The ride to Japan was far from an uneventful experience. Once the plane had stabilized and the seatbelt sign had turned off, the first thing Alex did was unbuckle his seatbelt. He then grabbed Gwen who could barely yelp as she found herself being pulled toward the first-class cabin’s restroom. A big chunk of their flight passed with the two of them spending time in that relatively spacious restroom, inconveniencing many people.

By the time the flight landed in Japan, Gwen had a beautiful glow on her face that overshadowed everything else.

The two of them got into a cab before giving the driver the address to their resort.

“When did you learn Japanese?” Gwen asked Alex as she leaned back on the seat.

“A while,” Alex said, “It was around the time I started gathering resources for our research center.”

“You ate someone to get their memories, didn’t you?” She asked flatly, making Alex cough.

“We don’t talk about that stuff here,” Alex said with a choking voice, “I remember that you were talking about getting a hobby when we got on the plane, what was that about?” He asked her, forcefully changing the topic.

His hurried words got a light laugh out of Gwen, “I was talking about gaming, you dummy,” She told him, “I remember back in high school, Flash had a hoard of different consoles and games to match. Now that I have so much free time, I thought I should try it out.”

“I thought your hobby would be shopping and collecting shoes,” Alex said.

“I don’t have that many shoes …” Gwen blushed.

“Gwen, you have a dedicated closet just for shoes,” Alex said, “Shoe collection is your hobby.”

“Yeah, well I’m not into buying expensive shoes anymore,” She snapped defensively, “I want to get a new hobby.”

“I think you went shopping for shoes last week if I remember correctly,” Alex said with a reminiscing tone, “It was just after I sprung that Time Authority project on you. You were stressed and decided to treat —“ Alex’s following words were muffled due to Gwen putting her hands on his face.

“A girl can have two hobbies, okay?” She said, “Stop shaming me for buying shoes.”

“I’m not,” Alex chuckled, “I’m just stating a fact.”

“Yeah, but you’re saying it in a way that makes me feel bad,” Gwen said, “Don’t do it.”

“As my lady wishes,” Alex said, “How about we stop by a shopping center —“

Gwen interrupted Alex, “Don’t patronize me,” She said with an annoyed expression.

Alex laughed, “It’s fun to see you riled up like this,” He said as Gwen looked away from him with a pout, “Take a dip in the hot spring, you are going to melt in that comfortable water.”

“Can we go get a console after that?” She asked, “I’m not that familiar with games, but I think getting a console would be ideal since it requires the least amount of setup work.”

“We can go browse stuff, I’m sure there are some places that will let us try it out for a while before we have to buy it,” Alex said.

“You seem indecisive about buying a console ...” Gwen observed, “Do you not like that I want to try gaming as a hobby?”

“It’s not that,” Alex said, “I just think that it would be better if we bought it when we get back to Oxford.”

“Why?” She asked, “If we’re getting a private plane as you say, there shouldn’t be any problems. Even if we travel by a commercial flight, they should allow us to take it in our handbags.”

“Think of it as waiting for a surprise until we get back home,” Alex said.

“Ohh~” Gwen was excited, “I love surprises.”

The cab ride would be a while, so Gwen just leaned on Alex’s shoulder and hugged his arm, napping as Alex just looked out of the window, looking at the completely different architecture of the city than what he was used to seeing.

…

Soon enough, they reached their destination and got out of the cab. Alex paid the driver and offered him a hefty tip before being rudely rejected, much to Gwen’s amusement.

She was still laughing as they got out of the car.

“How am I supposed to know that he would take offense to me telling him to keep the change …” Alex said with a dark expression.

“Japan doesn’t have a tipping culture, Alex,” Gwen said while wheezing due to having laughed so hard, “And you offered him like half the fare as a tip. He was obviously offended.”

“I think you’re swapping the word flattered with the word offended,” Alex said, “I liked his service and decided to give him a bonus. Why chew me out for that?”

“All right, my big baby boo,” Gwen squeezed Alex’s cheeks, “Stop being so butthurt about this, and let’s go in. I want to see what the deal with this special resort of yours is.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the entrance gate that had a sign on top.

“The name roughly translates to Pear Tree,” Alex told Gwen.

