A Lengthy Trip (Part 3)

"OI! Wake up! Yoshimitsu! Yuta! You dumb lazy asses! Get up!"

Waking up to a loud morning, I could hear Satsuki's voice coming from outside of my hotel room. She was pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell over and over again... It's excruciating. It's 7 am in the morning, and I'm dead tired, so why was she here, pounding on my door?

Walking to the door to answer her yelling, I first peeked through the doorknob to check if it really was Satsuki. You can never be too certain, after all. Peeking through the door peephole, I saw a short woman, rocking twin pigtails and a grey jacket, donning a Monokuma t-shirt and a short skirt. With that, knowing that it was Satsuki, I opened the door.

"What do you want, Satsuki? You're getting in the way of my sleep schedule here."

"I'm waking you up early so that we can go out and explore more today!"

"Where's everyone else then?"

"They're all sleeping. What about you? Where's Yuta and Darpan?"

"He's a very heavy sleeper. You didn't even manage to wake him up, with all that yelling and whatnot." I said, pointing towards the unconscious man that is Yuta. "Darpan on the other hand... I've not seen him all morning. Must've went outside or something."

"Huh. Well, sucks to be them! Let's head to Nara Park today, 'cause I wanna feed deer!" 

"Isn't Nara Park like 40 minutes away from here? Are you sure it's fine for us to go that far?"

"That's why we're going early, you dummy!" Satsuki yelled in my face. "Now come! Let's go to Nara, Yoshimitsu."

"But I don't wanna go that far..." I drowsily said as I was desperate to stay in my room and do nothing.

"No complaints! Besides, you're all dressed, with a t-shirt and sports pants. Now let's go, Yoshimitsu!"

Tugging my shirt, the hyperactive Satsuki dragged me off to go to Nara Park with her. I hadn't even had the time to pack, but I'm glad I wasn't wearing pajamas. We left a hand-written message next to Yuta, informing him to tell the others that Satsuki and I had gone to Nara, and hence should not come looking for us. With that, we headed to the train station and bought a one-day trip ticket to Nara.

Known for its deer and breathtaking scenery, as well as its variable traditional structures, Nara park is a must visit for Japan. It's relaxing, and the temperature seems to be just right for anyone. Even I, who frequently shut myself in my room enjoys it.

Boarding on the train, we picked a spot close to the window. Satsuki looked as though she couldn't hide her excitement. She must've really wanted to go. Occasionally, she'd look back at me after showing me her face of thrill, and just generally gave off a childish vibe.

Do you know how people say that humans desire attention and fear rejection? It's basically the concept where people want to feel loved and cared for while they fear being rejected and tossed aside. Right now, I feel as if Satsuki was displaying her want for my attention, so I guess I'll humor her a little. I kind of also want to see deer, after all. I remember my mother having a deer bite her coat once before as well, and that was kinda funny. Let's see if I can get the deer to bite Satsuki's jacket this time.

"Hey Yoshimitsu, do you think the others will think that we're up to something?" Satsuki suddenly asked me.

"Judging by the way you suddenly left with me like this, I'd say they definitely would wonder about where we went."

"You're always so logical and composed, aren't you?"

"Not really, I did get startled by our first meeting..."

"That's true! I'll never forget that look on your face, you know! Maybe I should've done it further with a maid outfit..." Satsuki said, smirking to herself.

"Please refrain from making more unnecessary jokes."

"Aw! You're no fun."

"I'm only stating what seems to be the best statement for me." I said, smugly.

"Well it's not the best for me! You really are a meanie, like Mayu said."

"Fine, fine, I apologize."

"Hehehe~ That's what I thought." Satsuki said, with a light grin on her face.

We both then stayed silent for a while.

By this point, twenty minutes had already passed. It's a really complex illusion, the way time seems to move faster when you're indulging yourself with something you're interested in. Even I can't wrap my head around it sometimes. The concept of time itself is elastic, after all. Why 60 seconds? Why 60 minutes? Why 24 hours? There could've been so many more ways to express the flow of the day and night shifts, yet we all agreed on using this time system. 

Feeling bored, I checked what I had in my bag; other than essentials such as my wallet and smartphone, I had my laptop and my water bottle, as well as some other supplies, such as the half used tissue pack and a pack of cookies. Grabbing my laptop, I decided to play a bullet-hell game while I wait for the train ride to be over.

"Ooh! Isn't that the famous bullet hell game known for its difficulty? The one featuring a bunch of girls shooting bullets at each other, right?" Satsuki said, pointing on the startup screen.

"Yeah, it's a fun and challenging game, though I can't seem to ever get past the one time-stopping. Do you play any games, Satsuki?"

"Hehe, you're just unskilled, Yoshimitsu. I play all sorts of games, you know?"

That's surprising. And here I thought she was the type who would be restricted by her parents, judging from the backstory she gave me. It's true that she frequents my place and play games as well, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

Manipulating the shrine maiden protagonist through the waves of bullets, I felt myself more anxious, with each level getting tougher and harder.

"Aw man, I died again." I said, sighing in defeat.

"And you were so close to the vampire stage, too!" Satsuki said, also sighing in defeat.

"Um, Satsuki, you're a bit too close to me." I said, as I retracted my body away from Satsuki, who was leaning towards me.

