With the Final Examination approaching for the students of Amanohara, the school organised the school trip exclusive for the third-years. As it was their final year in the school, it was basically a pre-graduation one. According to the Headmaster, the purpose of the trip was so that the students could relax and focus before their examination. It was the last school activity after all, as when they return from the trip, it was already the Study Period, a week before the examination.

“What’ll happen if you don’t graduate?” A student of class 3-A asked in jest as Konomi-sensei replied, “Well, at least your friends will graduate; consider this a final trip with them. Next year, you can take the trip with different classmates.”

The entire class burst into laughter from Konomi’s words, as the teacher waited until they calm down to continue her explanation.

 

The trip would be a one-day trip as well. This time, it would be on the mountain top a couple of hours from Kagamioka. Konomi-sensei warned them that the signal would be bad when they go up the mountain, as well as the mountaintop so they should tell their parents beforehand. The trip would still be on Friday so they had enough time to prepare before the weekend. Fortunately for Renge,  Chisato already had a camping trip during her drama club’s summer camp before so she already had her tent. The tent could fit up to 2 people to add,  so the two would definitely room up together. 

 

On that Friday morning,  the third-year students gathered in front of the school gate half an hour after the school started to avoid the morning crowd. As Renge sat on the bus,  she looked at her phone. It was a  school day so Suzuyuki would definitely still be studying in her classroom,  away from her phone. 

I don't want to disturb her now so I'll message her later.  Break time will be on around 12 after all so I'll just message her by then. 

Renge thought to herself as she keep looking for the phone. Doing so only made time go slower as she ended up putting her phone back in her bag.

 

The speech from the teachers made the other students, including Renge, distracted for a while as they talked about the upcoming examinations and graduation. Camping itself was not a fun and game trip like before as they needed to hike, set up the tent and even cook for themselves at night; which, according to the Headmaster, was akin to the working life. The entire speech lasted for almost 30 minutes as Renge checked the time immediately. It was still nowhere close to Suzuyuki’s break time…

 

The purple-haired girl noticed that some of the students were sleeping. She figured that she should sleep as well, as last time she did not, she recalled ending up sleeping her day off inside the inn. Even Chisato napped beside her, yet Renge could not doze off as she kept staring at her phone. Even after she spent her time logging in on her mobile game to do its dailies, the clock was still showing 11:30. Suzu-chan’s last class before her break.

 

    The time was 11:45 when the teachers inform the students that they would enter a bad signal zone soon. The students were busy on the phone informing people close to them about it, as Renge sent the message to her parents… and Suzuyuki as well, naturally. Yet, before she received any replies from the first-year student, the signal bar disappeared.  At least her parents had replied, as the signal disappeared not long after.

At 12:00, Suzuyuki who had her break checked her phone as she received the long-awaited message from her onee-sama. It was so tempting to check on her phone in-between the lessons but she knew that she would be scolded by her teachers and even her onee-sama if she did so.

She only received one message from Renge, an announcement about the bad signal as she replied with an ‘ok’ sticker. As expected, the message had yet to be delivered as it was still one check mark. At that moment, Suzuyuki could just hope that by the time her onee-sama got her signal back, her break time would not yet be over. 

 

Not long after, the bus had reached the end of the route as the students alight. The camp was located even higher on another level as the students could hike a little bit or ride the cable cars. Before they climbed up, however, the students had their lunch first in a restaurant in the rest area, given how the camp up there had no restaurants. The rest area was located on the cliff side as they could see Kagamioka from there. 

‘That would make Amanohara be somewhere farther… Suzu-chan is over there now.’ Renge muttered as she stared at the window. At least the resting place had phone networks so she had been exchanging messages with Suzuyuki (and her parents) for a while. Chisato chuckled seeing how high-spirited her friend was, a total 180 than her silence on the bus earlier.

The food was excellent, and the view was magnificent, as Renge spent the time video-calling the first-year student. The purple-haired girl knew that once she left the restaurant and went higher the signal would disappear once more. As she finished her lunch, Renge took a picture of her selfie in front of the cable car ride and sent it to Suzuyuki and her parents so that they would not worry about her. 

