Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 23: Glad We Came to Atami.

After the photo session, we went down the mountain by ropeway and returned to the parking lot of Oishi Park.

We exchanged contact information with Ruka-san and received the photos she took.

“Well, not bad,”

Nanase commented on the last photo I took.

Her expression was still stiff as usual, but I wondered if her cheeks seemed to relax slightly.

“Wow, Ri-chan is really a beautiful girl… I want to frame and display the photo… Hehehe.”

There’s a dangerous person here.

“I’ll throw your smartphone into the lake.”

“How could you do that to my treasure!”

“I’m the one in the picture, you know.”

“Alright, let’s head back soon!”

“You really don’t listen to people, do you?”

I was worried that Nanase’s words about driving safely on the way back might not be heard, but it turned out to be unnecessary.

The drive was so peaceful that I felt sleepy after about 10 minutes.

It might have been because Nanase was keeping a watchful eye on Ruka-san in the passenger seat, as if pointing a gun at her.

When we returned to Atami Station, it was already late at night.

Since we told Ruka-san that today was a temporary day off from school, we decided to part ways.

“Thank you both for today! Thanks to you, I feel so refreshed!”

Ruka-san said with her usual smile.

“Thank you too for driving. To put it mildly, it was amazing.”

It truly was a wonderful time.

Without Ruka-san, we wouldn’t have seen Mount Fuji or discovered Nanase’s unexpected side.

I knew I would look back on today’s events many times in the future.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it! It seems Ri-chan had fun too!”

“I haven’t said a word about my impressions yet.”

“I know you had fun, right?”

“I find it hard to admit, but yes, it was quite enjoyable. Thank you.”

Nanase, unusually, spoke sincerely.

“Yeah, it seems like you’ve relaxed a bit.”

Ruka-san nodded happily.

“I think you should be a little more tense. You’re too carefree.”

“I’ll consider that!”

“You don’t seem to be thinking about it at all.”

“I’m enjoying life right now, so I don’t really mind.”

Ruka-san laughed as if she had no worries at all.

She probably doesn’t think too deeply about anything.

That’s why she can recover quickly from unpleasant or sad experiences.

“Well, that’s life, I guess.”

“By the way, I’ve been curious about this.”

Ruka-san suddenly made a dissatisfied face.

“Ri-chan, why do you call me ‘you’?”

“There’s no particular reason, is there a problem?”

“It makes me feel like there’s a distance between us.”

“I’ve heard something similar from someone else.”

Nanase glanced at me.

I tried to send a telepathic message, but she looked back at me as if I were a suspicious person.

“I don’t mind what you call me as long as I can tell it’s me.”

“Really? Then, can you call me Ruka-nee-san?”

“Repeat Three year-san.”

(T/N: Ruka says “Honto! ? Jā, Ruka nēsan tte yonde?” and Nanase says “Ryūnen 3-nen-san”, you can see it kinda sounds similar)

“The sound is similar, but that’s not it!!”

“Just kidding………. Tsukino-san.”

“You hesitated and called me by my last name!?”

“I was reluctant to say it.”

“I see, you’re a shy person, aren’t you?”

“You can say whatever you want.”

“Well, I guess that’s fine!”

Ruka-san put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest.

Compared to the morning, they had become much closer.

“Well, it’s sad, considering now that our friendship has deepened, it is time to say goodbye.”

“Yeah, it’s getting late.”

It was a bit sad to say goodbye to the Pancake-gō, which I had been so reluctant to ride.

“Well then, once again, Ka-kun, Ri-chan, thank you for today! When you come to Atami again, definitely contact me!”

“Thanks, we had fun too! Yeah, we’ll contact you when we come again.”

“I don’t know about ‘definitely,’ but I’ll do my best.”

“Ri-chan being herself till the end, haha. Well then, bye!”

With those words, Ruka-san rode off on the Pancake-gō.

“Wow, she was quite a person, huh?”

I said to Nanase after we were alone again.

“It felt like being caught in the biggest tornado in history.”

“Well, unexpected things are part of the charm of traveling, right?”

“Don’t you think that just because you say it’s the charm of traveling, everything is forgiven?”

“But it was fun, wasn’t it?”

“…I won’t deny that.”

I couldn’t help but smile wryly at her stubbornness.

“So, what should we do? It’s already late, and moving on now seems a bit tough.”

“Let’s stay another night and leave Atami tomorrow morning.”

“That sounds good. For now, let’s find somewhere to eat dinner.”

“Let’s do that.”

Nanase started walking ahead.

“Wait, do you already have a place in mind?”

“No, not particularly.”

“Aren’t you going to look it up?”

During the day, we had relied on the internet for lunch, the hot springs, and dessert. While I was thinking about this…

“Wandering around and casually entering a restaurant is also part of the charm of traveling, isn’t it?”

With that, Nanase started walking ahead.

I was taken aback for a moment, but quickly followed her.

When I caught up to her, I noticed a warm feeling in my chest.

I was probably happy.

Nanase, who had been so absolutely against failure, had chosen to take a risk.

Borrowing Ruka-san’s words, maybe Nanase had tried to think more casually.

The clear change in Nanase over yesterday and today.

Undoubtedly, it was thanks to our chance encounter with Ruka-san.

I won’t say it because she would never admit it.

“What are you grinning about?”

“No, nothing… I was just thinking that Atami was a great place.”

As I said that, Nanase let out a small smile.

“I agree.”

I was glad we came to Atami.

From the bottom of my heart, I thought so.