Chapter 22: I Love You More Than Anything
Mount Takao isn’t particularly tall, only 599 meters, and the trail is well maintained.
Unless you’re a toddler or pushing ninety, there’s nothing intimidating about the climb.
Alan had been here once before, though only long enough to snap a photo and leave. Compared to Mount Fuji or Kumotori, Takao felt less like a pilgrimage and more like a casual outing.
Even so, Alan found himself casting openly suspicious glances at the girl beside him.
Half a year had passed, yet Akari Honne hadn’t changed at all. She was still pocket-sized, if he wanted to, he could scoop her up in a single motion. His gaze drifted to her arms, slender, porcelain-pale.
What she lacked compared to Hojo’s curves, she’d more than made up for in limbs. Her legs and arms were long and fine-boned, her skin so clear it reflected sunlight like white porcelain, faint blue veins visible beneath the surface.
If anyone ever needed a model for an immortal loli vampire, she could audition tomorrow.
“Um… Alan, why are you staring at me like that?”
She’d been the one to suggest hiking, yet he’d responded only with silence and that look. A pink flush crept up her cheeks, and she glanced away, suddenly shy.
Alan snapped back to himself and looked elsewhere. “Fine, we’ll climb. But if you get tired, I’m not carrying you.”
“Hmph. I won’t need that.”
Honne lifted one delicate arm and clenched her fist, no bigger than a red-bean bun. “I’ve been training at school, you know.”
“Really? Last time I checked, you could stay home all day. When I dragged you out for a jog, you collapsed on a bench halfway through and fell asleep.”
“N-no way!”
Caught out, her face burned even redder, the flush spreading sickly yet charmingly across her skin. “I was just sleepy! Who exercises at seven in the morning? That’s inhuman…”
“So eight would’ve been fine? Hojo says you sleep until one p.m. on weekends.”
“Don’t listen to her slander!”
She tugged at his sleeve, then froze after two steps, staring at his left hand.
Alan noticed and smiled. “Stop staring. Let’s go. We’re not just hiking, we’re shopping this afternoon, remember?”
“Oh. Right. Can’t waste time.”
She hurried ahead toward Trail Six, the one that passed Biwa Waterfall. The path narrowed, forcing them to walk single file. Above the roar of rushing water, Honne clutched the cuff of Alan’s sleeve.
She talked nonstop, about being split into a new first-year class, which teachers had gotten married, which students were dating, how morale had tanked when the kendo club appointed a second-year as captain.
Alan answered with the occasional, “And then?” to keep her going. His mind had been occupied with Nozomi Sakura’s future plans, but these bright, trivial teenage stories were a welcome distraction.
“Miss Asami even made me help teach piano class,” Honne went on. “I’m patient, but after explaining things three times, they still mess it up…”
“And there’s a new transfer student, second-year. She plays piano too, thinks she’s amazing. When Miss Asami said she’s still below me, she got all offended and challenged me to a ‘guidance match.’ I played a few bars and she just… slunk away.”
“She ran?”
“Ran. Shame does that to people.”
Honne smiled, proud as a swan.
Alan glanced at her but said nothing. He suspected the girl had fled from embarrassment, not the music.
Suddenly, Honne gasped. Her cheeks flared crimson, heat rushing up her spine before the cool mountain wind left her shivering.
“You okay?” Alan slowed, eyeing the unhealthy flush on her face.
Dummy.
Those skinny arms and legs had never seen a gym.
“No problem.” She pointed weakly at a sign. “Only 1.5 kilometers left.”
[2.5 km completed — 1.5 km to summit]
“If you want to quit, just say so.”
Her eyes spun, and she wilted dramatically, clutching her head. “Then… carry me?”
Alan rolled his eyes and kept walking.
“Tee-hee.” A bell-like laugh chimed behind him.
“I’m done talking. Your turn,” Honne said lightly. “How’s your new school?”
Alan thought for a moment. “It’s… fine. There are lots of friend groups. But real bonding only really happens in clubs.”
“So you met your girlfriend in a club?”
“No. I don’t have friends in the kendo club.”
“Still antisocial, huh, Alan?” She laughed. “Then how did you meet?”
“Money.”
“…Money?”
“I’ll spare you the details.”
“Hmph. Fine. What’s her name? What’s she like?”
Alan narrowed his eyes slightly. “Why the sudden interest? You’re even nosier than your sister.”
