Chapter Text
Red Winter is known for several things.
Such as unique weaponries and cartridges, an odd yet unanimous admiration of President Cherino, and an unstable student council.
However, one thing will certainly come to mind, if not the very first thing, whenever people think of Red Winter.
Snow.
Red Winter snows almost throughout the entire year, regardless of seasons.
Perhaps it's the latitude, perhaps it's the terrain, or perhaps the lords above simply despise this region down to their divine bones.
Here, the most common color is white, the most common illness is temporary snow blindness, and the most common clothes are fur coats.
Recently, however, some of that changed.
Mother Nature seems to have grown a bit of conscience and decided not to let the freezing drops of white become everyone's problem.
The temperature - in ℉ - has climbed slowly out of the sub-10s and into the mid or even high-20s.
"Which is why..." Shigure chirps, her steps are light, as if the weight on her shoulder is nothing. "I invited you here!"
"Great idea." Auburn the Sensei heaves in the cool air, a smile is worn all over his face. "Great fucking idea, big girl. I love it."
The ground beneath him is soft and damp, covered in a patchwork of mosses, low shrubs, and even buds of wildflowers.
Slender conifers stand spaced apart, with frost edges their needles, making them glitter under the languid sun.
Puddles of meltwater reflect the clear sky, and the air carries the scent of wet earth and new life.
In this forest, life stirs with quiet intensity, taking full advantage of the brief yet invaluable time of the year.
Just like hometown. The gray mist in his head thrums silently in nostalgia. Whatever the fuck it was.
"So what are we hunting today?" He prods, trying to divert himself from that train of thought.
His outer winter gear consists of an insulating jacket, matching pants with leg gaiters, waterproof boots, and winter shooting gloves.
On his head, a beanie; over his eyes, a pair of shades; on his back, a backpack frame with a roll of tarp and a set of paracord.
A S20 hunting rifle is slung over his shoulder; it's chambered in 7.62×67 Magnum, with a 2.5-10×42 scope mounted on top.
Over his torso, a mini chest rig; it holds a range finder, a field dressing knife kit, a GP pouch, and a holster with a MR73 revolver.
The stoat girl leading the way wags her tail, eyes scanning the ground level. "Whatever we can find."
Sensei does the same, ten paces behind, letting his little guide watch out for what's ahead.
Other than hoofprints, freshly broken branches, torn bark, or even the smell of excrements are all telltale signs of an animal nearby.
A trained and experienced hunter can pick out those subtle signs disguised in nature.
"Should've brought Nodoka with us, then. Her and her collection of binos."
"Nodoka is out shopping for daily necessities; it's her turn this time. And I don't think she'd risk breaking her glass just to be out here."
"Besides," Shigure snickers, picturing her sole classmate out in the wild.
"She gets... frisky out in the forest. She'd scream if she sees a hare hop out of a bush or something."
Meanwhile, somewhere in the market, a girl with a huge astronomical telescope on her back sneezes.
Or so Sensei imagines. "I guess that's fair enough."
He shifts his eyes onto Shigure, who also has a backpack frame and similar loaded items as his.
A roll of tarp, a set of paracord, a roll of heavy-duty saran wrap, a folding hand saw...
"Hold on," He stops in his path, realizing something. "What are you hunting with again?"
"Hm?" Round, black-tipped ears perk up at his worried inquiry.
Shigure gestures at her Spring Punch 40mm rotary grenade launcher. "This."
"......" Sensei lifts his eyebrow in awe.
It takes several tries for him to properly open his lips to talk. And it's not because of the cold.
"W- What do you mean this? Do you just lob 40mm grenades at games?"
"Yeah?" Innocent opal eyes blink with a tilt of her head. "It's quick and easy~"
"It'squickandeasy-" Sensei wipes his face, a white cloud forms before his face as he exhales.
"No! Like- CanIjust... Girl, you live like this!?" He hates how all over the place he sounds, but he has a point to make.
"What?" Shigure finally stops in her tracks as well. "I don't have a rifle, and I use non-lethal rounds."
"Okay? What kind of non-lethal rounds? Beanbag? Rubber round?"
"Well..." She scratches her pretty face and averts his frowned gaze. "It's, uh..."
"Don't tell me it's gas. I will seriously get on your ass."
"No, no." Tempting, though. The stoat girl denies with a smile.
She then fishes out a flask tucked under her layers to prevent freezing. "It's... loaded with these, but very, very condensed."
"...Your moonshine?"
"Technically it's kompot."
"Kompot so fermented that it might as well be moonshine."
He quickly follows before Shigure can put together another retort.
"So... Your hunting tactic is launching 40mm grenades loaded with moonshine at animals."
"Then what? It's not like they can die to alcoholism."
Shigure pulls out her hunting knife from its leather sheath.
"E-heh..." Shigure utters a cute noise of defeat. "Oopsie~"
"...I'm not gonna ask what comes after that." It's been only an hour or so, but somehow he's tired already.
