Finally decided

In the midst of endless struggles, for a novice man, a single gesture of goodwill will turn into a blissful moment of his life. It will help him to grow, help him to work hard, help him to live through. 

The warmth that spread into him will soothe the molten heart of his. He'll rejuvenate the purpose of his hard work. Inspiring him to do better and hopeful for the life ahead. Unless that hope gets cracked at the end, driving him to despair. It's hard to cling to hope for the fear of utter despair.

“What do you mean dead mountain? Is that a place?” Ichikawa asked hastily. 

“Yes. It's a normal mountain. There are even residents, though not so many.”

“Are the residents evil?” I asked jokingly 

“Say that again.” Hideo joined with the look.

“Someone watched too many games and movies.” 

We boys laughed together. Though the girls were in a confused stage.

“Do you have any idea, Fumi?”

Yoshino nodded horizontally to Ichikawa's bewilderment.

After clearing his throat, the owner spoke up,

“It's a name me and my friends gave as it is mostly secluded.”

“So where is it?”

“It's a bit far. Opposite to the cemetery. Close to Mizukicho. You might wanna take a map for travel.

“Huh, then it will be the same. We have tons of places like this but the problem is that we don't know much about those locations.” I said.

“Hmph…I see. You know Kamigō Hydrangea Hill?”

“Oh…yes, in Noshichiri. I forgot about that.” Hideo said, softly smacking his head with his palm.

“Is it a flower garden?” Yoshino asked with an interested look. 

“That's right. It's a beautiful place. There's even food stalls with a wonderful view. There's also a soccer club beside it.” The owner answered with glowing eyes. 

“Then let's go there.” I suggested slamming the table lightly. 

Although I don't know much about flowers, I bet it will be a colourful space to visit. Of course that will be the main point along with the soccer club.

“How will we get there?” Yoshino asked.

“I have a friend who works there. He has a minibus that he uses for supply transporting. I'll ask him.”

“Great. You've been very helpful to us. Thank you.” Ichikawa showed her gratitude.

“Yes. Thank you very much.” This time we all said together. 

“Uhh no. It's nothing. Think of it as your senior helping you out. Just do me a favour, can you spread good things about my cafe?”

“Well even if we don't, the name will already be a headline in a few days and the coffee's good.” I stated the obvious.

“But we'll keep it in mind.” Hideo added.

As everyone finished their coffee, we grabbed our bags. It was time for our departure. 

“How much is the bill?” I asked. 

“Well, for you, the inspirational midfielder, I will give you all a 10% discount for lifetime.” He said, showing a peace sign. 

“You're a great service bro.” Hideo said, patting my back.

“Again, we're grateful.” Yoshino said with a thumbs up. 

“Hold on, there's more. As it was a first time visit and because we had a good, friendly and fun conversation, I'll give an additional 5% discount for today.”

“I'll spread rumours that you're hot and handsome among the girls.” Ichikawa said instantaneously. 

We laughed vigorously and paid the discounted bill. Right when we were about to leave, I turned around and asked, 

“You never told us your name.”

He replied, “Hashimoto Eiji.”

We then exchanged our names and insta so we can contact him for the trip. 

We got outside and began walking. Ichikawa and Hideo walked in front. Yoshino and I were walking behind them. 

The firm wind blew calmly under the dusk cloudy blue and yellow sky above us. Because of the wind the distinct smell of shampoo from Yoshino's hair reached my sensitive nose. 

“Smells go- I mean…the coffee tasted as good as it smelled.” I hurriedly changed my sentence midway. 

“Yeah. It was satisfying, it was like caramel.”

I nodded to her observation.

“So you were part of the soccer club. You didn't say it that day.”

“I thought it wasn't something worth mentioning.”

“That's not true. Your team even defeated this school's junior high students.”

“Uh huh…” I agreed embarrassingly. 

“So, how does it feel to be here, at your opposition team?” Yoshino asked while making her fist like a microphone.

So she has a childish side to her timid nature huh. She's adorable. Over the course of days, our conversation has grown natural.

“Uhm.” After clearing my throat I continued, “It was a good match. I remember having 2 assists. Their defence had large gaps to exploit. The lack of a CDM was evident. Their passing was out of touch, and was easily losing balls when we pressed too high. But their counter attacks were thrilling. Quick, organized and efficient.” I gave my analysis.

“That was…well detailed. Thank you for your cooperation. We'll be right back with you.” With that Yoshino ended the interview. 

