When we stepped off the bus, full of excitement and anticipation, our eyes immediately scanned the horizon.

“…Where’s Mount Fuji?” Miko asked, shielding her eyes like a pirate searching for treasure.

“Gone with the clouds,” I muttered. The sky was blanketed with thick, grey fluff. The famous mountain? Nowhere in sight.

“We should still take a photo here! This is a popular photo spot!” Aki shouted, raising her phone high like a rallying flag.

“But we can’t see the mountain,” Moana replied, tilting her head in disappointment.

“Ohhh, don’ worri! I wirru meiku it, za mountain wirru bi zere!” Aki declared with her signature broken English-Japanese, her eyes gleaming with mischief.

Moana blinked. “Uhh… sorry, what did she just say?”

“I think… she promised the mountain will magically appear?” Nani whispered to her, just as confused.

“Come, come! Purisu!” Aki shouted, ushering us like an enthusiastic tour guide on caffeine. Suzuka and Miko quickly joined in to help herd the group into a photo-ready pose.

“Wan, tu, zerii—cheese!” Miko called out, and we all smiled, despite the completely blank sky behind us.

After our photoshoot-in-the-clouds moment, we started walking toward our first destination: brunch at a nearby restaurant.

Keiko and Ruka were walking together, so I quietly tagged along with them, while the chaos brigade—Aki, Suzuka, Kiana, and Moana—raced ahead, turning the path into a sprinting competition.

“I like how passionate you kids are. Really enjoying the trip, huh?” Manna said as she walked ahead, looking back at us with a smile.

Since check-in wasn’t until after 2 p.m., we’d planned to eat first. The restaurant was a charming old-style Japanese one, with tatami mats and large windows that should have showcased a majestic view of Mount Fuji—if only it wasn’t hiding like a shy celebrity.

“Too bad we can’t see Fuji-san…” I sighed, leaning against the window.

Kiana, Moana, and Nani, though, were too excited to care. “We’ve never had traditional Japanese bento before!” Kiana clapped. Kiana clapped excitedly as she scanned the colorful photos on the menu.

That was all Aki needed to hear.

“Ohhh! Letto mi exupurein!” she declared, slamming her chopsticks on the table like a master chef. “Disu wan—tamago! Japaniisuroru eggu. Happy eggu. Bringsu luck!”

Suzuka jumped in. “And this, thisu isu, uh, fishu! Very... fishy! Smell good! No… smell… moderate!”

Miko joined. “Seaweed isu… greenu blanket ofu Japanesu soul!”

The Hawaiian trio looked so confused, it was almost tragic. Kiana nodded slowly, clearly just trying to be polite. Moana squinted at her bento like it might explode. Nani whispered, “Are they messing with us or…?”

I leaned over to Keiko and whispered, “They’re doing cultural sabotage right now.”

Eventually, Manna stepped in, laughing. “Let me help, girls. You’re going to make them think bento causes hallucinations.”

Keiko followed with a sweet smile, calmly explaining the contents of the bento to the guests in English. The Hawaiian girls visibly relaxed. While Aki, Suzuka, and Miko looked slightly offended that their performance didn’t land.

As we all settled into light conversation, I noticed something unusual: Aki was completely silent, eyes glued to her phone. For her, that was suspicious.

Then, she suddenly screamed, “I FINISHED IT!”

We all jumped.

“What? What did you finish?” Suzuka asked, leaning over.

“My masterpiece! Look!” Aki grinned devilishly and tapped a few buttons on her phone.

A moment later, our group chat pinged.

I opened it—and burst out laughing.

It was our earlier group photo—but she had horribly edited Mount Fuji into the background. Like, Microsoft Paint level bad. The edges of the mountain were jagged, and there was even a stock photo watermark still on it.

“I told ya! I’ll make it happen!” Aki beamed proudly, crossing her arms with a smug grin.

Moana tilted her head. “Is… that a camel behind the mountain?”

Miko laughed. “Wait, did you just screenshot a postcard and slap it behind us?”

“I did what I had to do,” Aki said, like a soldier returning from battle.

The rest of us were either laughing, cringing, or both. I gave her a thumbs up. “Truly an artist.”

When the food arrived, the delicious aroma filled the room. We all quieted down to enjoy our bento meals, which, thank goodness.

After I finished mine a bit too quickly, I leaned back and patted my stomach. That’s when Keiko leaned close and whispered, “Hey… get out with me for a bit.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

Before I could ask more, she stood up and headed outside the restaurant.

I followed her out, slightly concerned. “What is it?”

“We need to buy a birthday cake for Manna-san,” she said. “You wanna help?”

I smirked and leaned a little closer. “Are you asking me out in the lands of Mount Fuji? Because it kinda sounds like a date.”

She pinched my arm. Hard.

“Ow! Okay, okay! Not a date! I get it!” I rubbed my arm dramatically. “Jeez, calm down…”

She rolled her eyes and started walking ahead of me. “Sorry, didn’t mean to pinch that hard.”

I caught up and walked in front of her, blocking her path. “Nope. I’m not accepting that sorry. Didn’t sound sincere.”

She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. “What do you want then?”

I leaned in with a teasing grin and whispered, “You can wear that bunny lingerie—OUCH!”

She pinched my arm again, this time even harder.

“In your dreams,” she said, speeding up and leaving me behind.

Still in pain, I mumbled, “Fine… I’ll just dream about it then…”

I saw her pause mid-step. Slowly, she turned around, her face bright red. “Revise that! Not even in your dreams!!”

I laughed. “You remembered it, huh?”

She covered her face with her hands, clearly mortified. “Shut up!”

I just chuckled and jogged up beside her. “You’re cute when you’re mad, you know that?”

Keiko glared at me. “Don’t push your luck, Ryusei.”

I raised both hands in surrender. “Just saying! The mountain may be missing, but your blush could make the whole sky clear.”

She groaned. “You’re so annoying sometimes.”

“And yet… here we are. You and me, running off on a cake mission like a couple in a drama series.”

Keiko glanced at me sideways. “More like two idiots who got sent on an errand.”

“Well, at least we’re cute idiots.”

She rolled her eyes again but… she smiled this time.