be proud of is their abundance of hot springs. Satoshi and Haruka arrived in front of a huge building—so huge it looked like a feudal castle from far away and even from the mouth of Mt. Chimney. Normally, hot spring resorts were small; the Imperial Daimyo was an exception.
"I-Its huge, kamo!" The brunette girl gasped in astonishment.
"No wonder it's called the Imperial Daimyo." Satoshi added. "It's a castle."
"Shall we go in?"
"Ladies first…"
They carried their bags towards the reception hall where the brunette girl presented her winning tickets. For an entire day, they would be pampered in the region's finest hot spring resort. They would be really pampered because, judging by the hugeness of the resort itself, it was for the rich class getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city life. The receptionist finally gave them their room key and issued a pass for the two of them.
"Please use this pass to enjoy the amenities covered by the tickets." The receptionist said. "Thank you and enjoy your stay here."
Room 14 on the second floor was all theirs. There was nothing inside but two separate rooms: one dining room on the other side of the blinds and two futon beds all folded up in front of them. At least they got the best view of the town and the surrounding forests. There was a balcony just outside the dining hall where they were offered an even more excellent view of nature with a whip of cool fresh air. The best part is they have this room and all its privileges all to themselves.
"This is a bit roomy for a double room, don't you think?" Haruka asked.
However, Satoshi wasn't paying attention. He was at the balcony declaring his divine rule over his subjects. "I'm king of the world!"
"(You're already the king of my heart, kamo.)"
"You said something, Haruka?"
"Oh nothing, I was just talking to myself."
Haruka walked up to the huge wooden cabinet with her bag and Satoshi's bag to unload her things when all of a sudden it opened so hard; she was flattened by the cabinet door in front and the wall behind like a grilled cheese sandwich.
"Satoshi Masara…! Lend your ears when somebody's talking to you!" Surprisingly, Kanata emerged from the cabinet along with the rest of the group who were "too busy" to come and relax to the hot springs with the brunette girl.
"Kanata! Everybody…!" Satoshi gasped then looked at them with a sense of curiosity. "How did you all fit in that cabinet?"
Everybody except the trainer came crashing down. Kanata stood up immediately afterwards and walked up to Satoshi.
"Satoshi, it's either you were born with a birth defect or you're just playing stupid with my friend." Kanata said sternly. "Where's Haruka?"
"Huh? Where is she? She was in front of that cabinet just a while ago."
"WHAT? You let Haruka out of your two eyes? You're as stuck-up as rubber Shuu here."
"I heard that!" Shuu exclaimed from the dining hall.
"Found her…" Hikari opened the cabinet door that was hugging the wall and saw the brunette girl totally pinned against the wall.
"So this is what it f-feels like to be a cheeseburger, kamo." Haruka said.
TO BE CONTINUED