A trip to the ninja village decided like roasting beans in lightning.
“Isn’t it too much of a fuss these days?”
When I said that I would go somewhere with my senior at school on the weekend, my mother was worried by saying that, but reassured me not to worry because I was going to the countryside to help out with farming.
Anyway, I managed to convince my mother like that and went to the gym hard for a few days to make up for the exercise I had missed.
Finally, the day of the appointment came.
“Kim Yoosung! Here it is!”
I met Fuma-senpai at the highway bus terminal in Shibuya, where I remember visiting recently.
“uh.”
I turned my head when I heard a familiar voice, and then I lost my voice for a moment.
Perhaps he noticed something strange, Fuuma-senpai approached him with a welcome expression and asked.
“Why?”
“No, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a senior with his hair loose.”
It was because I always saw him in a ponytail, so something was different.
Then, Fuuma-senpai said with a smile and proudly said, “Whoa.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve changed my image. It’s been half a year since I’m going back to my hometown, but I have to show that I’m doing well.”
“okay.”
From https://noblemtl.com
My gaze went down to Huma-senpai’s healthy thighs, which were exposed because of wearing short hot pants, but I was grateful that I was wearing sunglasses today.
“Come to think of it, Kim Yoo-sung, you also have quite a lot of burnt skin. It looks like you went to the sea during vacation, didn’t you?”
“Yes? Oh, yes. I’ve been there a while ago.”
“It’s good to play when you’re young. As you get older, you can’t play even if you want to.”
With a difference of only one year from me, Fuuma-senpai gave me a ticket, saying something strangely like a person who has mastered life.
“This?”
“I bought the ticket in advance before you came. You just need to go.”
“No, someone who doesn’t usually have money…”
“It is mine to invite you to the village for personal business, of course I have to give this much. And I make money to spend when things like this happen.”
gurgle!
So, while Fuuma-senpai was in full swing, when the navel clock rang, Fuuma-senpai’s face turned red.
“Hey, this!”
With the ticket in hand, I glanced at the boarding time and tapped Fuuma-senpai on the shoulder.
“There’s still time for tea, but I’m eating something. The ticket was bought by a senior, so I’ll buy the food.”
“…Thank you.”
***
After filling our stomachs at a restaurant near the terminal, we boarded the express bus on time.
It is said that it takes about 7 to 8 hours just to get to Fuma-senpai’s hometown from Tokyo.
When I asked if it was that far away, it was far away, but I had to change buses several times, and the village itself seemed to be more difficult to access because it was in the middle of Mt.
We took the highway bus from Shibuya Expressway Terminal at 10 am and arrived at Minamiashigara City in Kanagawa Prefecture around 1 pm.
Kanagawa Prefecture is located at the tip of the Kanto region, and unlike Chiba, which has only plains, most of the prefecture consists of mountainous areas.
When I googled it, I found that there is only one national park nearby.
Anyway, when we arrived in Minamiashigara, we got off there, ate udon for lunch, and then took the town bus.
Even here, most of the buildings around here are of low height, giving off a rural atmosphere, but it seems that we should go further.
It took about 2 hours to travel by bus.
We got off in front of a stop at an old station.
When I looked at the sign at the bus stop, it said Yamakita (山北).
I asked as I looked around the scenery of the village that was completely rural.
“Is this your hometown?”
Then came a knife-like answer.
“no.”
“Yes?”
“Our village is deeper here.”
As Fuuma-senpai said so, the place he pointed to was the mountain area seen behind the village.
The trees are so densely packed, you can’t even see an inch ahead.
“…maybe, do I have to climb a mountain?”
“right.”
… I will turn
No matter how much I like sports, this is a little.
***
It is clear that the phrase “a dog high school student” is not for nothing when you come home.
“If you go a little further, the village will appear, so be strong.”
“…it feels like I’m hearing those words for almost the fifth time now.”
As I grumbled like that, I didn’t stop moving my feet.
The unfinished mountain road was nowhere to be seen by anyone.
However, Fuuma-senpai climbed the mountain with light steps, as if he had been out for a walk.
It’s a pity that I wore comfortable shoes because I thought I would be walking for a long time, but if I had worn the right fit, I would have gotten a lot of blisters.
Since I was serving in the military, I thought that it was like riding a mountain for the longest time, and I silently followed Fuuma-senpai’s back, and at some point I saw her stop, and I tilted my head.