"And uh, I'll do the shooting this time." He flicks her forehead with his fingers.
"Eeek! " The stoat girl yelps. "It's not like I know how to use a rifle."
"I'll teach you, hand to hand if I have to." Sensei straightens her cap. "And we're gonna get you a proper rifle that shoots actual bullets."
Oh. Shigure suppresses a preening smile. "You? Actually teaching~?"
"Ha-ha." With a flat tone, he urges his hunting guide to keep walking. "Surprising. I know."
Crunches of wet leaves chirp between them as she resumes her walk.
"You'll be in for a long day, days even." It takes physical restraint not to let her tail wag too hard. "I'm a slow learner."
"Sure." Sensei snorts playfully. "Whatever you say."
I'd say yes even if you say it out loud. He mutely hums, keeping his words behind his lips.
Things are unsaid for a reason after all.
For her, for him.
BANG!--
It took them another hour or so to spot a sign of game.
It was a patch of fresh mud on a trunk, then down the trail, several broken branches and twigs.
Then, subsequently, a set of hoofprints, large and deep, indicating its size.
After another ten minutes of silent stalking, they found a gigantic, male red deer, just as they expected.
Just down the trail, by the half-frozen lake, it was (and still is) well developed and alone.
For a natural predator, it'd require a long chase or a duel to the death to take down a red deer of that size.
For Shigure, it'd take several... kompot grenades to its head, multiple long stalks, and some knife work.
For Auburn, a well-placed 7.62×67 Magnum round to its vital will suffice.
And that's exactly what he did.
Didn't even eject the spent casing.
"And now," He watches the spooked deer dart into the closest treeline nearby. "We let it run its course."
Slinging the rifle back on his shoulder, he strolls down the trail with confidence.
"I hit it in the heart, running will only speed up its death, given the rising heart rate and a gaping hole in it."
"Neat." Shigure pokes her head out of the bush she's hiding behind.
The two no longer hide their presence, trodding through the muddy ground and after where the deer ran off.
And of course, there's an obvious trail of hoofprints and a trail of blood shadowing beside it.
The Sensei in Sensei kicks in. "You see anything interesting?"
"Are there supposed to be any?" The stoat girl scans the trail, looking for anything worth mentioning.
"The blood trail," He hints. "It's bright red, runny, and shoots a short distance away from the hoofprint. Which means..."
"...Oh!" With his implication, the dots inside her head are connecting. "You hit an artery!"
"Correct." Sensei rewards his beloved student with a pampering headpat. "I'll be ashamed if I actually missed that shot in 50 yards."
"Mhm." Even through a cap, Shigure enjoys his touch.
Meanwhile, a question pops up in her generously massaged head.
"It's probably too late to ask, but... You did this sort of stuff before? Spot-and-stalk hunting?"
"Oh yeah," Sensei replies reflectively before her words even go through his head.
He thinks out loud, citing the old, buried memories.
"It was back then..."
And it stops there.
Back where?
He tries again.
"Back then..."
Nothing found.
Auburn freezes.
No. He scratches his head through his beanie.
I've done this. I've done hunting. I've done this with someone somewhere. I'm sure.
But who and where?
He asks himself again, scraping through every possible corner of his old memory.
Fog. Ashen fog.
"......"Not this, too. He recognizes it.
That same, distant fog, so strange yet so familiar. Humming a fleeting tune of what's gone and forgotten.
His imaginative hands in his head claw at the blinding gray, desperate to uncover what's behind.
He knows why it's there. He knows what caused it.
And he knows there's nothing he can do about it.
Because everything has a price.
"......"
Because everything has a fucking price.
Even his-
"Sensei." A pair of bare, dainty hands cups his stiff face.
There's only one other person in the place.
Her gloves are off. "You suddenly froze and looked horrified."
He blinks. "......"
And blinks again. "What is there to be afraid of?" A mindless mutter.
"You tell me." Shigure rubs her porcelain-smooth palm around his cheeks.
His steel-gray eyes are struggling to focus on the worried beauty before him.
"...Nah. It's nothing." Sensei comes to his senses, literally.
Murky, stormy irises are clearing, and the crisp, almost-glowing silver returns.
"What I was trying to say is, I did some hunting back in my home world." He says.
"...I see." Shigure's attention is far past that question; if anything, she's regretting asking.
"Now," Sensei gently pries her caring hands off his face. "About that deer."
"Good thing you already had your gloves off." He makes several slightly bigger steps to lead the way. "C'mon."
"......" His beloved student quietly follows. He said it's nothing. So it's nothing.
Maybe it's all in her head, but for a moment, Shigure sees it.
The near-indistinguishable wince when he snaps back, the sudden jadedness in his voice.
And now, his back, so broad and tall, yet so... small.
Like a worn, lost kid.
"Sensei."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
"...Don't be."