Hyoga invites Alicia to hike at another Fuji 5 lake. However, a pouring shower hits, and they seek shelter in Saori's old cabin, where they're forced to spend the night. Cue the dramatic tension.

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The weather today is a downpour.

[August 18, Saturday - week 3]

It's been a month since their last restaurant visit, and Hyoga feels something is amiss. Due to his discomfort, neither he nor Alicia has interacted with each other since that day. Surely, he noticed she was about to burst into tears and returned home without her.

"Alicia-san, I wonder how she's doing..."

Then he realizes he has her number, so he picks up the phone and marks her number, although he wonders how she'll react.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asks.

"Alicia-san?"

"Oh, Hyoga-kun..."

Her greeting was less than enthusiastic.

"Have you been well?" he asks.

"Um, yeah... What do you want?"

"Shoot! I called without a thought. I should've had a plan that doesn't involve food. I have to come up with something that isn't a restaurant."

"Are you available right now? I want to take you on a hiking trip near Mount Fuji. It'll be completely outdoors, and the weather is perfect."

"A hiking trip, you say. What an odd request for a date."

Her voice suggests that she sounds amused at the thought of a hiking trip with him, perhaps even interested. So he takes it as his cue to continue even though the date is improvised on the spot.

"I'm not forcing it on you. It's just a suggestion. Of course, you can reject it, and we can go somewhere else. Maybe you can choose."

"I don't mind."

"Really?"

"It's a long walk, after all."

"I see..."

"When do we go?"

"Today, right now. We'll meet in Shibuya and go from there."

"Wow, that's sudden, but I'll take it. Okay, see you soon."

"Yeah, same here."

Alicia hangs up, followed by him.

"Wow, I didn't expect this to be successful."

The plan is to bring Alicia to one of the Fuji Five lakes, similar to the one he visited with Seiya two weeks before the Kyoto trip. He plans to take her sightseeing in popular tourist areas and venture further. With that in mind, he dresses up in the same gear he wore that day.

Upon exiting the train and meeting with Alicia, Hyoga notices her attire, which he feels is impractical for a hiking trip. That's because she wears a long skirt extending beyond her knees to her ankles.

"Will your skirt get in the way? We'll be hiking around trees, grass, rocks, dirt, and, well... your skirt may get caught in twig or something."

"I'm not a big fan of wearing pants, though."

"Is that so?" He sweat drops.

"Yeah, I only wear them if necessary."

"If you say so. Let's get going."

Soon, the pair arrives at one of the Fuji Five lakes, a little difficult to access via public transportation.

"Okay, we arrived. What's next?"

"We'll walk around tourist spots."

"That's kind of obvious."

"Well, yeah. There aren't any fancy buildings."

"Looks like we arrived early, so we can take our time exploring. Hey! Do you think it's possible to see Mount Fuji somehow?"

"If we take our time, I believe so."

"Alright, then lead the way!"

"Okay but take my hand. It's easy to get lost."

"You act as if you've been here before."

"Well, sort of..." Hyoga shrugs.

Alicia snaps her fingers. "That makes the trip more worth it!"

Soon, they're strolling among the trees to access the lake from which they can view Mount Fuji. They make it to the shore of the lake, allowing them to witness Mount Fuji visibly and clearly from a distance.

"Amazing!" Alicia exclaims. "No wonder Mount Fuji is so famous. Even in the height of summer, there's still snow covering the very top."

"I agree. It is amazing..."

"Then again, from where I come from, there's snow and ice year-round."

As they turn to leave, the sky suddenly darkens, and grey clouds cover it. They look up at the sky and see that something's off.

"This isn't good," Hyoga says.

"It was sunny a moment ago," Alicia says.

"We should return."

However, the darkness of the clouds makes their return to the bus station difficult because of limited visibility. Additionally, the mist makes it worse.

"Which way was it?" Alicia asks.

"I can't tell..."

"We're lost, are we?"

And then a sudden downpour.

"This is just great!" Alicia blurts.

"I can fend for myself without any problems, but I must assure Alicia-san's safety by finding shelter somewhere. I'm not even sure if there is a shelter, but I might as well try for her sake."

"Alicia-san, climb onto my back!"

"What are you trying to pull?"

"Don't ask questions! Just do it!"

With a huff, Alicia climbs up, allowing Hyoga to carry her on a piggyback ride toward the closest shelter they can find. He leaps large distances in the hopes of finding the nearest shelter. Still, the downpour makes visibility difficult, so hope is dwindling fast. Thankfully, he comes across a wooden house in the middle of the woods and leaps to it, landing on the steps of the entrance door.

"Wow! What was that?" Alicia asks, shocked.

"I'll explain later. We need to enter."

"Are you sure we can enter just like that?"

"We don't know until we try."

Hyoga knocks on the door several times, but there is no answer. Surprisingly, the door seems unlocked, allowing them to enter.

"There's no one here, and it's dark. Can we be here without permission? What if the owner comes back? What then?" Alicia shivers.

"We'll just explain. That is simple."