Honne stared at her shoes. “Just making sure you don’t get scammed. Sis didn’t take responsibility, so I have to screen your girlfriends.”
Alan shrugged. “Nozomi Sakura. You’ve seen the photos. Personality? Greedy, proud, clever. Overall… decent.”
Gold-digging fox, Honne thought, biting her tongue as a dull ache bloomed in her chest.
“Be careful she doesn’t drain you dry.”
“Won’t happen.”
She stopped walking, drew a deep breath, and looked straight at him. “I’ve decided. I’m going to apply to Tokyo University of the Arts. Same University you’re aiming for.
“…What?”
Alan halted mid-step and turned, surprise flashing across his face. “You’re serious? Did Uncle and Auntie agree?”
For a second, Honne’s brows knit together. Then she smiled, eyes curving into crescents. “Of course. I want to become a famous pianist.”
“But you said you didn’t have dreams like that.”
“People change, don’t they?”
Unknowingly, she echoed the words her sister had once said.
“Big Sis is amazing. If I don’t have something of my own, I’ll always feel second-best.”
“And you once told me money decides the future. If I’m famous and making lots of it, then our future’s secure, right?”
Alan fell silent. He remembered the phone call when Honne had sworn she’d support him.
“You’re not starting to think I’m not good enough, are you, Alan?”
When he didn’t answer right away, she shot him a wounded look.
He snapped out of it and met her gaze. “Not at all. You’re the most gifted musician I’ve ever met. If you work hard, nothing’s impossible.”
“…!”
Honne froze, lips parting as joy flooded her chest.
The mountain breeze brushed her cheeks, making them burn even hotter. She lowered her eyes, soft and unfocused.
“Then… will you write songs for me?”
Alan blinked, then laughed awkwardly. “With my skill level? You’re giving me way too much credit.”
“But later. Later you will, right?”
Her voice grew urgent, as if chasing a promise. She looked straight into his eyes.
“….”
If you’re unsure, don’t make promises you can’t keep.
Alan had intended never to give Akari Honne false hope. The future was a fog no one could see through.
Yet when he saw the bright, expectant shimmer in her eyes, and remembered that today was her birthday, he couldn’t bring himself to crush it.
He opened his mouth, only for the memory of Akari Hojo’s tear-blurred face to slam into him.
'Do you think I actually love music? That I enjoy singing from dawn till dusk…?'
“Alan?”
He’d been silent too long. Honne tilted her head and called his name.
“Ah—” He snapped back and asked gently, “Honne… do you like playing the piano?”
“Eh?”
She blinked, heart skipping, then answered without hesitation. “Of course I do! I’ve played since I was little. You know that. Big Sis can sing, but she never practices. I used to drill five or six hours a day…”
Five or six hours.
Alan did the math. By the time he’d learned she played, she’d already been exceptional. She must’ve started in junior high, or earlier. If she didn’t love it, she’d never have lasted.
He exhaled and reached out, ruffling her hair. “Then maybe you’ve worked a little too hard.”
The unexpected head pat froze Honne in place.
Warmth surged through her. She rose on tiptoe, nuzzling into his palm, eyes half-mooned with a foolish smile.
“So… will you? Will you write songs for me someday?”
“I doubt it. I’ll probably never reach that level. Piano compositions are still way beyond me.”
She filtered out the rest of his caution entirely, face lifted, eyes shining. “So there’s a chance, right?”
“…Mm.”
“Yay!”
As if he’d sworn a solemn oath, Honne bounced on the spot.
“Careful,” Alan warned, worried she’d slip off the narrow trail.
“Hee-hee~”
She spun once, her smile brighter than the waterfall in the sunlight.
The Biwa Waterfall trail wasn’t steep, but it was narrow and lacked guardrails. Afraid she might slip, Alan caught her slim wrist.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
The moment his fingers closed around her wrist, Honne fell quiet.
She murmured assent, cheeks flushed, eyes lowered, following close behind him.
After a few steps, she couldn’t help staring at the broad line of his back.
Her vision blurred, the world beyond Alan soft and dreamlike.
She’d only seen this in dreams, those rare days when her sister deigned to bring her along. Hojo had guarded him like a wolf, walking alone with Alan had always been forbidden.
The more forbidden it was, the more she yearned, to walk this narrow path hand in hand, to breathe in his scent beneath the sun, to keep walking, forever.
They crossed Waterfall Bridge.
Tears slipped free, yet her heart had never felt lighter.
Alan… I love you more than anything.
