Kyoto / 京都

Our second and final day in Kyoto now lay ahead of us.

“Okay! A new day’s upon us!”, Kimura declared after sighing and getting into a sitting position on top of her futon.

Detecting her roommate still asleep, she chose to take on the role of an alarm clock.

“Heeeyyyy,” she emitted in a dull and prolonged voice, distorted by her attitude of shaking the person still slumbering, “wake up, Yoko-chan! Today we’re going to Kyoto!”

“Huuuuhhhh,” Yokoyama uttered, now twenty-five percent awake, with a feeble tone.

“Ah, you’re awake!”

The wake-up ritual came to a close.

“What do you want? Let me sleep, please,” she continued with a weak monotonous voice.

“No can do, it’s already past the time Akari told us to wake up at 8 AM.”

“Fine.”

“Ah, I’m so excited!”

“How can you already be this energetic before we even eat anything?”

“Umm? What do you mean?”

“Never mind.”

Admittedly, the one all fired up for our Kyoto sightseeing had a point. Everyone else had already woken up and was either in their bedrooms or the kitchen, near the table.

Downstairs, the homeowners were preparing breakfast.

“Konome, at what time is our bus to Kyoto?”

Natsuko intended to clear a doubt.

“9:15 AM.”

Having replied to a question pertaining to time, she remembered something else also related to that very subject, “Everyone, it’s breakfast time!”

After breakfast, we all gathered together outside—yes, Haruka too. She wanted to go with us this time around. We began walking to the bus stop.

“Oh, Konome, you’re coming with us today?”

Yokoyama was not expecting her to tag along.

“Of course. Even though Kyoto is pretty close, I’m always down to visit it. You’ll all love it, it's gorgeous.”

“Been there already, and I can absolutely back her claim,” Naoto added.

“I’m so pumped!”, Kimura sprung her arms upwards.

“Me too!”, I shared her excitement.

“Mhm!”, Natsuko nodded, looking forward to it as much as I did.

“Alright! I’m delighted to see you are all excited. It’ll be an amazing day!”, with the bus stop in our sight, Akari pointed to it, “And there’s our first stop!”

The first place we visited was the temple in Ryoanji, known for its rock garden.

“I’ve been here already,” Naoto remarked once we were there.

Next in line was the majestic Kinkakuji, better known as the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.

“Been here already as well,” he remarked, again.

“If you do that next time, I’ll tape your mouth,” I commented, starting to get annoyed.

“Okay, okay, sorry.”

Moving closer to the center of Kyoto, we paid a visit to what once was the official residence of the Emperor, Kyoto’s Imperial Palace, and the very place where the former was located, Kyoto Gyoen National Garden.

The fourth stop was Nijo Castle. We stood in front of the Chinese-styled Karamon Gate, an entrance to the main attraction of the castle—Ninomaru Palace.

“Oh, I definitely didn’t visit this one.”

“Surprised you didn’t when it is so close to the Imperial Palace,” I observed.

When we were outside the castle, Yokoyama made her hunger known to the world.

“Aaahhh, I’m so hungry! When are we eating?”

“Good question. But worry not, me and Haruka took that into account. We’re very close to the Nishiki market.”

“Well, I think you didn’t need to go that far, Akari. We’re pretty much in the center of the city, there are probably plenty of places to eat at,” I stated.

“Y-Yeah… still, it’s better to show you all the market.”

That was where we had lunch. A four-hundred-year-old market with an astounding diversity of food.

After refilling our fuel tanks, we resumed our itinerary, heading to the southern part of Kyoto. There, we were greeted by a path of thousands of red Torii gates leading to one of the most well-known Shinto shrines—Fushimi Inari Shrine. The infamous Senbon Torii stood ahead of us.

“Aaahhh, amazing! I always wanted to come here!”

Kimura was filled with joy, having reached the place she was most excited about.

“Umm, since Torii gates represent the transition from the ordinary to the sacred, does this mean what lies beyond this path is a thousand times sacred?”, Yokoyama asked with a pensive look.

“Don’t be stupid. These are all here due to a tradition of donating Torii gates to this shrine from those seeking to fulfill a wish or thank its fulfillment. To answer your question, the other side is likely as sacred as any other shrine with Torii gates by the entrance.”

“I was just trying to loosen up the air,” she retorted, unamused with my serious response.

“Are they always like this, Ueno?”, Akari wondered.

“Wouldn’t call it a common occurrence, but Ishida and Yokoyama or your sister tend to bicker with each other rather often.”

“Ah, got it.”

Sometime later, after looking around, we toured the area, searching for goods to purchase and exploring the place.

“Akari and I will go buy some things. As most of you haven’t been here before, you can have a better look at everything in the meanwhile. Have fun!”

