And so the outing continues.

“Can you keep this a secret?” Yoshino said, eagerly requesting.

“Of course.” I assured her. 

Seeing us talking for a while, Hideo and Ichikawa approached us. 

“Wow, you guys are getting along well.” Ichikawa teased. 

“Not as good as you both.” I countered.

“Well, you could say we're like childhood friends, so that's understandable. But…” Before she could continue I talked back. 

“Ahh…that reminded me, all the romance anime Hideo recommended had this childhood friend tag.”

“Wait, when…” Hideo tried to respond to me but I cut him midway. 

“It's an interesting genre but if every series included that tag, then it would be kinda repetitive if I only kept watching those.”

“But…” His sentence got blocked again, not by me but by Yoshino.

“So you like that type. That's sweet, right Kaori?” 

“Huh…Yeah. That's good.” At Yoshino's words, Ichikawa fell into bewilderment. Seeing her agreeing with Yoshino, Hideo fell silent and embarrassed. 

Yoshino is also pulling the strings huh. This is so fun.

After walking together on some interesting spots and clicking some photos, we went to the museum. 

The museum was decorated with many vibrant lights, the ceiling was shaped like the surface of Mars. It was also ornamented with display armaments, some old traditional banners and ambient lighting across the items at display.  

The artifacts in the museum were historical to watch at. The different samurai armors, each carrying its own legacy. There were details written of which family wore these mighty armors. 

“It's so masterfully created. I heard Kamakura has a long history with samurai.” Yoshino exclaimed.

“Yes. It served as the de facto capital of Japan during the first era of Shogunate rule.” I said. 

“Wow, I didn't know that despite living here since…forever.” Ichikawa got amused. 

“He is a genius after all. More knowledgeable.” Hideo said, patting my back.

“It's nothing like that.” 

Honestly it's like some things in life that somehow stays in your mind forever. Other than that, I don't think I even remember much of what I studied in middle school, things that don't have any relation to high school studies. 

We moved along to the next room, where many katanas were on display. Each of those had different designs and engravings. Every handle had Tsuka-ito and Samegawa for grip. One at the top even had a Menuki. 

Seeing the katanas Hideo and I carefully examined all of them. If the flowers outside had a spectacular sight, this was an artistic or something deep rooted pleasure to behold. 

Though the girls weren't as interested as us yet still viewed the gallery with us patiently. We spent some more time at the next gallery, where some old maps of the city and historical figures and their info was shown. 

We got out of the museum, only to see many tourists already packing the place. It was almost lunch time. 

We headed for the restaurant, which was a 5 minutes walk from the museum. The restaurant was at the cliffside. It had many tables inside but the main attraction was the outside. The outside tables have this extraordinary view of Inoyamacho city. The city looked tiny from this height. 

We went to the restaurant and talked to the receptionist about the booking that Mr. Taiki did for us. A waiter then took us to a table outside which was in the perfect spot for the splendid view ahead of us. 

The table was a rectangular shape and attached to the steel railing. There's also a probably 6 feet safety space outside the railing. The seat arrangements were a bit weird as one side was unusable. 

There were two seats side by side on the bigger side that had the straight view of Inoyamacho. The other two seats on each side are facing across by the railing. 

Yoshino seemed a bit hesitant, before taking the single seat. Hideo and Ichikawa, excited, took their seats facing the view. Having only one seat left, I sat across Yoshino. 

We were eating while glancing at the city outskirts. The city seemed alive, many houses in the distant view, some parks were also visible. 

Though at the corner of my vision, I saw Yoshino gazing anywhere but the city. I slowly turned my gaze towards her carefully, so that she wouldn't notice me staring at her. 

She was attentively eating and talking with others and occasionally glancing at me. But never to her left, at the marvelous view that everyone wants to see. Her hands seemed to shake a little. 

“Are you alright?” I asked, looking at her.

“Huh? …Yeah. Why?”

“You look uncomfortable here.” 

“Is that true, Fumi?” Ichikawa asked, placing her hand on top of Yoshino's on the table.

“We can sit inside if you like. I'm sure anyone would exchange seats with us.” Hideo suggested.

“No no, it's alright. It's just that it's been a while since I've traveled anywhere. So I'm just feeling a bit tired. But I'm sure after lunch I'll be energized.” She said enthusiastically.

“Why don't we take a rest for half an hour after lunch in the lounge area.” I proposed. 

The lounge area was just beside the counter. Although it might be crowded, the space is also huge. There's also the second floor.

“Don't worry. I'm fine. The food's delicious, so we should hurry and eat it before it gets cold.” 

“That's right.” Hideo added.

Hmm…it's odd. Though I don't know what's going on. She never told me anything about her life except for her grandma and I didn't press her on this matter either. I hope she can open up to me someday. 

After we finished eating, we chatted there for a few minutes and I initiated to go somewhere else as Yoshino still looked uncomfortable here. 

We had one last place to visit here. It's a mini aquarium. It was at the opposite side of the museum. We crossed the flower field where loads of people were roaming around and finally arrived at the mini aquarium. 

The aquarium didn't have large fishes or anything. But it has many smaller unique fishes that I've rarely seen. Though maybe because I haven't been to an aquarium before. 

“Wow, they're so cute.”

“Yeah. I feel like buying a fish from here.” Yoshino showed her excitement. 

Although it looks appealing to watch, I'm not feeling as excited as them. I thought Hideo would be the same as me. Though, I was wrong. He was looking at those fish silently with a serious face. 

“If you were ever this serious in your love life, maybe you would've gotten the love of your life already by this time.” I said mischievously.

*What nonsense you're spouting.” Hideo was enraged.

Yoshino laughed at my words to ease Ichikawa. 

“You know you should come clean on these things…anyway, let's go to the soccer club.”

“You can't change the topic now.” Hideo, still flustered, fought back.

“Yes yes. My bad. But let's go.”

“Will he have access there? I'm sure we won't be able to enter.”

“We can watch from the guest deck. I'm sure there must be a separate space in that stadium.”

Well not every stadium has this but I've seen many small stadiums having this when there's not a match. Though I don't know if there's a match today. 

“If there's a match ongoing or scheduled to start soon, then how about we take a ticket for the match?”

“Yes!! Let's do that.” Hideo exclaimed. Though he doesn't play much, he likes watching football.

“I don't have any problem.” Yoshino also agreed. She's also an enjoyer. Now the only one left is Ichikawa.

As we all looked at her, she gave a smile and said, 

“If everyone's going, then I'll also tag along. Even though I don't watch football much, I hope you guys can help me out when I get confused.”

“Alright.” We all responded.

After getting out of there, we walked about 10 minutes until we reached the soccer field. Sadly, it was empty. As it was the first day of Golden Week, the practice session was also probably suspended.

“Then what can we do?” Ichikawa said. 

“You know we can still sit here for a while. The wind is also nice.” I proposed.

As everyone agreed, we took our seats. We sat there and talked about random things and some of their plans for the rest of the holidays. After gazing at the empty field for quite a while, I felt that I should tell them something about my resolve. 

I have come to realize that if you find genuine people, you gotta keep them close. To do that you have to open up gradually, showing how you trust them and share each other's burden.

But it's only when you're confirmed that those people are the real ones. Which in my case, I'm definitely sure. I wanna cherish this group. Having experienced this for the first time in life, I'm also benefiting from suppressing my excruciating pain. 

“Umm, I want to talk to you all about something. It's about the club. I've decided.”