Laid-Back Life in Tokyo: I Really Didn't Want to Work Hard

Mount Fuji was not as beautiful as imagined, but rather a barren expanse.

Uesugi Sakura stood on a mountain path paved with gravel, gazing at the scenery below.

Sometimes he would wonder... if he had forgotten something.

"Sakura-kun..."

Hanamaru Hanabi's voice sounded from behind, she was dressed in hiking clothes, holding a red hiking stick.

More than her clothes, her face was more noticeable, with its unique blush, delicate and beautiful.

On the way up the mountain, quite a few people wanted to take photos with her.

Uesugi Sakura gazed at the sea of clouds on the mountain, saying, "Hanabi... I understand now why you always tell me not to forget you... I understand now."

Hanamaru Hanabi stood beside him, pressing down her short hair blown by the wind with her hand.

The slope underfoot reached directly to the clouds, shrouded in mountain mist, bringing an indescribable urge to leap when looking down.

Uesugi Sakura took a step forward, with half of his foot hanging off the edge.

"What if I jump down from here?"

"No!" The action was very dangerous, and Hanamaru Hanabi immediately reacted, quickly pulling his hand back, afraid he would really jump down, "Sakura-kun, you can't do anything foolish."

Uesugi Sakura looked at her concerned little face, stepped back, and smiled, saying, "I won't."

The wind on the mountain was strong, and the oxygen content was relatively low. Uesugi Sakura originally thought Hanabi wouldn't be able to persist up to here.

"Sakura-kun, don't joke like that..."

"I just wanted to see how much you care about me."

"Hanabi has always cared about Sakura-kun very much, so please don't do such dangerous things."

"Then if I disappeared, would you cry?"

"Of course I would..."

On the other side, Kitagawa Sakisa and Kyujuu Rika, after resting for a while, walked over, wearing similar hiking clothes.

The wind at the mountainside blew their hair.

"Let's go, let's continue towards the summit."

"Yo!" Kitagawa Sakisa echoed, raising her right hand.

"You're full of energy today," Uesugi Sakura said.

"We soaked in a hot spring yesterday! I'm feeling completely refreshed."

Uesugi Sakura also got invigorated, saying, "Alright, let's go! Continue onward!"

He hoisted up his hiking stick and continued up the gravel path.

"Yo!"

The three girls followed closely behind.

Mount Fuji is only open for two months each summer.

To climb Mount Fuji, one first needs to take a bus to the Gogomu station at an altitude of 2300 meters.

Then you start from the station, climbing up along a gentle sand and stone path.

Uesugi Sakura and his group chose the Yoshida Line, which takes six hours to climb to the top.

This was just the beginning, not even an hour into the journey.

Due to the high altitude, the pace couldn't be too fast, otherwise, lips would easily turn purple, indicating symptoms of altitude sickness.

Uesugi Sakura, as the leader, walked at the front.

The roadside railing was composed of three iron chains, with stone posts in between, but the height was not even as tall as Uesugi Sakura's calf.

It's hard to believe that such a guardrail could serve its purpose.

Maybe... it's just a place for careless people to grab onto.

On the outside of the iron chains was the more than 2000 meters of sky usually seen from the ground.

It was foggy here, a vast expanse of white, and if you stood by the roadside looking down, you could glimpse through the mountain ridges to see a vast green forest in the clouds, occasionally spotting some faintly visible buildings among them.

They hadn't walked much further when small water droplets appeared on their jackets.

Kitagawa Sakisa took a breath, wiped the droplets off her arm with her hand, and puzzledly asked, "Where did the rain come from?"

Kyujuu Rika stopped, leaning on her hiking stick, she swept her hair behind her ear and smiled at Kitagawa Sakisa:

"It's fog, not rain."

"The humid air rises along the mountain slopes, the temperature drops with increased altitude, and when the air cools and becomes supersaturated, it forms fog."

"What does that mean?" Kitagawa Sakisa looked at Uesugi Sakura.

Uesugi Sakura, standing with Hanamaru Hanabi, turned back to explain, "It means the temperature here is not low enough to form rain, so it floats in the air as fog."

"So..." Kitagawa Sakisa rubbed the droplets between her fingers, "isn't this still rainwater? Just not formed yet."

"..."

Uesugi Sakura was at a loss for words.

"You can understand it that way too."

Hanamaru Hanabi looked at the gravel mountain road shrouded in mist ahead, the path on both sides having no trees, just a bare sand and stone path.

"Has the air gotten a bit colder here?"

"Will it rain later?" Kitagawa Sakisa was slightly worried.

"It's very possible." Uesugi Sakura said, looking up at the sky.

Kitagawa Sakisa took out her phone to check, "It shouldn't, the weather forecast said it would be sunny these days, right?"

The phone screen fogged up after a while, and Kitagawa Sakisa had to wipe it off with her hand.

Kyujuu Rika suddenly approached, knocking her head with her hand: "Dummy, this is the mountain top."

Kitagawa Sakisa hugged her head in grievance: "Stupid Rika, isn't the mountain top covered by the weather forecast?"

"The climate change at high altitude fluctuates greatly, and the weather forecast covers too broad an area, so it's not very accurate," Uesugi Sakura said.

"I see." Kitagawa Sakisa angrily looked at Kyujuu Rika, "Stupid Rika! Can't you explain properly without hitting my head?"

"I'm used to it."

"Damn! From childhood to now, I've never hit you once!"

Uesugi Sakura asked, "Are you two childhood friends?"

"Yes." Kyujuu Rika answered, "We've known each other since we were little, due to our families."

"I see."

After resting for a moment, they continued on their journey, and the four of them arrived at Nagata Villa located at the Sixth Station.

At the entrance was a torii gate made of white wood, where they could sit and rest for a while.