The girls unanimously voted to go hiking and playing. So, after a simple breakfast, Sora returned to the rooms with the girls to pack their belongings, and then they headed to Mount Takao together.
The millennium-old Yakuoin Temple, a small-scale monkey park, and an observation deck at the summit where you can see Mount Fuji in the distance... As one of the most popular scenic spots around Tokyo, the scenery at Mount Takao was naturally quite nice.
Angel-sama was probably traveling for the first time. Seeing such beautiful scenery, she constantly used her phone to take pictures along the way, rarely showing the liveliness and playfulness of a normal teenage girl.
As for food and drink, there were dango yaki, tengu yaki, Yakuoin's vegetarian shojin ryori, grated yam soba noodles, and more. Sora felt the taste was average, but the other girls were very happy. Especially Anna, who gave incredibly high praise to every dish, acting as if they were all the number one delicacies in the world.
Time rushed by amidst the girls' eating, drinking, and playing. In the blink of an eye, evening arrived.
"It's about time to head back."
Holding the souvenirs he bought for Sagiri, Sora called for the girls to prepare for the return trip.
"I had a lot of fun playing today." Mahiru held her phone, smiling sweetly.
"It's just that my feet are so sore." Elf put her hands on her hips. "We walked so, so much today."
Ruri hid off to the side, secretly sending a message to her mom: "Mom, I'm eating out tonight, I'll go home after eating. You don't need to prepare dinner for me."
It was currently around four or five o'clock. Taking the train back to Tokyo would make it six, and then they still had to transfer. By the time she got home, it would probably be close to seven in the evening, so naturally she should let her mom and sisters eat dinner first.
The message quickly showed as read.
Mrs. Gokou: "When is Ruri going to bring her boyfriend home?"
Ruri's pretty face quickly flushed red, and she sneaked a glance at Sora. "He's not my boyfriend!"
"But you guys already spent the night out together..."
"E-Even if we spent the night out, we didn't do anything, alright!"
"Actually, it's fine. Ruri is a high school student after all. But pay attention to safety, Mom doesn't want to be a grandma just yet."
"Ahhhh! Mom, stop saying that!"
"..."
"It's everyone's first time coming out to play together, so of course we have to take a commemorative photo."
Anna's voice was crisp as she called everyone to gather:
"Photo time, photo time."
The girls naturally didn't refuse, lining up at the foot of Mount Takao.
Then, Anna grabbed a passing tourist. Relying on her max-level social stats, she easily asked the person to help take a picture.
"Sora, you're the tallest, so you stand in the middle. That way the photo will look good."
Anna reached out and pulled Sora into the middle of the girls.
Thus, on Sora's left were Anna and Kuroneko, and on his right were Angel-sama and Elf. A perfect split.
Click.
The photo was captured.
Anna thanked the tourist girl, took back her phone, and sent the photo to everyone. Then, the group returned to the hot spring inn to grab their backpacks and embarked on the return journey together.
There weren't many pedestrians on the way back, and the train was full of empty seats.
Sora sat together with the four girls, raising his eyes to look out the window.
The sun was already setting in the west.
Outside the window, a golden setting sun was slowly sinking below the horizon. Due to the Tyndall effect, the setting sun formed bright beams of light inside the train car, as if time itself had slowed its pace at this moment.
It was highly likely the girls hadn't rested well last night, and they had played all day today. After sitting down, the girls began to nod off. Before long, they fell asleep one by one, leaning against each other.
Only Angel-sama's small head was nodding back and forth; she was clearly still trying to hold on.
"Mahiru-san, you go ahead and sleep for a bit." Sora said softly. "I'm not sleepy right now. I'll wake you guys up when we arrive at the station."
Angel-sama's voice was unusually soft and sweet: "Then I'll leave it to you, Sora-kun..."
"..."
The journey was silent.
The train swayed gently as it returned to Tokyo.
"Goodbye everyone, I'm heading back first."
Ruri waved goodbye, taking a step ahead to transfer trains and go home.
"Mmm, I'm going home too."
Anna waved her right hand, preparing to slip away.
Sora looked at the gluttonous girl: "Give me your work, I'll read it when I get back tonight."
"Ah, I forgot." Anna slapped her forehead, opened her backpack, and took out a notebook. "Sora is not allowed to laugh at me."
"Don't worry, I've received professional training, unless I can't hold it in."
"Mmm..."
Anna raised her right hand, her slender index finger gently poking Sora's waist:
"Hold it in for me!"
Finally, only Sora, Angel-sama, and Elf were left. The three were neighbors, so they naturally walked home together.
"I'm back."
Sora pushed the door open and entered.
The next second.
A silver-haired loli quickly rushed over, sniffing Sora up and down: "Nii-san is so slow, painfully slow!"
Sora looked down: "What is Sagiri doing?"
"Smelling to see if Nii-san has the scent of bad women on him." Sagiri said bluntly. "To actually come back this late, I'm unhappy!"
"I'll try to come back earlier next time." Sora changed into his slippers and took out the souvenirs he bought. "This is a gift I bought for Sagiri. Specialty snacks from Mount Takao. Everyone who eats them says they're good."
Sagiri's eyes lit up, and she happily took the snacks: "I'm totally not happy."
"..."
After a simple wash up.
Sora returned to his room, earnestly read Anna's work, and then discussed the details and concepts with 'Inmate Eight'.
During this time, Ruri proactively sent a message asking about the mini-game. After hearing Sora explain the gameplay and mechanics, Kuroneko was highly interested and stated she was ready to help at any time.
The busy day passed in a flash just like that.
The next day.
9:00 AM.
The doorbell rang quietly.
Sora got up to open the door and saw a sparkling Angel-sama standing outside.
"Good morning, Sora-kun." Mahiru's voice was gentle, her caramel-colored eyes exceptionally clear and pure under the sunlight. "I want to go buy a bicycle today, it'll be much more convenient to go to the supermarket for ingredients in the future."
After learning to ride a bike, Angel-sama was clearly very excited to own a bicycle of her own.
"I'll go with Mahiru-san." Sora pondered for two seconds. "The bicycle shop owner is a friend of my father's. I can get you a discount if I take you."
Mahiru blinked her bright eyes and didn't refuse: "Then I'll leave it to you, Sora-kun."
"Let's go."
Sora put on his sneakers and went out with Angel-sama.
The process of buying a bike was a bit tedious, requiring various details to be registered. An hour later, Mahiru finally pushed a brand-new pink bicycle out of the shop.
"Congratulations, Mahiru-san is now a vehicle owner too." Sora said from the side.
"Now you can try riding for longer distances."
"Mmm..." Mahiru pursed her beautiful lips, tilted up her small face, and looked over with expectant eyes.
"I remember Sora-kun saying before that riding a bike to the beach is just the right distance, right?"
"Riding to the beach takes a little over half an hour, it's perfect so you won't get too tired." Sora nodded lightly.
"Shall we take a bike trip to the beach this afternoon?"
Angel-sama raised her right hand, gently tucking a strand of windblown hair behind her ear, her voice sweet and gentle:
"...Okay."