"Don't be shy, Yoshimitsu! Besides, I can spectate you better if I'm closer. Were you thinking of something else, Yoshimitsu~?" Satsuki said, teasingly. Guess I should reply calmly.

"It's nothing. If you're fine with it, go ahead. I was only ensuring that you have personal space, after all."

"Yeah yeah, you can say what you want Yoshimitsu but I know what the truth is~"

"Alright, I'll humor you a little, Satsuki." I whispered to Satsuki, teasing her back.

After another moment's time, we arrived at Nara station, and went to visit Nara Park. Upon arriving at the entrance gate, we were both surprised by something that we weren't expecting there.

"Hi Yoshu! Hi Satsuki!"

Running and yelling towards us in the distance was Mayu, who was wearing black shorts and a white hoodie. At that moment, I thought of how cute she was, and also thought of how the fuck she got here— I mean, there's no way she could've gotten up earlier than us, right? Unless Satsuki was lying...

"Satsuki? Didn't you say that Mayu and Carol were still sleeping?" I asked, with a dumbfounded expression.

"I thought they were! But Carol doesn't seem to be with her..."

"Poor Yuta. He has to deal with the student leader all by himself." I sighed.

"I knew you were up to something sneaky, Satsuki! Tossing and turning at night and smiling to yourself, you were planning this whole thing, weren't you?" Mayu said, pouting.

"Well, I can't believe that you actually took advantage of the darkness and left a sleeping dummy there! Did you really wake up earlier than 7 am, just to get here?" Satsuki said, raising her voice.

Guess I should calm them both down.

"Now now, there's no need to fight over this; the more the merrier, right?"

"Stop acting like Yuta, it doesn't fit you Yoshu." Mayu said, giving me a blank stare.

I'm disheartened.

"Are we still going to go in Nara Park then? If so, then you two should stop bickering!" I said, dragging them both into the park with me.

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"Ooh! Look Yoshimitsu, a deer!" Satsuki said, pointing towards a male deer with antlers. "They really do look magnificient, don't they?"

"I can agree on that! They're so cute, prancing around freely like gazelles!" Mayu said, with an excited expression.

"They're basically the same thing, aren't they?"

"NO!" They both yelled at me, staring me dead in the eye. Looks like I crossed the line.

"I'm not that knowledgeable." I said, shrugging.

"Gazelle are Bovidae, meaning they are more close to cattle and buffalos, while deer are cervidae, meaning that they're closer to elk and moose! Learn your biology, Yoshimitsu!" Satsuki said, pointing at me.

"Hmph."

"My my, Yoshu! Since when did we say you can rebel against us?" Mayu said, clenching her fists.

These women are scary. I should hurry up and apologize.

"I apologize for my remark earlier. Deer and gazelle aren't the same." I said, bowing towards the pair.

"As long as you know it's fine, I guess..." Satsuki said, looking the other way.

We then continued along the trail of the park, seeing all sorts of buildings and taking all sorts of photos. There were shrines, gift shops and restaurants scattered throughout as well, and the sight was breathtaking.

"Speaking of which, You think I can feed the deer here?" Satsuki said, looking at me and Mayu for an answer.

"I don't think that's a relatively good idea, but I do wanna try it out! Where can we find the deer food seller, Yoshu?" Mayu said, looking towards me.

"I'm not the tour guide you know... But I do recall seeing a vendor just a few hundred meters back. I'll go buy some for you two, just wait here."

Rushing off to get the girls their pet food, I went and bought a small bag of crackers for deer feeding. Apparently, there's over a thousand deer inhabiting the park, meaning that there'll be lots of deer to feed.

"I just hope that they don't all come stampeding us..."

Heading back to the two, I handed them the crackers, and they started feeding the deer. Mayu seemed to have no trouble, while Satsuki seemed to be having her clothes being chewed on by deer, and damn it was funny.

"Just like how my mother got swarmed by deers lol."

"Yoshitmitsu! Help me!" Satsuki yelled in the distance, directing my attention towards her.

"Hold on, I'll be right there;" I yelled, running towards her.

Managing to shoo away some deer by showing them that I had no food on me, they quickly scattered, leaving behind a timid Satsuki.

"I was so scared of being eaten, Yoshimitsu..." Satsuki said, clinging onto me.

"Bozo. Deer are herbivores. They don't eat people."

"What are you two doing?" Mayu said, walking towards us.

"Satsuki here's traumatized by deer, so just leave her alone for a while."

"Aw, but I was also kind of startled by the number of deer here..." Mayu said, giving me the puppy eyes.

"If it's nothing big, then don't complain about it."

After calming Satsuki down, we went to a restaurant to grab something to eat. The soy sauce ramen there was great, and everyone left with a satisfied meal. We all then decided that we'd head back, as it was around 2 PM already. It's weird, how time passes by so quickly, without a trace or hint of stopping.

"We've been here the whole morning; should we head back now?" I said, pointing at my phone which was displaying the time.

"Seems like a good idea. I wanna try the hot springs back at the hotel!" Satsuki said, stretching herself.

"You should really save that for tonight. I'd say we should head to the game center they had at the hotel; it seems fun and interesting." I suggested, secretly wanting to play a rhythm game.

"Let's go back then; I'm sure Yuta and Carol are waiting for us." Mayu said.

I wonder how they're doing...