“Haha, sorry.”

“Uh, no. It was fun. It's been a while since I've given my analysis.” 

It was kinda odd. But seeing Yoshino open up made me feel better. I get a vibe that she holds a barrier around her. She is open when holding a normal conversation but sometimes puts up a defensive barrier. 

Maybe she's shy and she usually doesn't want people to get involved. I don't know. But she's a nice person. That I can tell. 

“Were you the assistant manager?”

“If my former manager heard that he would've told me to sprint around the field ten times.”

Her face cracked into a small laugh. 

“Let me ask you something. Do you watch football?”

“Yes! I do. Though not regularly. My father used to watch matches of his favourite club.”

“That's cool.” I don't wanna press further about her family, last time it didn't go well. 

“My mom used to scold dad, saying he's ruining my sleep and his. But she never outright interdicted.” She said with a grieving voice.

“For me, I had to watch secretly. I didn't have my personal phone. So at night, I used to sneak into my parents bedroom. Mom kept her phone on a shelf beside the door. I carefully took her phone and watched the matches and put it in its place after the final whistle. Though sometimes I had to watch highlights when I got caught.”

She chuckled, putting her slender finger to her mouth. “You're quite passionate.” she said after giving a smile. 

I scratched the back of my head embarrassingly until I remembered something, 

“Uhm, is the place okay for you? Hydrangea Hill?”

“Yeah. Why do you ask?”

“No it's just you didn't say anything at that time.” Though she did raise a question about transportation. But nonetheless, she didn't express any opinion.

“Oh, everyone already said yes and I had no objections. So I didn't say anything separately.”

“Uhh, I understand.”

After a short pause, she asked with firm tone, 

“You said one time that you couldn't get out of the house much. Then how did you get good at playing football?”

“Well I had club activities. I never missed a day, even on weekends. Sometimes I even lied and came to practice, even though there wasn't any session. ”

“That's some dedication.”

“The club was an escape for me from my normal life. It's not that I don't love playing, I do. But I guess it's just worked out both ways. Or maybe I just used it as a getaway.” I said, feeling guilty.

“I believe, both reasons complemented each other and made you look forward to something everyday. It's okay to have selfish gains through something you love doing. Like professional players also take money for playing. But that doesn't mean they're playing only for money. So don't overthink it.” 

The words of her cleared some thoughts of mine that were bugging me for quite a while.

“Uhm…you don't have to answer if you don't want to…are you perhaps reluctant to join the club for this reason?”

“Part of the reason. I wanted to ha-”

“Hey you both. You've been talking for quite awhile. This is where I part. Oh and research the place online, we'll make a plan tomorrow.”

We nodded and gave a small thumbs up.

“Bye Kaori.” Yoshino gestured. Hideo and I also gestured with our hands. 

We waited until she crossed the road and started walking towards home. 

“What were you guys whispering all this time?” Hideo asked, with a mischievous tone and sly face.

“Did you join the music club with Ichikawa? Chasing after Ichikawa…”

“Wait wait wait. How…why did you counter me right now. Yes I will most likely join the club but only because I'm a good bass player, in case you never noticed. Also I've nothing else that interests me.

“Sounds like an excuse. When did you ever play it well?”

“I will learn! Unlike you, I like challenging myself.”

“Hmph, as if. You never stick with your words. In just a few days, you'll leave it as saying, "it doesn't spark anything to me.”

“Huh!! I won't.”

“You both really know each other well.” Yoshino laughed, making a camera gesture with fingers as if recording us. 

“Oh come on, he doesn't know shit about me. But I know he's an insecure, neurotic person.” Saying that he sneaked ahead. 

“Huh, what did you say?” I started running after him. 

We kept arguing until the cross section of 4 Chome. It's time for us to go our own way. 

“Hey, mom said to bring 4 Dorayakis home. I have some leftover homeworks to finish. So can you please…get those?” Hideo asked, putting his hands together.

After a long sigh I agreed, “All right, I'll meet you at home.”

“Then I'm going. Bye Yoshino.”

“Bye Fujimura.” 

We started to walk towards the bakery and her home. 

“We have to sort out the name.”

“Right.”

We talked about the school and the subjects and some trivial stuff until we reached the bakery. I bought the sweets and came outside. I gave her a small box as usual. It kind of became usual. 

Though right as I gave her, an old lady walked outside of Yoshino's yard.

“So you're the one.” She said with a grumpy voice.

Oh man, what did I do!!!?