Chapter 40: Mountain Trial: Begins
After the long ride and chaotic lunch truce on the bus, we finally arrived at the edge of Kurama Village. As we stepped off the bus, the late evening air wrapped around us—cool, crisp, and quiet. Mist trailed between the trees like soft white serpents, curling over the gravel path that led up to a traditional wooden inn nestled in the mountainside.
Dirga glanced around, trying to shake a strange feeling in his gut. The fog. The silence. The way the forest seemed to lean in just a little too close. Maybe it was fatigue—or maybe it was the atmosphere—but something definitely felt... off.
Still, he threw that thought under the bed of his mind and followed the others inside.
Unexpectedly, the interior of the inn was nothing like the ominous exterior. A wave of warmth and cleanliness hit the team as soon as they stepped through the sliding doors.
The wooden floors gleamed. The air smelled of hinoki wood and fresh tatami. Soft yellow lanterns cast cozy shadows along the hall. Everything looked newly polished, yet it held the nostalgia of old Japan.
"Obasan!" Coach Tsugawa called out.
A woman emerged from the side corridor, wiping her hands on a white apron. She had curly black hair starting to gray, skin like porcelain, and the smile of someone who had seen a lifetime of chaos and handled it with grace.
"Ohhh, Tsuga! Look at you, still as loud as ever!" she laughed.
"Everyone, this is my aunt—the owner of this lodge," Coach Tsugawa said proudly. "Back in my high school days, I stayed here during summer. Learned basketball on the mountain and cooked in her kitchen."
So that’s where his legendary ramen came from.
Obasan welcomed us warmly, ushering us in and assigning rooms.