 

    Renge might have said that but as soon as they went higher than the rest area, the signal disappeared once more. The realisation that she would not be able to talk to Suzuyuki until the next day certainly hit the purple-haired girl hard. Her parents too, by the way, she definitely did not forget about them. Standing in the middle of the trail and the cable car station, Renge had planned to hike since she figured that she had nothing better to do anyway. Going up too fast without the signal would be boring, and she figured that hiking could take her mind off things. Fortunately for her, Konomi-sensei could help with the bigger belongings as she was about to ride the cable car. Renge and Chisato passed some of their stuff, especially the tent, leaving only their backpack that was filled with the necessaries. 

 

    Renge hiked in a group of three as Subaru joined them; Jun who had brought several camp-cooking equipment rode the cable car to set things up first. Renge was pretty distracted throughout the hike as she walked in front on her own, the other group members watched the purple-haired girl from behind as they wondered the reason. Renge had certainly returned to her distracted state like on the bus back then. 

As they entered deeper into the trail area, the route branched into two: General and Advanced hiking. Chisato and Subaru watched the girl in distraught almost getting on the wrong track. Fortunately, the group noticed it as Chisato approached her. 

“You have to pay attention, hiking like this is dangerous. Maybe you should have ridden the cable car instead.” It was a rare sight for the happy-go-lucky girl to be angry but she had a point; hiking dangerously like that might have caused her to get lost or even worse. Renge looked down as she apologised for her carelessness. It had been a while ever since Chisato scolded her, after all. Probably some day in their childhood, but certainly not when they were in high school. 

Then again, it was out of the ordinary for Renge to be this bewildered. Renge was usually pretty dependable, which was why she was chosen to be the Treasurer as well as the Club President. Unambitious, perhaps, but she did her job pretty well and even contributed to both the Student Council and Anime Manga Club in her own ways. 

Renge ended up walking beside the two this time as she did not want to repeat her mistake. Midway through their climb, the group encountered the benches provided to the hikers. As the others sat down to rest their legs for a bit, Renge was still deep in thought, thinking about this awkward day for a while. While she did that, she unconsciously kept looking at her phone. Still no signal, as the lack of notification of incoming messages seemed to bother her the most. 

 

And that was when Renge realised the main reason she was feeling so lost. The clock was showing 15:00, the time they usually went to their club meeting on Friday. That, or when she found Suzuyuki waiting for her in front of the school gate, walking together home even when their house was in a rather different direction. The realisation was kind of self-explanatory as Renge ended up blushing. As she get up from the bench, Renge took a deep breath as she decided to start to focus for the rest of the day; she needed to portray the dependable state of ‘onee-sama’ that Suzuyuki admire, after all. 

“We are halfway through the hike, let’s get up faster to help others with the preparation.” Renge stood up as she smiled, this time walking in front to take the lead. Both Chisato and Subaru watched the purple-haired girl from the back again, this time chuckling as at this point it was rather obvious what caused their friend to be this lost. Ichinose Renge definitely changed this year, for the better.

 

    With Renge all pumped up,  it did not take long for the hiking group to reach the campsite on top of the mountain. Chisato immediately walked toward Konomi-sensei and Jun as she helped in setting the tent. It was her own tent after all so the experience of the previous camping helped in setting it rather quickly. Renge unpacked her bags as she set up the belongings inside the tent when it finished being set up. She even set up the sleeping mats already as when the night arrived, they might be too tired to do so.

Chisato observed Renge setting the bed down as she grinned, putting her own bed slightly beside, leaving a gap in the middle. The purple-haired girl stared at the gap curiously as before she even get to ask, the blonde already teased her.

“If only Suzuyuki’s with us, she can sleep in the middle.”

Renge immediately imagined her kouhai in between their bed. Sure, sleeping next to Suzuyuki was a lovely sight (and it reminded her of the time in Odaiba) but it meant that she will sleep beside Chisato as well. 

“I am not letting you sleep beside her!” Renge pouted, blushing at the hypothetical situation.

“Okay, our dear Ren-chan in the middle, then. I am sure Suzu-chan won’t mind.” Chisato loved seeing Renge getting agitated about it.

“That’s actually better—” wait, if I camp with her I don’t want to sleep inside the same tent with you!”

Chisato finished setting up the bed as she laughed. Meanwhile, as they were talking about Suzuyuki, Renge checked her phone instinctively. Still no signal, naturally but she seemed to have made peace with it. She walked towards her bag to take a portable charger, and plug it into her phone so that it will be fully charged by the time she get the signal the next day. She figured that she might get too tired by the time they were about to sleep at night, after all, and might forget to do so. 