“Fuma-senpai?”
Then Fuuma-senpai turned his head in surprise and said with a face full of emotion.
“Finally arrived.”
Hearing those words, I hurriedly approached her side.
Until recently, my vision was narrow because of the trees, but it opens up like a lie.
“Wow….”
Unknowingly, I was amazed at the scenery unfolding before my eyes.
Even so, it was because time seemed to stand still in Fuuma-senpai’s hometown.
From the blooming summer flowers and green pine trees to the rivers that meander around the village and the barley buds in the fields.
It was like seeing Dowonhyang depicted in a novel.
From https://noblemtl.com
My feet, which had been tired just before, became light as if they had been washed when they saw the real thing in the village.
“Let’s go. Kim Yoo-seong.”
“Ah yes.”
I took the lead and followed Huma-senpai’s small back going down the hill on the Ungeojuchum slope.
As if excited, I asked Fuuma-senpai, who was walking with a gun-shot pace.
“Is this the hometown of Fuuma-senpai?”
“That’s right. It’s a place our ancestors built a long time ago.”
“If it’s Seonjo?”
“During the Warring States period, our village’s ancestors served the Hojo clan, who were daimyo in the Kanto region. Then, when the shogunate executed most of the villagers, their hometown was discovered by a man named ‘Kousaka Jinnai’ and the shogunate did not find anyone. I made a new village by hiding in the midst of the endless mountains.”
“okay.”
It was a feeling that fit perfectly with the image of a ninja village that I was vaguely imagining.
Anyway, as soon as I entered the village with Fuuma-senpai, I could feel the gazes from all directions.
I couldn’t figure it out at first, but I soon found out.
“Yukika-sama!”
“Yukika-san!”
The little ones who jumped out of the back of the building, in the bushes, or from the back of a tree came running, calling out Huma-senpai’s name.
“Guys!!”
Fuuma-senpai, who usually had a hard face, greeted me with a bright expression, whether there was no business in front of the children.
“Are you finally back in town?!”
“Other sisters!”
“A present!?”
After hearing that, Fuuma-senpai smiled and opened the bag he was wearing on his back and showed the contents inside.
As soon as they see it, their faces brighten.
“Wow! It’s a toy!”
“There’s even a top and a doll!”
Unlike the children of the present generation who have lost the innocence of the analog era as digital culture rapidly developed, the children of the village rejoiced as if they had everything in the world with a small toy gift.
Thinking that this would taste like a present, I was watching from behind.
Then one of the ecstatic kids with toys in both hands looked at me and asked, wondering.
“Yukika-no-san, who is this uncle?”
Then, Fuuma-senpai glanced at me, gently stroking the little boy’s hair, and answered.
“You are an important guest of our village.”
“If it’s an important guest, maybe… Yukika’s husband?!”
“Wow! Yukika-san asked for a man from Tokyo!”
“Oh, it’s not like that!”
Then, Fuuma-senpai showed a visibly bewildered expression.
Either way, the girls left behind the embarrassed Fuuma-senpai, wow! ran away
“…I’m sorry. Kim Yoo-seong. It’s not because the kids are malicious too.”
“I know. It must be just a joke.”
But to use the expression that you’ve been asking a man, does that mean you’re not naive?
Despite such doubts, I silently followed Fuuma-senpai’s back.
It must have been about 10 minutes since I walked around the village like that?
The place where Fuuma-senpai stopped at was the largest mansion in the village.
Although it is a little smaller than Karen’s house, it did not lose its old-fashioned atmosphere.
“Let’s go in.”
“Ah yes.”
profit!
As if the bar wasn’t hanging, I opened the lightly opened door and went inside, and a huge manor caught my eye.
And in the middle of the manor, ninjas in black costumes, regardless of age or gender, were mingling with each other and fighting like a real battle.
It’s like a scene from a movie.
Perhaps he was in a position to teach them, the old man standing in the front shouted as he struck the ground with his cane.
“stop!”
Then they all stop at once.
Eventually, the old man walking slowly spoke to Fuuma-senpai in a kind voice.
“Long time no see. Yukika.”
Then, Fuma-senpai bowed his head slightly and answered.
“I just came back from Tokyo. Grandpa.”
Apparently, the two are grandchildren.
“hello.”
I, who was standing in the back, followed Fuuma-senpai and said hello.
Then the old man stroked his long beard and said,
“Welcome to the village of our Kazama clan.”