About ten minutes on the ropeway brought us to Soun-zan Station, where we switched to the cable car for Hakone-Yumoto.
This mini-trip — which I’d been roped into via the Phase One bowling bet — was almost over. Kano had been dragging me around the whole time, but it had been more fun than I’d expected — bittersweet that it was ending.
“This weekend really flew by.”
“Yeah. Going all those places with you was fun, Kano-san.”
“Same. I had a blast hanging out with Yuito.”
She looked deeply satisfied — first time in a while I’d seen her this happy. Genuinely had a good time, then.
“By the way — you’ll keep the fact that we went together a secret, right?”
“I know, I know. You worry too much, Yuito.”
“If this got out it would be a mess.”
If she slipped and let it out, chatty Suzuno would route it to my brother for sure. Cannot allow.
“Wait — won’t my brother figure out we went to Hakone from the souvenirs? I’ve already posted about Hakone on socials, so if you have Hakone souvenirs at the same time, he might piece it together.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to pick up decoys at Shinjuku Station — different prefecture — to cover for my brother and dad.”
There’s a Kanto-wide souvenir corner at Shinjuku Station. I’d grab something from Chiba or Saitama or Ibaraki to misdirect them.
Based on the souvenirs, my brother and dad would self-deceive about my destination. With a few invented anecdotes from the imaginary trip, the cover would be airtight.
The actual Hakone souvenirs — soba, black curry — I’d give only to my co-conspirator, Mom.
“Wow, you’ve thought this through.”
“Don’t underestimate me — I’m top-tier when it comes to self-preservation.”
“Saying that with a proud face doesn’t make it any cooler.”
She was laughing softly. We chatted on and before I knew it we’d pulled in at Hakone-Yumoto. Transfer to the Romance Car.
“By the way — wonder if Suzuno’s date with Ayato is over yet?”
”…What?”
“Oh, you didn’t know? Suzuno’s on a date with Ayato today.”
“News to me…”
I hadn’t known they were on a date. My mood obviously dropped, but Kano didn’t seem to notice and continued.
“They went shopping today, and they’re going to hang at my place after. Mom and Dad are out till night, so I hope the two of them aren’t, you know — getting carried away.”
”…That’s not going to happen.”
I said it as much to convince myself as her. They’re both still high schoolers — they wouldn’t be doing that.
“Probably, sure. But you never know. Suzuno literally asked me the other day how much the first time hurts.”
“S-she was just curious…”
I tried to project calm but my insides were in turmoil. I genuinely did not want to imagine Suzuno and my brother doing that.
“Yeah, that’s true. Suzuno wouldn’t climb the adult stairs before her big sister.”
“Right, no need to worry.”
Suzuno’s too shy to even ask my brother his schedule directly — no way she’s making that kind of move. And my brother’s in love with Kano — he wouldn’t lay a hand on her sister either.
Even knowing all that intellectually, the worry chewed at me. The day’s fun evaporated.
Wait — was this whole mini-trip Kano’s calculated move to keep me out of the way while Suzuno made plays at my brother?
No, that was overthinking it. But I couldn’t entirely rule it out either. The thought cycled in my head and time slipped by — we were already at Shinjuku.
“Let’s do some quick shopping and head home.”
”…What shopping?”
“You said you needed to buy decoy souvenirs, didn’t you? Already forgotten?”
“Oh, right…”
I’d nearly forgotten because I’d been so fixated on Suzuno and my brother. I tunnel-vision badly when something’s on my mind.
I picked up a few generic souvenirs at the Shinjuku gift counter. Selected carefully, of course, to support the misdirection. And so, the Hakone mini-trip came to an end.