“So we’re going to live in a pear tree?” She asked with a clueless tone. Alex gave her a derisive side-eye and let go of her hand. “Hey!” Gwen quickly grabbed his hand tightly, “What’s wrong? It was just a bad attempt at a joke.”

“I was just seeing if you were actually interested in staying here with me, or just pretending,” Alex acted entitled.

“So that’s how you want to play, huh?” Gwen decided to be extra petty and wrapped both arms around Alex’s shoulders, stopping him in his tracks. She then forcefully climbed up on his back and wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck, “Giddy up, horsey!”

Alex helplessly held her thighs and said with a dark tone, “Never say that again,”

“What?” Gwen asked, “You don’t like being called, horsey?”

“Just …” Alex cringed, “Can you not?”

“Why not?” Gwen asked, “After all, it’s so much fun riling you up.”

Her words made Alex sigh, “Touché.”

Passing the main entrance, they walked through a cobblestone path that was surrounded by beautifully cut and well-maintained bushes. The first building they encountered was the reception. Alex walked up the three stairs and entered the traditional Japanese wooden architecture room before walking up to the reception desk, “Hi there …”

As Alex engaged the receptionist in checking into their room, Gwen’s mind drifted off in a different direction as she rested her chin on Alex’s shoulder and sighed. She looked around the room and felt the cozy atmosphere of the resort and felt a sense of appreciation toward the ambiance.

“Would you like some tea, sir, madam?” A server approached Alex and Gwen with a tray that had two cups of steaming hot tea in them. She spoke in accented English, but Gwen could tell that she was a practiced English speaker.

“Thank you,” Gwen freed one of her arms from Alex’s neck and grabbed the cup as Alex did the same and set his cup on the desk.

“Gwen, could you grab our IDs from the backpack?” Alex asked Gwen.

“Sure,” She handed him her cup and moved her hand behind her back to grab the cards.

“Do you need to get off?” Alex offered.

“I got it,” Gwen tightened her legs and the one arm that was wrapped around Alex’s neck, telling him that she had no plans to move away from him. It took her a bit of effort, but she was able to grab both cards from the backpack’s front pocket. She handed them to Alex before taking back her cup of tea.

A few minutes later, Alex was out of the reception and was walking along the cobblestone path toward their room while being guided by one of the staff members of the hotel.

“This place is beautiful,” Gwen said as she looked around at all the natural yet maintained foliage all around. With her current position on Alex’s back, she was able to see much better and had a very nice view of everything. Even though there were buildings like restaurants and relaxation areas, they didn’t stand out. Multiple trees even seemed to have grown into those buildings, giving them a very natural look, as if they were a part of the natural flora.

Alex and Gwen had to walk for a while before they reached a row of cabins that were all at a significant distance from each other. “Which one’s ours?” Gwen asked him as Alex turned to the path of the cabins.

“It should have a Japanese character on it followed by the number 4,” Alex said, “There it is,” He pointed at the fourth cabin.

Alex unlocked the room with the keycard before entering it, “Finally willing to get off of me?” Alex asked Gwen, “Or is this going to be our entire trip?”

Gwen sighed before hugging Alex, “I would love to stay on your back for the whole trip …” She mumbled while leaning her head on his shoulder, “But doing that would ruin the fun of the trip.” Gwen decided to get down and had Alex let go of her legs as she stood on the ground behind him and let go of his neck.

She then took off her coat and hung it on the hanger at the side before slumping down sideways on the bed. Her dress got messed up a little and was pulled higher, revealing more of her thighs as she put one hand behind her head for support.

As Alex looked at her with amusement on his features, Gwen groaned while extending her hand toward her feet, “Alex~” She whined, full of anguish, “I can’t reach my feet.”

“I’ll take off your damn boots …” Alex told her before taking a seat beside her on the bed. He pulled one of her feet to his lap and started loosening the laces of the boot.

“You’re the best,” Gwen smiled cheekily as she felt Alex loosening her boots. She got on her side and looked at him happily.

“I know, I know,” Alex said, “Let’s rest for a few minutes. Then we’ll go to the hot spring. We only have tonight and tomorrow night here. We leave Tuesday morning.”

“Done!” She nodded happily.