Chapter Text
The two sat back down and continued to chat. After resting for another twenty minutes until they noticed how far down the evening sun had fallen, They decided it would be a good time to go. Collecting their belongings, they took one last long look of the mountain view before they headed back.
Trekking back felt a lot different than hiking up. They had to dig their heels back so as not to accidentally tip themselves forward as they walked downward. The spikes did help embed their feet into the ground, but if they weren’t careful, they would be taking a not so safer route down the mountain.
They reached the exit of the first forest, back at the first peak of the mountain. The skinny, snow trail looked a lot more perilous now they were walking down at a steep decline. Sougo went down first, keeping himself lower to the ground, hands hovering over for balance. Once he reached the horizontal portion of the trail, Tamaki followed him after, trekking down in a similar posture.
However, due to the smoothness of the worn down path, the grip on his foot slipped and he fell backwards, landing on his behind. After losing balance, he quickly slid down along the trail. Tamaki panicked as his hands struggled to hold on to something and tried to use his boots as breaks. Sougo moved quickly and tried to grab onto Tamaki’s flailing arm. Sougo got dragged along with Tamaki and slid forward, going off the path trail. He could no longer see as snow splattered his face, though he felt some resistance as he was pulled forward before they finally came to a halt.
The both of them were silent, staying still in their positions. After he was sure there wouldn’t be more movement, Sougo wiped off the snow on his face and very slowly lifted his head. Tamaki was wincing, his eyes squeezed shut. He was conscious at least. Sougo slowly turned his head and surveyed the area. It looks like they were saved by a wall of snow that piled up as they slid off the trail path. There wasn’t much wiggle room though, since another five feet forward until they would have fallen off the cliff.
Trying to collect himself, he turned back to Tamaki, and asked softly, “Tamaki-kun? Are you alright?”
It took a moment, but he heard Tamaki reply quietly, “Yeah.”
“Are you hurt? Injured anywhere?”
“No…” Tamaki responded, voice still quiet, “Just arms and legs hurt.”
“Okay,” Sougo replied before he gently tried to reassure Tamaki, “It’s going to be fine. I’ll figure a way out so for now, just avoid moving too much.”
“Hmmn.” Tamaki whimpered.
After Tamaki’s confirmation, Sougo reassessed their situation. Neither of them were seriously hurt, it looks like, and they hadn’t gone too far off the trail. They would just have to proceed with caution so they wouldn’t slip and fall again .
Sougo readjusted his stance so his feet would be planted on the ground. While keeping one arm attached to Tamaki in case he slipped, he very slowly got up. The fresh snow was a lot easier to balance and he didn’t feel like he would slip again. He then instructed Tamaki to get up carefully, keeping his stance firm on the ground, as Tamaki used him for balance to get up. Still holding hands, Sougo gradually guided the both of them until they stood back on the horizontal portion of the trail, which was still bordered by a small wall of snow.
“We should be ok for now,” Sougo noted before checking back with Tamaki, “How are you doing?”
“I’m ok.” Tamaki answered, voice still soft and his legs were trembling.
“Once we leave this peak, it should all be forest and the hike will not be as steep.” Sougo tried to reassure him, holding his hand, “Do you think you will be able to continue?”
“I think so,” Tamaki replied but there was a lack of confidence in his voice. Tamaki was still shaken up. Not that Sougo blamed him, his own heart rate hadn’t stopped racing.
“Let’s take a short break.” Sougo suggested, and Tamaki nodded. Though the rest of the walk back wouldn’t be nearly as difficult, the trail would still be steep and he didn’t want to take the risk given Tamaki’s unnerved state. Still, the sun was going to set soon and he didn’t trust their abilities to walk back in the dark.
It doesn’t matter. First thing was to get Tamaki calmed down.
Sougo suddenly remembered what he still had on him and opened his backpack. After finding it, he gave Tamaki one of the King Puddings.
“An extra King Pudding for the trip down.” encouraged Sougo.
Surprised by the sudden offer, Tamaki soon accepted the King Pudding, shakily peeling off the lid. Sougo followed suit, eating the pudding as well. He then turned back to the lookout. Not long ago when they first walked by, the place was bleak and barren but now the clear skies, the scene here was pretty too. With a closer view of the two lakes, the surface reflected a golden sparkle from the evening sun. Closer to the mountain, Sougo could see their car parked along the road. As he searched further away into the city, Sougo recognized the route they took to arrive here.
“What is it that you wanted for dinner?” Sougo asked Tamaki.
Tamaki, not expecting that sudden question, took a moment to ponder. “I don’t know. Maybe ramen?”
“I see. A hot bowl of ramen after a cold hike sounds amazing right now,” Sougo agreed, “I wonder if we can find a place from here?”
Sougo gestured into the distance, and seeing again the steep decline below, Tamaki froze up. However, when the duo still remained safely on top of the mountain, his shoulders visibly relaxed before he got a good look at the city.
“I dunno. I think I see one open now.” Tamaki pointed to the distance.
Sougo’s gaze followed the direction of Tamaki’s arms until he could barely make out the red lanterns of a ramen stall, already lit up. “Wow. I hadn’t noticed that. Good eyes.”
Tamaki felt happy at the compliment, “Thank you. It would be really cool if we saw our agency office and dormitory from here.”
“Yes, it would be nice if it were closer. We could try waving to them and see if we could see them. Or if they could see us,” said Sougo before an idea popped up, “But I think there is someone we can try to see from.”
Sougo looked back to where they parked their car and saw two familiar people standing outside. He might have not recognized them had it not been for their coats that they had seen earlier. Sougo pointed towards and Tamaki exclaimed when he saw Mitsuki and Momo standing by the car. He tried waving to them but it looks like they were too distracted with their conversation to notice them.
“Aren’t you going to call out to them?” Sougo asked, surprised Tamaki hadn’t already done so.
“Nah. I think I am done shouting at mountain tops for now.”
“Sougo-kun? Tamaki-kun?”
The both of them jumped at a sudden, familiar voice they hadn’t expected to hear. They turned to see Ryuunosuke by the forest entrance, waving at them.
“Ryuu-aniki. You almost gave me a heart attack.” said Tamaki as Sougo sighed in relief, before they approached the oldest one.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. I didn't mean to.” Ryuunosuke apologized, also surprised by their reaction.
“It’s alright. We didn’t expect to see you still here, that’s all.” Sougo replied, assuring him it wasn’t his fault, “We thought you went back with Mitsuki-san and Momo-san.”
“Yes, Mitsuki-kun got your text about the water bottle and we thought one of us should stay back in case you two would be searching in the dark. I found your bottle and was waiting by the chain rope, but I thought I heard some shouting coming from the top of the mountain. I got concerned it was you guys so I climbed back up.” Ryuunosuke explained. He then noticed the two of them were covered in snow and looked a little disarrayed, “Are you both alright?”
“Uh, yes.” Sougo realized what he was referring to, hoping no one had heard what exactly he yelled off the mountain, “We’re alright. It was nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Ryuunosuke checked again, not quite believing them.
“Yep! We’re just glad to see you here.” said Tamaki, “It’s been a long hike, and I want to go to bed.”
Ryuunosuke laughed at Tamaki’s sudden declaration of tiredness, “I can imagine. We still have a way to go down, so why don’t we get started? You should tell me how your hike went.”
The duo nodded in agreement. Ryuunosuke and Tamaki went ahead, Tamaki recounting the details from their hike to him. Sougo took one last look at the view, happily taking in the view once last time, before he heard his name called out and left.