"That's probably easier said than done."

"This villa is awfully familiar, as if I've been here before. Ah! I think I get it now. This is Saori-san's hideout. It looks like it hasn't been used since our last time here, to the point that there's no electricity. Not a problem because there's a fireplace that I can use."

Familiar with the villa, Hyoga turns on the fireplace and tells Alicia to wait at the lounge while he fetches towels and blankets.

"Alright, dry yourself. You'll have to remove your clothes to let them dry."

Alicia stares baffled yet motionless.

"Now's not the time to be picky."

Alicia snatches the towel and the blanket and heads to the back of the lounge. Hyoga can only sigh as he sees her going there.

Soon, Hyoga sits in front of the fireplace, stripped of all but underwear and covered in a fluffy blanket. Their clothes are being dried by a rope that he found earlier. He looks back and sees Alicia sitting behind the sofa not too far from him. Likewise, she's also covered in a blanket.

"You should come. It's better here."

"I'm okay..."

"No, seriously. You need to come."

"I don't need to be there."

"Then you don't mind getting sick."

"Do you care this much?"

"I just want you safe."

"You're not going to ravish, are you?"

Hyoga doesn't respond.

"Fine! But you better not perv!"

Alicia approaches Hyoga and sits next to him. He shares his blanket with her even though she's covered in a blanket herself.

"I have to admit. The heat is better." Alicia leans on her head on his shoulder, taking note of the gold northern cross rosary on his chest. "This is interesting, Hyoga-kun. Did you get this from a childhood friend?"

"No."

"The reason I asked that is, well... I have one, too. Except mine is a small silver one. This was given by a childhood friend... who passed away."

Hyoga reacts to her last word as if interested and wanting to know more.

"A childhood friend, you say?"

"Ah! You're interested. Okay, I'll tell you. It'll be a long story if that is okay with you. From the looks of it, this rain is not going to let up."

"It'll be possible to spend the night here. You're okay with this?"

"If it's just you for one night, then I don't mind."

Alicia flushes as she settles to tell her story.

"Remember what I said about living here since middle school because of my parents' job? That's because they're teachers who teach at different schools. English, to be exact. They got in through some program and we moved here, but they were still teachers before coming here."

"You mean back in your country."

"Yes, they worked as teachers who taught in many places. We had to move around a lot because there was always a demand for them, especially if those places were in the countryside. As a result, I barely made any friends. We moved as soon as the school year ended, sometimes after a semester. Because of this constant moving, I never bothered to make friends because I knew I would move anyway. And suddenly, one day, I met the one who became my friend.

At first, I was not interested, but her genuine interest eventually won me over. I assumed she wanted something from me because she was so persistent. Soon afterward, we became friends and spent every waking day together, becoming closer as time passed. For the first time ever, I enjoyed someone's company. She was always cheerful, barely negative. I found it annoying at first, but then I got it wasn't fake. She was very religious, too, so that's how I got this silver cross.

The religion part made me worry because, as a child of teachers, I knew a lecture when I saw it coming. I was worried our brief friendship would've been spent with her preaching. Her family managed a church, but still."

"So you're not really a believer?"

"Here's the thing. It was she who made me interested. She explained in a fun, fascinating way without agenda or ulterior motive. I began attending just to see her and hear the lectures, which were just as interesting as her explanations. It was all well and good. Then, I had to move again because the school year had ended. My friend was very heartbroken, but then again, there was nothing I couldn't do."

Alicia sadly sighs and suddenly turns quiet.

"You're hesitating," Hyoga says.

"Sometime later, while away, I stumbled upon a newspaper article about a car crash, and there were photos in it. Familiar ones. My friend was among them. Unable to believe it, I called her house, but the line was cut, so I called the church, which confirmed the truth. She was dead. I spent a few weeks in a daze, feeling hollow at the thought of her loss. I made my one and only friend, who I cared about, and she was gone... forever.

I still had to get my act together because, once again, we had to move after that school year ended. For the first time, I got sick of that. I just wanted to stay in a place long enough to make friends and bond with them. When my parents got the teaching job here, we were about to move again, but I yelled out that enough was enough. They moved to other cities while I stayed with my aunt so I could stay in my school of choice, first with middle school and now this high school."

"Will you still continue to believe?"

"Of course! I learned there is a God. Funny, you're the first person I ever told you this. It's just seeing your gold cross that made me feel like talking because of all these flashbacks I'm getting. I had to let it out."

Alicia flushes again and hides her face in the blanket.

"You're shivering," he says.

"I have no clothes, okay, and it's cold. The fireplace helps a bit, but not much. Still, I'm happy that I'm not alone in this. However, I am concerned about my aunt being alone at home. I've never been out this late, and the trains end at midnight. We'll go home tomorrow, right?"

"Once the rain stops, yes."

"That's good to hear."

Alicia rests her head on his chest, slightly teared up. He has noticed that she's been holding back the entire time. He takes it as his cue to hold her in his arms as they sleep through the night.

To be continued...