As the two walked away, the little sister snarkily commented on their decision.

“I wonder why they want to go together.”

“If you’re a couple, you’d want to spend as much time by yourselves as you can. I see nothing wrong with that.”

“Stop being so lame and annoying, Ishida. Why didn’t you leave your annoywance home? First, Yoko-chan, now me. I sincerely hope no one else falls victim to your straightforwardness. Actually, I’ll make that one of my prayers since I’m at a shrine right now.”

“You’re the one being annoying now.”

“Let’s get as far as we can from him, Yoko-chan. I don’t want to catch his annoyitis.”

“That’s not even a real disease!”

“You should also maintain a greater distance, Ueno. I wouldn’t be able to bear everyday conversation with two people infected with it.”

“What about Natsuko?”

“She probably already has it, given how long she spends near you. See you all later!”

She dashed away with her friend.

I sighed, “What’re you going to do, Naoto?”

“I’ll follow you if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

The three of us walked around the complex until we found a place of interest to stop at.

“Look, Natsuko. Weren’t you searching for those moments ago?”, Naoto wondered.

“Oh, yes.”

“While you two are choosing what you want to buy, I’ll go to the bathroom.”

“Okay.”

Approaching the store, an old lady asked us what we intended to purchase.

“Umm, we’re still choosing,” she replied.

“Didn’t you want that one?”

“A-Ah—yes! I was thinking of buying this evening-themed one, but there's this one right here with my two favorite colors…”

“Then why don't we buy both?”

Noticing a faint sign of agreement, the shopkeeper sought to help.

“Oh, then is it both?”

The girl next to me stepped forward to finish the purchase, realizing it was a better choice.

“Yes, miss. I'll pay.”

“No, let me do it instead.”

“I insist.”

“No no, I insist. After all, I have a lot of money to use, it'll easily spare you two thousand yen.”

“You've got it all wrong, I was the one who first had the idea, therefore I feel morally obliged to pay the necessary amount.”

Catching sight of us arguing, someone who, to our knowledge, should be in a different part of the shrine, intervened. The shoujo goddess incarnate.

“Huh? What's going on? Can't one of you just do the purchase and have the other pay their amount to the one who bought it?”

“Right…”

Natsuko acknowledged the obvious.

“Let me apologize for these two, miss. You know what it's like, typical couple behavior!”

“HUH? We're not dating at all!”, we incisively retorted simultaneously, blushing and deflecting the wild claim.

In the middle of this discussion, the old lady was unsure how to handle it, choosing to wait until a definitive decision was made patiently.

“Anyway—Natsuko, you pay. And no fighting over who buys what anymore, ok?”

We expelled a monotonous “Yes…” filled with disappointment.

The speedster found its partner.

“Ah, found ya! What are you doing here, Yoko-chan?”

While this reencounter took place, we were buying the two braided cords we picked.

“These two lovebirds couldn't decide who should do the purchase.”

She rapidly recognized what Kimura had in her hand, “Oh, you already bought them!”

“Of course! Here's yours!”

She gave her one of the two miniature Torii gates she bought.

“I already feel godlier.”

Placing one of her fingers inside the mini gate like an idiot, she stupidly—and predictably—said:

“Look, half of my finger is sacred, and the other isn’t!”

Eerily similar to children playing with a brand-new toy.

“Sacred, not sacred. Sacred, not sacred,” she continued, pushing her finger backward and forward through the gate.

I respectfully retract my “with the attitude of a young adult woman already” statement. It’d seem I overestimated her mental age.

Thankfully, at that time, the adults returned. That was also when we finished our purchase. Natsuko handed me a pure standard red and lighter-than-normal orange braided cord, colored in sections of red and orange sequentially.

“It’s for you. I’ll keep the evening one.”

“Weren’t these your favorite colors?”

“Mhm. However, I want to have yours and I want you to have mine. Think of it as a connection between us.”

We both put them on our wrists. She helped me put on mine.

“This way, we can always remember each other when we look at our wrists.”

Oh, wow. Way to give your own wrist more meaning.

“Ah, I see.”

Jumping to an alternate conversation, the adult couple was chatting with Yokoyama and the lively one.

“So, what did you buy, big sister?”

“This right here—saké. Shame neither of you can drink it.”

“That’s evil, big sis.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to when you turn twenty.”

“Still evil.”

“Oh, Ueno’s here. I think that’s everyone now,” the girl next to Sakurai Kimura informed.

“Then let’s proceed! We’re still not done yet after all!”

Our special day in Kyoto continued steadily until evening. In that time, we paid a visit to a few more attractions and wandered around the city on foot, always with the help of the extensive train network. We had dinner at a local restaurant before going back to our residence.