 

    The sun was setting down as the teachers reminded the students to have their dinner.  The cooking was divided into groups as the students were cooking on their own, or joining some of the teachers for the provided meals. As Renge’s group had Jun in their group, they had prepared the equipment and ingredients beforehand after he rode the cable car earlier. 

“You all better graduate after this talk. We have been together for three years, I hope we don’t do the same thing again next year.”  Konomi-sensei joked as she joined the group, saying that she wanted to supervise them and not because of the food that the students were preparing. 

“Renge’s fine. She can repeat the grade twice so that she’ll graduate with Suzu-chan.” Chisato replied, all while staring at the purple-haired girl who was helping in chopping the ingredients.

“I don’t mind that, but tell that to my parents and future employers.” She replied, thinking about it for a bit. Graduating together with Suzu-chan sure will be fun. 

The entire group chuckled as Jun started to cook, the others now preparing the table and utensils as they talked about the memories they had for those three years.

 

Their conversation was interrupted as the food was ready, Konomi-sensei helped Jun to put it in the middle of the table like the ‘dependable’ teacher she was. Camping dish was generally simpler yet it was still interesting given how one normally did not make them otherwise. With the portable stove, Jun had made a plate of grilled butter potato, and the other was omelettes filled with pork belly and cabbage. They are not even on the menu in his restaurants as he was experimenting, but they were still appetizing regardless.  

“As expected from the future restaurant owner.” Subaru praised him. The combination of egg, bacon and lettuce along with the homemade sauce really fit each other, as the buttery potato made the meal more filling.

The group ate quietly as they enjoyed Jun’s cooking, and helped in cleaning afterwards.

 

    After the meal, Renge’s group joined the other students as the third-years were chatting with each other, getting comfortable in front of the warm fireplace. They sure lost their sense of time when they are having fun as moments later, the teachers reminded the students that it was the recommended bedtime. As the purple-haired girl walked back, Renge felt a little bad that she did not think about the people in Kagamioka for a while. Yet, it helped the time fly faster as she was excited to go down early in the morning, 

 

It was a tiring and long day as Renge immediately get changed as soon as she entered the tent. Her phone had been fully charged by then as she lay on top of the bed. Even without any signal, she still messaged Suzuyuki goodnight as she put her phone beside the bed and went to sleep immediately, even before her roommate entered the tent.

As a result of that, Renge woke up early as well. Seeing that Chisato was still asleep, Renge quietly walked out of the tent, to see Konomi-sensei walking in front of the tent. 

“Good morning, Ren-chan. Fancy seeing you awake in the morning.” The teacher did not expect any students to be awake yet given how most of them stayed late even after the announcement.
“I guess I’m just too excited, we’re going back soon after all,” Renge said as she walked beside the teacher to feel the early morning weather. The air might be cold but it was so fresh as they walked towards a nearby stream and relaxed beneath the tree.  The two washed their face as well, pretty cold but it sure woke her up. Not far from the stream was a spot to view down the mountain, with a chair in the middle for them to wait for the sunrise. 

 As they headed back to the tent to pack up their stuff, Chisato was just waking up. Seeing Renge together with Konomi-sensei made her realise that she was being left out of something fun, she immediately pouted. Renge and Konomi just chuckled as it was a rare occasion for Chisato to be teased.

 

    As they were short on time,  the students started to pack their belongings. Riding the cable car down, they found the bus already waiting for them in the rest area. Inside the bus, the driver gave out the breakfast prepared from the local restaurant as the students sat in their respective seats. Most importantly, they had finally gotten some signals as the bus was filled with chimes of incoming notifications. Renge started to eat her breakfast as the bus trailed down the mountainside while looking at her phone. 

It was early morning on that Saturday as her parents had already messaged her. Suzuyuki had woken up as well, as she had received the ‘goodnight’ message from her onee-sama. The first-year student chuckled as she saw that, on top of the trip photos that Renge sent right after she noticed that Suzuyuki had read it. The journey back to Kagamioka felt way faster than yesterday’s trip since they could chat back and forth with each other. 

 

Without telling her onee-sama, Suzuyuki even waited in front of the schoolyard knowing well that the bus would park there. She used Renge’s message as a cue on where her onee-sama was and waited inside the school. Once the bus stopped, the silver-haired girl waited for Renge to alight before running towards her onee-sama.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, hugging the purple-haired girl that was both delighted and surprised by her kouhai’s arrival.